Our nightmares of the creature named Phillip Lindsay has all of a sudden become a reality. Although one could chalk this up to the Broncos being down on the scoreboard for 99 percent of the afternoon, both Lindsay AND Devontae Booker out-snapped Royce Freeman. Lindsay handled 28 snaps on the day, while Booker registered 22. On the other hand, Freeman was on the field for only 16 snaps. Not good for Freeman owners who were banking on this guy as their third (or second) running back in their stable. Hand up. I’ve been wrong so far.
But what’s been most alarming when you dive into the nerdy advanced stats, is that Lindsay hasn’t just been a passing down specialist. Out of his 54 snaps on the season, 29 of those came on running plays, while 18 came on passing plays where he ran a route — both Lindsay and Freeman have played five snaps as a pass protector. To make matters worse, Freeman’s 45 total snaps have been broken down into 23 rushing plays and 16 receiving snaps. It’s been Booker who has been more of the receiving specialist with 30 of his 41 total snaps coming as a route runner. Sorry to go full nerd on you guys, but Lindsay out-snapping Freeman as an actual runner is problematic — not to mention that Lindsay broke an NFL rookie record for becoming the first undrafted rookie to total 100-plus total yards through the first two weeks.
The former Oregon Duck should get goal line carries and carries between the 20s as we move forward, but he’s a fringe FLEX option right now. Hopefully we’ll wake up soon and it’ll all just be a nightmare, and not a 16 game reality.
