It’s not good when your name becomes a synonym for failure, but that’s what’s happened to Trent Richardson after just three seasons in the NFL.
Richardson, the third overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft by Cleveland, is just 24 years old, but in signing with the Raiders this week already has been with three pro teams following short stints with the Browns and Colts.
He’s been called a flop and his name used as a caution sign. As one blogger wrote recently in previewing the running backs in this draft, “You don’t want to draft another Trent Richardson.”
Richardson, once deemed a certain NFL success for his physical, hard-running style that made him a Heisman Trophy candidate at Alabama, still looks imposing. He’s a 5-foot-9, 230-pound athlete who looks like what an NFL running back should be.
But after three seasons, there’s really no reason to believe the Raiders will get lucky and suddenly discover a new Trent Richardson that the rest of the NFL didn’t see. It would be a nice story. But a long shot.
It’s a good, low-risk move for Oakland to bring him in for one last shot. But it seems very unlikely Richardson will begin running like Adrian Peterson in a silver and black uniform.
In his first season with the Browns, he played 15 games and rushed for 950 yards. He also caught 51 passes for 367 yards – not bad numbers for a rookie. But he averaged just 3.6 yards per carry, a troubling stat. The next season he was traded by Cleveland after two games to Indianapolis, but his numbers got worse. Over 16 games he rushed for 563 yards and averaged only 3.0 yards per rush.
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Then last season, he found his way to the bench, losing his job to less-heralded players while averaging 3.3 yards per rush in gaining 519 total yards.
For his career, he’s averaging just 3.3 yards per carry – a very poor number.
Richardson looked like an explosive back at Alabama, but that hasn’t translated to the NFL. He hasn’t shown the burst, quickness or elusiveness that many scouts thought he would have.
After being traded from the Browns, Richardson was angry, saying Cleveland “gave up on me.” But it appears now that the Browns made the right move.
Columnist Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote in December that Richardson never has seemed to be the same since having two “minor” knee surgeries in 2013.
“My theory is the operations robbed Richardson of the speed that made him an elite back,” Pluto wrote in December of 2014. “He has since dealt with rib injuries, leg injuries and other physical problems. He’s only 24 but performs like a very old back.”
Now the Raiders have brought in Richardson to compete with Latavius Murray for the starting running back job, and Richardson is sounding optimistic.
“I expect to be a starter wherever I’m at,” he told reporters Tuesday. “I just can’t wait for the opportunity.”
He knows, too, that this may be his last chance, saying, “I’m going to do whatever I can to make this my last stop.”
But the numbers favor Murray in this competition. In 2014, Murray – who didn’t get much of a chance early in the schedule – came on strong, rushing for 424 yards on 82 carries, a nice 5.2-yard average, with one 90-yard TD sprint that showed what he can do in the open field.
At this point, it’s hard to see Richardson coming close to regaining the speed and quickness he once had.
