While I'm cognizant of Lynch's workhorse prowess and the mandatory 3+ defenders needed to stop him each time he has the ball, was anyone else mildly surprised that they didn't give Lynch more breathers last week vs. Carolina via putting Turbin in? I guess Lynch was really feeling pretty good that day. Where the heck do I go if I want to find out how many downs player A played versus player B?

I think the thing with Lynch is that you really force the defense to stay near the line. Yeah, Turbin runs really well, but he doesn't have the same effect on the defenders' minds. Turbin didn't actually do all that well last week with 1.5 YPC, so that probably had something to do with it too. If we had gotten up more my guess is that we would have seen more of him, but with a 6 point lead I can understand wanting your best player on the field.


Oh, stats are fun. In week five, Lynch had 50 snaps with 23 utilized plays (carries + targets) and Turbin had 12 snaps with 6 utilized.

Over the entire season, Lynch has 244 snaps (122 utilized) and Turbin has 56 snaps (24 utilized).

One thing I think is interesting about Turbin's "utilized" stat is that it's just another thing that shows that the coaches have no problem using him the same way they use Lynch.

Sources: Snap counts and utilizations.

Much appreciated.

Yeah, in some ways Lynch and Turbin can be interchanged with little or no loss of talent.

But each has his unique skills. Turbin's a better pass catcher, it seems, while Lynch is the ultimate battering ram type of RB. But both can carry the load and both have a bit of elusiveness and tackle breaking ability. Turbs is just a rookie, so it makes sense that he's not carrying much of a load yet. By the end of the year, I expect to see more of him as we try to keep Lynch fresh for our playoff run.

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Talent can get you to the playoffs.
It takes character to win when you get there.