FWIW the Cowboys signed Alfred Morris, who admittedly struggled last season but has had three seasons over 1,000 rushing yards and 29 TDs in his four year career, to a two-year, $3.5 million deal.
Still anyone out there believing the Packers didn´t overpay for Starks???
Morris is the second leading rush yard gainer over the last 4 years, behind only Peterson. Now lets look behind those numbers:
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MorrAl00.htm
Morris' rushing production has been in steady decline in terms of yards, average and TDs, with drop offs from each year to the next. He wouldn't be the first RB whose abilities have been meaningfully diminished under the weight of a 290 carry average over the first 3 years. Despite having his workload reduced to 202 carries last season, the decline continued apace. In fact, some studies show RBs with a full workload starting in their rookie years typically show rapid decline at age 26. Call it the early career 1,000 carry mark.
Starks, on the other hand, had his most productive season in 2015 at age 29. That he runs counter to the age 26 barrier can be explained by his low career rushing attempts. Morris' career carries = 1078. Starks' career carries = 555, less than Morris' first 2 seasons. Starks has sustained the aggregate run game pounding of a 24 year old two-year bell cow.
While Starks' low mileage is partially attributable to being regularly injured over the years (Mr. Knee Sprain for a couple of years running), he stayed healthy throughout last season and didn't show any residual affects of those previous injuries.
Some Morris apologists observe that Washington's run blocking was sub-par last season, in part due to injuries at the TE position. That sounds familiar. While not being a particularly robust run blocking crew to start with, the Packers O-line were the walking wounded while the #1 TE is not much of a blocker. Starks was a more efficient runner than Morris based on yards per carry.
Let's consider versatility. Morris adds next to nothing as a receiver, with a season average of 12 catches for 91 yards. Those numbers are remarkably low for a guy on the field that much. I don't think we need to rehash Starks' good receiving numbers last season. We've already discussed the fact Starks was the offense's leading yards-from-scrimmage gainer at nearly 1,000 yards, considerably more than Morris, with that good run/pass versatility Morris can't touch.
Can Morris pass block? I honestly don't know. But given his lousy receiving record, he's a one-or-two down back not likely to be on the field in long yardage. Starks, over his career, has gone from bad to fairly decent as a blocker, has the 3rd. down profile for complementing a revitalized Lacy, while having enough chops to take over as a serviceable #1 back if Lacy falls flat.
So, yes, I think there is a good argument to be made for Starks over Morris. At a minimum, Morris-over-Starks is clearly not the slam dunk you make it out to be.
