According to Cardinals game analyst Ron Wolfley, the coaching staff views Ellington as their version of Jamaal Charles.
"I think he's gonna be basically Jamaal Charles," Wolfley said during the telecast of the preseason opener. "I think that probably is the best comparison."
Regarding Arians' prescription of 25-30 touches per game, Wolfley said, "I'll believe it when I see it."
"But at the same time," Wolfley added, "I was talking to some coaches, guys that I have an awful lot of regard and respect for on this team that believe he's a 2,000-yard per year player -- just like Charles, 70 receptions.
"They're going to get him the ball, they're going to do it in creative ways. ... He's a rare talent. He really is. Because there's not many running backs you can take and split them out."
Well, this will do nothing to slow Elllington's momentum this offseason. Charles is a rare talent, and the comparison is a stretch, but it's still good to hear that the team intends to use him heavily this season. HC Bruce Arians says he wants to build the offense around the diminutive RB, but that they’ll be careful not to overwork him, implying that they may limit his short-yardage work. He was the #25 RB in 2013 on 10.4 touches per game, but averaged 12.4 touches in his last 11 games. In that span, he averaged 9.3 FP, which are low-end RB2 numbers. Arians’ offenses don’t utilize the running back heavily in the passing game, but with the way he has been gushing about Ellington’s skill set, that may change. Ellington averaged 0.771 fantasy points per touch in 2013, so if he can maintain that production at a 15-touch workload, he’s looking at an average of 11.6 FP per game. Those are high-end RB2 numbers.
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