the high quality posts, intelligence, and observations of the posters on CF never ceases to impress me. case in point: the use of Christian McCaffrey as a decoy, as has been noted by several posters.
i read this article yesterday which quantified our purely laymen observations:
http://amp.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article221598590.html
to save you the read, i’ll summarize. CMac has the highest percentage of on-field play of any top tailback, at just over 96% of his team’s offensive snaps which blows away everyone else on the list. strangely, however, his usage rate (touches per snap played) is the second lowest of any of those same backs, at just over 32%.
still, he’s the team leader in carries and receptions and is on track to shatter the team record for yards from scrimmage this season. it’d be nice to see what his numbers would be if he got more touches, though.