Players in the NFL have an average career of just 3.3 years and being able to surpass that and make it to a second contract is something to applaud. However, one player from the 2015 NFL draft class has announced his retirement. Running back Duke Johnson has bounced around in the last few seasons but was able to play in 97 career games over the course of his eight seasons.
Duke Johnson was the third-round pick for the Cleveland Browns in 2015 (77th overall) and played college football at the University of Miami. He played the first four seasons of his career in Cleveland and played 16 games in each of those seasons. He would be traded ahead of the 2019 season to the Houston Texans for a 2020 conditional fourth-round pick and played 16 games in 2019 for the team.
After playing two seasons with the Texans, he would sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad but be released after the start of the season. Johnson would then sign to the Miami Dolphins practice squad and appear in five games for the team. He would sign with the Buffalo Bills on a one-year deal in March 2022 but was released before the season began. He signed with the practice squad the following day but never appeared in a game.
For his career, Duke Johnson finished playing 97 games and had 532 rushing attempts for 2,265 yards (4.3 yards per carry) with 11 rushing touchdowns while also adding 311 receptions on 403 targets for 2,870 yards (9.2 yards per catch) with 12 receiving touchdowns. Congratulations are in order for a successful career.
What veteran free agent running backs are still available?
It helps having a veteran running back to get some griddy yards and there are still some quality running backs to have on an NFL roster. According to Spotrac, they have 11 unrestricted free agent running backs that are worth mentioning and they are listed below:
- Damien Harris
- Cam Akers
- Matt Brieda
- Rashaad Perry
- Kareem Hunt
- Latavius Murray
- Jerick McKinnon
- Marlon Mack
- Josh Kelley
- Lynn Bowden
- Eno Benjamin