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Shaun Alexander career statistics

Shaun Alexander was the 54th ranked RB in his rookie year. He was #4 in his second season. He went from -111 "VBD" points to 127 VBD points between his first and second seasons. The only RB to improve more from his rookie year to his second year was the old Bronco Otis Armstrong.

Let's take a look at the 20 RBs who gained the most value between their first and second season. We'll discuss below:

                               Rook yr   2nd yr       3rd yr 
Player               Rook Yr     "VBD"    "VBD"       "VBD"
--------------------------------------------------+----------
Otis Armstrong          1973     -120      170    |    -113
Shaun Alexander         2000     -111      127    |    
Earnest Jackson         1983     -142       68    |       0
Lawrence McCutcheon     1972     -145       50    |      88
Terdell Middleton       1977     -120       75    |     -63
John Settle             1987     -125       67    |      10
Terry Allen             1991      -39      148    |    
Duce Staley             1997     -127       58    |      62
Tom Sullivan            1972     -141       39    |      85
Mack Herron             1973      -68      111    |     -95
Steve Owens             1970      -89       89    |     -47
Priest Holmes           1997     -132       41    |     -57
Derrick Fenner          1989     -107       65    |     -60
Eddie Lee Ivery         1979     -143       27    |    -132
Thurman Thomas          1988      -18      143    |     136
Cleveland Gary          1989      -96       61    |     -77
Wilbert Montgomery      1977      -97       59    |     138
Freeman McNeil          1981      -48      106    |     -37
Lorenzo Hampton         1985      -90       61    |     -78
Ted Brown               1979      -65       86    |      77
Merril Hoge             1987     -133       15    |      17

You'll note that I added a column for the players' "VBD" in their third year, so you can see what happened to them in the season after their breakout.

First, let's throw out the guys who missed more than two games due to injury in their third year. That'd be Armstrong, Allen, Herron, Holmes, Ivery, McNeil, Owens, Fenner, and Gary. That's nine of them. What about the other 11?

• Seven of the 11 -- McCutcheon, Staley, Sullivan, Thomas, Montgomery, Brown, and Hoge -- either maintained their value or improved.
• Earnest Jackson and Settle were OK, but not as good as they had been. Their 2nd years ended up being their best.
• Middleton never had another year even remotely approaching his 2nd.
• Hampton got beat out by a rookie named Troy Stradford.