Atlanta Falcons: The last thing you should do is forget about Tevin Coleman

Heading into the 2015 season the Atlanta Falcons were switching gears with a new head coach and one of the first major changes was throwing rookie running back Tevin Coleman into the spotlight.

Coleman was talked up from the very second he was drafted a little over a year ago and was expected to win the starting job over second-year back Devonta Freeman. And did just that.

Coleman was the Falcons’ starting running back for their week 1 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night football and performed pretty well. Coleman carried the ball 20 times for 80 yards including a nice 20-yard run.

Coleman carried that over into game 2 and scored his first career touchdown, but everything changed after that. Coleman was injured later in that game and the rest of the season was pretty much over for him. Not because he was badly hurt, but because Freeman took over and took the NFL by storm.

In Freeman’s first career start in week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys, he rushed the ball 30 times for 141 yards and scored three touchdowns. Freeman followed up that outstanding performance with 68 yards rushing and three more touchdowns on just 14 carries against the Houston Texans.

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Coleman was finally ready to go for their week 5 matchup at home against the Washington Redskins, but there wasn’t any chance he would start over the red-hot Freeman. Freeman carried the ball 27 times for 153 yards and scored a touchdown while Coleman carried the ball just two times for three yards.

In a matter of three weeks Coleman had gone from being the Falcons’ starting running back to a forgotten backup.

Freeman rattled off two more 100-yard rushing performances on 38 carries in week 6 and 7 while Coleman touched the ball just seven times over that course.

Everything was rocking and rolling for Freeman heading into a week 10 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts. Freeman started off the game with a career-long 39-yard run, but was knocked out on that very play via a concussion.

This instantly propelled Coleman back into the starting role and in two games with Freeman sidelined, Coleman rushed the ball 35 times for 158 yards.

But once Freeman was cleared to play in Week 12, he started the remaining five games for the Falcons but didn’t rush for more than 48 yards in a game.

Coleman touched the ball just 10 times over Atlanta’s last five games.

Coleman was pretty impressive in the times he had the ball in his hands, but fumbling issues nagged him all season long. Coleman fumbled the ball three times including two in his two games starting in Freeman’s place.

Three might not sound like a lot, but when you only rush the ball 87 times on the year and roughly only five times a game, three fumbles is concerning.

However, the skill was there. Coleman showed everyone why many thought he would be the 2016 starter as a rookie but it just wasn’t meant to be.

Let’s play devils advocate.

Say Coleman never gets injured in week 2 and remains healthy all season long. Is it Coleman that rushes for over 1,000 yards and makes it to the pro bowl? Or does Freeman still take over at some point during the year? I don’t see how anyone can say that it wouldn’t have been Coleman in the spotlight rather than Freeman.

All it took was that one freak injury and that gave Freeman just enough time to win the job and never look back.

So here we are in the summer of 2016. Of course it’s Freeman’s job to lose heading into the season, but that doesn’t mean you should write off Coleman. Who’s to say it isn’t Coleman we’re talking about at the end of 2016 rather than Freeman?

It’s unfair to compare the two running backs because their styles of play are completely different. Coleman is a lateral runner while Freeman is a shifty runner. If Coleman finds a hole it’s off to the races. And in Freeman’s case, he has to do some dancing before he can find pay dirt.

Longevity wise it’s still probably Coleman’s job to lose. Coleman has better size and strength than Freeman and for a running back that’s everything. Being as little as Freeman is, it’s going to be hard to stay healthy. He’s as tough as the come but nobody is invincible in the NFL.

Will we see Coleman carry the ball more than 100 times in 2016? I don’t see why not. Best case scenario for Coleman is that him and Freeman are close to a 50/50 basis by the end of the season. Let Coleman carry the ball on first and second down and put Freeman in the game on third down due to his ability to catch the ball.

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Either way you slice it, Atlanta is in a good position. They have two terrific young running back who both possess bright futures. It’s only a matter of if the two can co-exist on the same team.