Did Parker Ehinger’s injury affect Spencer Ware’s productivity?
By Matt Conner
When Parker Ehinger went down with his season-ending injury, Spencer Ware’s productivity also dropped. Are they that tied?
Last year at this time, the preseason conversation centered on a few points of interest and potential concerns on the Kansas City Chiefs roster, as always. One of those areas was at left guard, where it wasn’t quite certain who would occupy the spot between left tackle Eric Fisher and center Mitch Morse. The Chiefs had recently selected Parker Ehinger, a lineman from the University of Cincinnati in the fourth round, but the Chiefs had other veterans or at least more experienced prospects. It didn’t seem like Ehinger would get the keys from the outset.
Yet he did. Just like Morse in his rookie season, when the team lined up for training camp, Ehinger was given the first-team reps without question, as if it was the plan all along. The coaching staff’s belief was clear: the front office gave us a guy who can be ready if we just let him at it. Even in a few short weeks, they were proven correct.
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From Week 1 to Week 5, it was clear that Ehinger was pro-ready and improved with each and every game. His technique and footwork were NFL-ready coming into the league and he proved a quick study with the staff. Then, unfortunately, a collision on October 31 against the Indianapolis Colts’ Arthur Jones took him out for the rest of the season. The diagnosis: a torn ACL. Even now, Ehinger is uncertain for the start of training camp and it might take some time beyond that to even get ready for the regular season.
Despite the injury, however, there are nothing but positive vibes about Ehinger’s future with the Chiefs and the offensive line in general. It’s a line of young men who have the rare chance to truly grow together as a unit, as all are under contract for the next two years (and most go beyond that). But one interesting footnote when looking at the season’s stats and progression from 2016 shows that Ehinger’s injury might have affected someone else: Spencer Ware.
Those numbers rival Priest Holmes’ finest years, a 2000+ yard total over the course of a season.
Remember that Ehinger played only five games on the season, going down early in the third quarter in Week 7 against the Colts. Now take a look at Ware’s average stats through the stretch that Ehinger was healthy: 16 carries for 82 rushing yards and 2 receptions and 48 receiving yards. That’s an average of 130 yards from scrimmage per game. Carried over the course of a full season, Ware would have finished last season with 1,312 rushing yards and 760 receiving yards.
Those numbers rival Priest Holmes’ finest years, a 2000+ yard total over the course of a season.
Unfortunately, after that stretch, Ware’s effectiveness waned and the Chiefs running game stalled overall. Ware averaged 54 rushing yards and 20 receiving yards from Week 7 through the end of the year. It’s likely the reason we’ve gotten to know Kareem Hunt this offseason.
Now, of course, we recognize that sample size is a serious issue here. Several mediocre players have looked good or even great over the course of a handful of games. Even as a team, we’ve watched the Chiefs lose five straight only to reel off enough consecutive wins to make the playoffs. In other words, a partial stretch of the season shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
Ware averaged 94 yards from scrimmage with Ehinger out of the line-up. He averaged 147 yards from scrimmage with him in.
However, notice even more about the Ehinger-Ware connection. Ehinger played in only five games last season, skipping Weeks 2 and 3, before returning from Week 1 to also play in Weeks 4-7 (the seventh being the game he was lost). Ware’s two worst rushing efforts during the first part of the season, during his dominant period, were the two games that Ehinger sat. Ware averaged 94 yards from scrimmage with Ehinger out of the line-up. He averaged 147 yards from scrimmage with him in.
Then in the game where Ehinger was lost, Ware only had 47 yards from scrimmage. It was, by far, his worst game of the year. From there, it got a bit better but Ware wasn’t the same.
We’d be remiss to not mention the popular idea that Ware hit the wall at the season’s mid-point in 2016, and that’s likely the better explanation for his drop in stats. In even three years of college, Ware only had 295 total carries at Louisiana State University (LSU). Then in the NFL, he’d served as a back-up for Jamaal Charles and then a tandem partner with Charcandrick West. When the Chiefs annointed him as a primary back in Week 1, he came out with a burst (199 total yards from scrimmage against the Chargers) and faded at the season’s midpoint. Given enough carries, however, Ware’s body wasn’t prepared for the stamina required for a feature back.
The best explanation for Ware’s dueling statistical halves of the 2016 season remains fatigue or a lack of stamina, but it’s also interesting to see the corellation between Ehinger’s ability to stay on the field and Ware’s higher stat output. If the two are tied, then here’s hoping Ehinger can turn the corner on his ACL rehab and return in time for not only the regular season but a bit of training camp as well.