I was desperate for a HB and sick of my slow backs so I recruited this guy
James Thorpe as my #3
https://nfl14.myfootballnow.com/player/1405
He's 92 speed, 100 strength, 44 Acc, good discipline but terrible intelligence.
His catching skills are 40s to 60s
His running skills are similar.
He can passblock but not run block.

He had a great preseason so I used him as #1 HB for most of the year.

The default rating for him is 65, yet
He ran for 5 yards a carry (~200 for 1000) and caught 67 ***** for 500 yards.

Admittedly he's running behind a pretty great Oline, but im curious what others out there think of him.

Is he better than the default rating suggests or has he had a lucky and exceptional season?

You're balling with him, however, focus on these two attributes in the future:

Ball Carrying 45
Avoid Fumble 63

You definitely want higher on them; especially the ball carrying. Higher the #, the more evasive your RB will be.

Maybe I should but I don't care about discipline or intelligence with RBs. You nailed down the speed which is most vital and why he's racking up yardage for you. :)

Catching skills don't matter all that much to an RB unless they are <20 (i.e. converted QB numbers).

Even on new code where they pass a ton to the back on swings? I was thinking it mattered more now

I wonder the same thing, my rbs were targeted 200 times this regular season.

Thanks for the info

I think the run game is all predicated on the competition. If you play a ton of blitzers you're going to find it much more difficult to run. You have to be super creative or you will just run into a brick wall. Against AI it's super easy to wrack up the yards as well as lesser experienced owners. In NCAA the last couple years we have maybe 5-10 1,000 yard rushers with it topping out around 1,500 yards give or take. In public leagues teams are rushing for a lot more. I think you can be successful running if you study your opponents and their playcalling. As far as ratings go, i think if you you have a fast back you can get yards. Ball carry is nice as well as is break tackle but speed is the main component. I hate fumblers so i try not to play a guy with low fumble unless it's in a limited role. I also prefer a good pass blocker since running backs will give up sacks if they are bullfighters.

It might just be my imagination, but I'm seeing running games open up more and teams rushing better in this new code with the leagues I'm in. I'd probably use your RB as a Home Run hitter type of back. I might be the minority but usually, I have the lead back, then the RB2 is the home run hitter, and RB3 is my 3rd down receiving back. Since you use more than 1 RB in games, I like to specialize them (receiver, pass blocker, speed demon, pile pusher goalline back, etc etc). Again that's just me.

Also the most important rule: if he ***** in the games, then he's a keeper lol.

No. High catch RBs stop just as frequently as low catch ones to catch the ball. Low catch RBs catch/drop at the same rate as far as I can tell.