By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor
Former Philadelphia Eagles running-back LeSean McCoy may not have much to look forward to from a team perspective in 2017, but the Buffalo Bills star said in a recent Instagram post that his attitude entering his ninth season will be "ugly." He then capped it off with the hashtag #10kchase, as he has all offseason, because he enters the season within striking distance of 10,000 career rushing yards.
With 8,954 career rushing yards, the 29-year-old isn't a lock to reach 10,000 rushing yards in 2017. But a year after rushing for 1,267 yards, it would seem that if McCoy stays healthy in 2017, he'll rush for at least the 1,046 yards that it would take for him to pass 10,000.
McCoy, who has already had impressive longevity, would be the 30th player in NFL history to rush for 10,000 yards. Of the 29 currently in the 10,000-yard rushing club, 15 are Hall of Famers. Frank Gore and Adrian Peterson are active players that have rushed for over 10,000 yards that are locks to eventually have a plaque in Canton after their careers. Edgerrin James, who is 12th in league history in rushing yards, was a 2016 finalist for the Hall of Fame. Steven Jackson, who briefly played for the New England Patriots in 2016, has 11,438 career rushing yards, which gives him a case for the Hall of Fame because he has more rushing yards than Hall of Famers John Riggins and O.J. Simpson.
Getting to 10,000 yards, of course, wouldn't be enough for McCoy to be a Hall of Famer. The aforementioned Simpson ran for 11,236 yards in his career, the lowest amount of yards for any running-back in the Hall of Fame. Simpson also was one of the most dominant college running-backs of all-time (yes, that subconsciously factors in), won a league MVP and led the league in rushing yards three more times than McCoy has.
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Between McCoy and Simpson is a group of running-backs like Eddie George, Jamal Lewis and Ricky Watters, who all had very good careers, but fall short of being Hall of Fame worthy.
Probably well aware of this, McCoy has also used the hashtag "#12kchase" this offseason. In doing this, he's suggesting that though 10,000 is within reach, the number 12,000, which would almost certainly make him a Hall of Famer, is his ultimate individual goal.
How realistic is the 12,000 yard mark? McCoy enters his age-29 season 3,046 yards away from 12,000. For reference, despite missing four games over the past three seasons, McCoy ran for 3,481 yards in his last three seasons. If he starts for three more seasons and stays healthy, he would need to rush for 1,015 yards every year to reach 12,000.
George ran for 2,628 yards from age 29-31, his last three NFL seasons. Lewis retired after his age-30 season, but had a much heavier workload earlier in his career than McCoy. Simpson, who is perhaps who McCoy should be chasing in a football career sense, played until he was 32, but hit a wall at age 30, rushing for just 2,653 yards from age 29-31. As we've all heard, Father Time is undefeated. McCoy's pursuit of 12,000 will come down to whether he's able to hold him off a year or two longer than many other rushers have.
When McCoy's name is brought up, his Hall of Fame case isn't as clear-cut as other contemporaries, like Peterson. With that said, McCoy's going to rush for 10,000 yards in his career. If the Eagles' all-time leading rusher is able to complete his #12kchase, he's going to be a Hall of Famer.