C.J. Spiller a Perfect Fit as Sean Payton's Newest Gadget Weapon

The New Orleans Saints are making over their roster this offseason. A lot has been made of the team trading away tight end Jimmy Graham earlier this week and wide receiver Kenny Stills on Friday, as reported by Yahoo's Rand Getlin. But not enough focus has landed on the players and draft picks the Saints added.

One of the latest confirmed additions is running back C.J. Spiller, who is perfect for head coach Sean Payton’s offense. Spiller will be Payton’s newest gadget weapon, a role that has served the Saints well for years.

In the past, Payton has used Reggie Bush, Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas in the role. Thomas and Bush are both 30 years old. Spiller is 27 with just 668 attempts in five years in the league, so it’s no wonder why the Saints opted to add him to the mix.

What the Saints have realized is that their offense is at its best with a top-notch gadget player or two. The offense doesn’t need a great tight end or an efficient wide receiver if it has nontraditional offensive weapons. To Payton, they are virtually interchangeable, and weapons like Spiller come at great value.

Since 2006, they’ve had nine players finish with 48 or more carries and 800 yards from scrimmage that derived 40 percent or more of their yards through the air. They had two such players per season from 2011 through 2013. Bush, Sproles and Thomas all did it three times.

Gadget Player	Year	Att	Rec	Scrimmage Yards	TD
Reggie Bush	2006	155	88	1,307	8
Reggie Bush*	2007	157	73	998	6
Reggie Bush	2008	106	52	844	6
Darren Sproles	2011	87	86	1,313	9
Pierre Thomas	2011	110	50	987	6
Darren Sproles	2012	48	75	911	8
Pierre Thomas	2012	105	39	827	2
Pierre Thomas*	2013	147	77	1,062	5
Darren Sproles	2013	53	71	824	4

The Saints didn’t have a player hit this threshold in 2014.

In the other years they didn’t have one, they usually offset it in some way or had injury issues. In 2009, when they won the Super Bowl, Thomas only derived about a third of his yards in the passing game, but he carried the ball more often.

The last two times the Saints have had more than 430 rushing attempts in a season, they won 13 games. In both instances (2009 and 2011), they had the best offense in the league in terms of yardage, either the best or the second-best offense in points scored and a below-average defense.

It all sounds familiar.

B/R

Overall, the only years the Saints didn’t have a gadget player as defined above under Payton and didn’t offset it by running the ball more often were in 2010 and 2014. Quarterback Drew Brees had his worst performance as a Saint in 2010 with just 33 touchdowns, 22 interceptions and 7.0 yards per attempt. His 2014 performance wasn’t much better than that one despite having Graham and Stills catching passes.

In 2011, the Saints put a focus on running the ball more and did well. Expect them to shift more of the load to the running game in 2015 but also find ways to get the ball into Spiller’s hands in space.

In Spiller’s career, only 26.5 percent of his yards have come in the passing game. Sproles was over 70 percent in 2012 and 2013. Bush was around 50 percent from 2006 to 2008. It’s probably risky to think Spiller will be like Sproles from that perspective. He’s more of a younger, better version of Thomas, and the Saints are taking a risk that he can be effective with more volume in the passing game. 

Gadget	Year	Rec. Yards/Yards From Scrimmage %
C.J. Spiller	2011	32.4%
C.J. Spiller	2012	27.0%
C.J. Spiller	2013	16.5%
Reggie Bush	2006	56.8%
Reggie Bush*	2007	41.8%
Reggie Bush	2008	52.1%
Pierre Thomas	2011	43.1%
Darren Sproles	2011	54.1%
Pierre Thomas	2012	42.8%
Darren Sproles	2012	73.2%
Pierre Thomas*	2013	48.3%
Darren Sproles	2013	73.3%

While Thomas has been closer to 45 percent as a gadget player, in 2009, he carried the ball 147 times and produced just 27.5 percent of his yards through the air. Mike Bell got more carries, but he didn’t give the Saints much in the passing game.

The Saints did a similar split with Deuce McAllister and Bush in 2006. Mark Ingram will likely get the bulk of the carries, but Spiller will probably get more total touches. That’s what you would expect considering Spiller’s contract is slightly more than Ingram’s contract in both total and guarantees, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Given Spiller’s career split, the Saints may decide to run the ball a bit more than in past seasons. Given what they’ve done on the offensive line that would make perfect sense.

Center Max Unger, who came over in the Graham trade, was Pro Football Focus’ fourth-best run-blocking center in the league last season. Ben Grubbs, whom the Saints traded to the Chiefs, graded out as the worst run-blocker of the Saints' starting five offensive linemen.

With better blocking than he had in Buffalo last year, Spiller should be able to create explosive plays in the run and pass game. He’s done it in the past, but the Saints may ask him to do more than he ever has in the passing game.  

Mike Groll/Associated Press

In his best season of 2012, Spiller finished fifth in the league among running backs with 1.90 yards per route run, according to PFF. Sproles was first and Thomas was ninth that season for the Saints. Until last year, Spiller was usually also in the top few running backs for making big runs.

Back in 2011, Sproles created many big run plays for the Saints. In 2009, Thomas did the same. Payton knows how to put his running backs in position for success, and he finally has a young back loaded with talent who can help his offense rebound. Expect big things from Spiller, who may prove to be one of the biggest bargains in free agency despite his price tag.  

Unless otherwise noted, all statistics via Pro-Football-Reference or Pro Football Focus (subscription required).