Stats Show Phillip Lindsay, Christian McCaffrey Among The NFL's Most Explosive Runners

(CBS4)- When you think of the most explosive runners in the NFL, it should come as no surprise that Phillip Lindsay, who earned the nickname the "Tasmanian Devil" at Denver South High School, is near the top of the list. The Denver Broncos running back came in as the sixth-most explosive runner in a list compiled by NFL.com.

He was three spots ahead of another Colorado-native and Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey, who came in ninth.

Lindsay rushed for 1,011 yards and seven touchdowns last season. He also had 22 runs of 10 yards or more. McCaffrey was more productive, rushing for 1,387 yards and 15 touchdowns and also catching 116 passes with four scores.

The difference between Lindsay and McCaffrey came from Next Gen Stats on the runs which reached or exceeded 15 mph. 21.4% of Lindsay's runs hit the 15-plus mph mark while only 18.1% of McCaffrey's runs reached 15 mph or more.

Lindsay comes into the upcoming season on the final year of his 3-year, $1.725 million rookie contact. He could see his numbers could drop a bit this season as the Broncos signed former Los Angeles Chargers tailback Melvin Gordon to a 2 year, $16 million contract in the offseason.

The Broncos host the San Francisco 49ers in the first preseason game on Aug. 15.