Last week, I began my analysis of how to measure workload for running backs. Today brings Part II, another attempt to analyze workload and fantasy production.

Last year, Joique Bell finished as the 15th best running back in fantasy football. Prior to 2013, Bell had just 82 career carries, all of which came in 2012.  Meanwhile, Marshawn Lynch finished as RB5, but he had 1,452 carries prior to the 2013 season. Both players were 27 years old last year, but they had drastically different career workloads.

One obvious issue that comes up when comparing high-workload to low-workload players is that there is often a large talent gap, and Bell and Lynch present that quite clearly. Bell was an undrafted free agent out of Division II Wayne State, while Lynch was a first round pick who played in the Pac-10. What I’ll try to do today is control for “player ability” by looking at the player’s VBD in the prior season. For example, Lynch had 125 points of VBD in 2012, while Bell had 0.

From 1988 to 2013, there were 77 running backs who had a top-24 finish during their age 27 season. One thing we can look to see is whether these players “benefited” from having low mileage up to that point in their careers. I performed a regression analysis using three inputs — Carries in the player’s age 26 year (for example, 315 for Lynch), his career carries as of the end of his age 26 season (1,452 for Lynch), and his VBD in his age 26 season (125).  My output was VBD in the player’s age 27 year.  Here was the best-fit formula:

You can read the full article here. And if you have thoughts on how else to study this issue, leave them in the comments.