Kenyan Drake made big impact in short time with Cardinals

Former Arizona Cardinals running back Kenyan Drake announced Friday he was retiring from the NFL after eight seasons.

The Cardinals had Kenyan Drake for only a season and a half — a total of 23 games. In that time, he was one of the franchise’s most productive backs historically.

His per-game average for rushing yards of 69.5 is higher than any other player (minimum 20 games) other than the franchise’s all-time rushing leader, Ottis Anderson, who averaged 80.8 yards per game in his time with the Cardinals.

He averaged 80.4 yards per game in eight games in 2019. That is the sixth-highest per-game average in a single season in franchise history. Of the other five high averages, Anderson owns four of them. The other is John David Crow, who averaged 89.3 yards per game in 1960.

His 10 rushing touchdowns in 2020 were tied for the sixth-highest single-season total in franchise history. He had 18 rushing touchdowns in only 23 games.

His game in 2019 with four rushing touchdowns is tied for the second-highest single-game total in franchise history with three other players. Before that game, the last time a Cardinals player rushed for four touchdowns in a game, it was 1993 when Ronald Moore did it.

Drake’s time was relatively short in Arizona, but it was productive. Let’s not forget it.

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