LJ8's ball security - year two.

[InigoMontoya]

His rookie numbers are slightly inflated from bad snaps. I'm counting 12 fumbles in 2018. I want to say that ~4 of those were snap issue with Skura (who got a lot better in 2019). It looks like only one of the others came during a handoff (vs. Pit, Q1, 13:27 with Edwards). I'm not going to go watch them all right now, but I can provide Game, Q, and Time if desired.

He had more than 1 fumble in 2019 too. I'm counting 11 (PFR only has 9; not sure which ones they're not counting). There were 2 botched exchanges with Ingram (both against Cleveland, oddly enough). A number of times, Lamar bobbled/dropped a snap, recovered it, and gained positive yardage. Examples include:

• 4th and 1 sneak at PIT (Q3, 09:10)
• the long run at LAR (Q2, 05:39)
• a long run at CLE (Q3, 11:01)

I believe he only lost 2 fumbles: the SF play you mention (Q3, 12:13), and the botched exchange at CLE (Q1, 02:17). It also looks like he did not get strip-sacked (happened twice in 2018).

Something else to note here: Lamar touched the ball a lot more in 2019 than in 2018. His raw fumble total was roughly the same, but I'd bet he had at least twice the opportunities to fumble, if not more.

I'd have to go through the games, but at least 4 of Lamar's fumbles in 2018 were botched RPO handoffs with Gus Edwards where it was obvious Edwards didn't realize he was supposed to get the ball. With Ingram getting most of those handoffs in 2019, that issue went away.

[organizedchaos21]

I'd have to go through the games, but at least 4 of Lamar's fumbles in 2018 were botched RPO handoffs with Gus Edwards where it was obvious Edwards didn't realize he was supposed to get the ball. With Ingram getting most of those handoffs in 2019, that issue went away.

That mostly checks out. All 4 botched read-options below involved Edwards. IMO, the issue largely seemed to be Edwards expecting the ball though (he kept holding it while Jackson tried to take it back). I'll also quibble with Ingram vs. Edwards; I suspect Edwards would have been fine with read-option handoffs if he had the benefit of an offseason to practice.

Opp	Q	Time	Type	Lost
Bills	4	02:55	dropped snap (UC)	0
Steelers	1	01:27	botched read option	0
Bengals	4	10:14	dropped snap (shotgun)	0
Raiders	3	09:32	botched read option	0
@Falcons	1	05:46	botched read option	0
@Falcons	2	11:52	strip sack	1
@Falcons	2	08:27	dropped ball while scrambling	0
@Chiefs	4	12:44	strip sack	1
Bucs	1	01:29	dropped snap (shotgun)	1
@Chargers	1	08:36	botched read option	0
Browns	2	01:53	failed to cross goal line	1
Browns	4	02:41	bad pitch	0
Chargers	1	12:16	stripped, no sack	0
Chargers	1	10:21	dropped snap (shotgun)	0
Chargers	4	12:28	strip sack	1

[Greg]

2nd down on our own 36 with 44 seconds to go, 1 timeout? Color me skeptical.

With a time out that is 5-7 plays. Let's say 4 plays. For a legit shot we need to get to their 40 (57-59 yard attempt). That's 24 yards in 4 plays or 6 yards a play. That's not a lock but it was certainly a reasonable outcome.