O.J. Carano
 Carano with the Jets during the 2017 NFLHC Season. | |||||||||||||
No. 33 Retired | |||||||||||||
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| Running back | |||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth: Little Falls, Minnesota | |||||||||||||
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Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: Little Falls High School, Little Falls, Minnesota | |||||||||||||
| College: Minnesota Golden Gophers | |||||||||||||
| NFL Draft: 2015 / Round: 2 / Pick: 37 | |||||||||||||
| Debuted in 2015 for the New York Jets | |||||||||||||
Career history
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| Roster status: Active | |||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards
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Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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O.J. Carano, known as "Juice", is a former American football runningback who played for the New York Jets and New York Giants. At the time of his retirement, he was 5th in all-time career rushing yards.
Contents
College career
2013 Season
Carano was used heavily in his first season at Minnesota as a true sophomore. He rushed for 1422 yards and 12 touchdowns.
2014 Season
Carano improved on his previous year in his junior season, improving his yards per carry by 0.5 and rushing for 18 touchdowns on the season. Carano became known nation-wide as a bruising runner who was not brought down easily from contact.
College statistics
| Year | Passing | Rushing | Receiving | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rating | Comp | Att | Pct | Yards | TD | Int | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | |||
| 2013 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 282 | 1,422 | 5.04 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 4.0 | 0 | ||
| 2014 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 253 | 1,429 | 5.65 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Totals | 22 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 535 | 2,851 | 5.33 | 30 | 2 | 8 | 4.0 | 0 | ||
Professional career
Pre-draft
Carano decided to forgo his senior season at Minnesota and enter the draft. Based on pre-draft rankings, he was considered anywhere from the first to fifth best runningback available in the draft.
| Ht | Wt | 40-yd dash | Shuttle | 3-cone | Vert | Broad | BP | Wonderlic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 11 in | 217 lb | 4.66 s | 31 in | 22 reps | ||||
Draft
Carano was selected with the 37th overall pick of the 2014 NFLHC Draft by the New York Jets. He was the third RB selected, after Detroit's Quincy Turner and Green Bay's Chad Dess.
2015 Season
Though incumbent starting runningback Brian Kiel had a solid season in 2014, Carano impressed the coaches enough in camp to take the starting job. However, with the Jets' scheme switch to the triple option, Carano began splitting carries with Kiel at the RB position, though he received more of the carries as the technical starting runningback. In his 10th career game, Carano reached 1,000 career yards from scrimmage. He had an overall successful season in New York, finishing second in the NFL in rushing yards, 5 ahead of Chester Henson.
Carano qualified for the 2015 Pro Bowl.
2016 Season
Carano struggled a bit coming out of the triple option, though with new QB Erik Wegert he showed a new ability to catch the ball effectively out of the backfield.
2017 Season
Carano had a solid season statistically, though it was a bit of a downturn yards-wise he did increase his touchdown numbers.
2018 Season
Carano struggled to begin the season; then, in the Jets' London game against Minnesota in Week 7, he hurt his knee, causing him to miss 2 months. In the final 2 games of the regular season, finally healthy, he began to show signs of improvement to old form, averaging 4.8 YPC with 2 rushing TD. He also managed to have his best season yet as a receiver.
Regular season
Year Team Games Starts Rushing Receiving Rating Att Yds Avg TD Fumbles Rec Yds Avg TD 2015 NYJ 14 14 223 1,377 6.17 14 1 4 42 10.5 1 81 2016 NYJ 12 12 244 1,136 4.66 8 2 7 118 16.86 3 87 2017 NYJ 15 15 306 1,354 4.42 13 0 10 146 14.6 1 94 2018 NYJ 8 8 162 709 4.38 4 1 11 217 19.73 4 94 2019 NYG 16 16 360 1,595 4.43 13 2 0 0 0 0 94 2020 NYG 14 14 312 1,350 4.33 6 7 0 0 0 0 92 2021 NYG 16 16 271 1,085 4.00 7 4 16 241 15.06 2 89 2022 NYG 16 16 203 922 4.54 7 5 2 19 9.50 0 88 2023 NYG 6 6 79 286 3.62 3 1 0 0 0 0 85 Career 117 117 2,170 9,814 4.52 75 23 50 783 15.66 11
