Wrote this for the front page blog today:
Quote:
One of Miami's biggest needs heading into this Off Season is at tailback. Lamar Miller has nice speed and acceleration, but didn't display much else last season. Daniel Thomas is depth at best, and Mike Gillislee rarely saw the field in 2013.
Miami has a lot of jobs its backs can't do, but at the end of the day they are lacking a "go-to" player at the position. Whether it's out of the backfield, short yardage, goal line, or just a 1st round carry to get a drive started, the Dolphins lack a consistent producer that they can go to.
After watching a lot of tape over the last few weeks, here is my pre-combine draft board at the running back position. Keep in mind that off the field issues aren't factored; this is just based off of tape study (and injury history for a couple of cases).
1) Tre Mason, Auburn - The only weakness in Mason's game is his pass protection. If he improves that, he's a legitimate 3-down tailback. He has tremendous lower body strength, showing the ability to push the pile for extra yards, break arm tackles, and maintain balance through contact. Mason has nice burst, good vision, and very good ability in the open field to break tackles using his power and subtle elusiveness to create difficult tackling angles. He's the type of running back that will usually get everything available inside, yet also has the ability to bust big gains.
Grade: Early 2nd round
2) Lache Seastrunk, Baylor - The most physically gifted back in this class, bar none, in my opinion. Seastrunk has ridiculous speed, acceleration, and agility. He needs to develop his game into a more traditional north-south runner, and has very little experience running out of traditional NFL sets, catching the ball out of the backfield, and in pass protection. For this reason, he's my #2 back. With that said, his physical ability is special. He also has outstanding strength and runs angry, breaking a lot more tackles than a player his size should be breaking. I think given some time, Seastrunk will be one of the better, more explosive tailbacks in football.
Grade: Early 2nd round
3) Ka'Deem Carey, Arizona - Carey is a really solid inside runner. He has enough burst and quick enough feet to get through running lanes, displaying the power and balance to break arm tackles through them. He doesn't have a lot of speed or big play ability, but he's a consistent runner inside who falls forward, and gets what's available. He's also a tough pass protector. One issue I have with Carey is the amount of carries he took in the last two seasons (652). That's a lot of hits for a running back coming out of college.
Grade: Early 3rd round
4) Charles Sims, West Virginia - Sims is the player with the best 3rd down ability in this class, bar none. He's absolutely tremendous catching the ball out of the backfield, and I expect him to line up in the slot plenty at the next level. His feet are great and in the open field makes people miss consistently. He doesn't run as tough inside as I'd like and he doesn't have breakaway speed, however he has enough on his tape that I like him as more than just a 3rd down back. He's also got great size and good pass protecting skills. Sims game is linked to Matt Forte a lot, and I agree with much of the comparison.
Grade: Early 3rd round
5) Isaiah Crowell, Alabama St. - Crowell is an interesting player. He was a big-time 5-star recruit to UGA a few years back, but was forced to transfer after some issues that will need to be looked into by NFL teams. With that said, he has really good physical ability; nice feet, burst, lower body strength, balance…you name it, he has it from a physical standpoint. He's not as special of an athlete as many projected him to be out of High School, but he's very physically gifted.
Grade: Mid 3rd round
6) Bishop Sankey, Washington - Sankey is one of the more solid, dependable backs in this class. He has nice vision, gets up to speed quickly with a nice 2nd gear, doesn't go down easily due to traffic inside, and shows the ability to make nice, subtle cuts downhill without losing momentum out of them. He's a solid north-south runner, but doesn't have a lot of big play ability at the next level, in my opinion, lacking top-end speed, or the power to break a lot of tackles. Sankey needs to improve his pass protection significantly if he wants 3rd down duties at the next level, and is only average out of the backfield. He's a mature runner though and will serve as a nice #2 back out of the gate as a rookie.
Grade: Mid 3rd round
7) Carlos Hyde, Ohio St. - I don't see Hyde as an elite power back, but he does have good power and toughness inside, combined with nice feet for a big back. Because of that I see him as a better receiving option than most would anticipate a big, power-back to be. Hyde doesn't offer enough explosiveness in his game to be considered as a premier prospect though, and I don't see him as more than a complimentary piece at the next level. Still, short yardage and 10 carries a game inside to set the tempo is valuable, and Hyde can do those things effectively for you.
Grade: Late 3rd round
8) Jeremy Hill, LSU - Hill is another really interesting prospect. He's a huge back with nice speed and acceleration for his size. If you try to tackle him high, you'll lose and look silly doing it. I'm not sure Hill has the balance that Hyde and Carey have, and he runs very high. He's also an immature player on the field, (and supposedly off of it), and will need good coaching to fix up his game. With that said, Hill's combination of size and speed don't come around very often.
Grade: Late 3rd round
9) Davonta Freeman, FSU - Freeman is somebody I want to put much higher on my list. He's a small back, but runs TOUGH, has really quick feet, good speed, acceleration, and is a major threat out of the backfield. His lack of size gets to me though and I'm not sure his athletic ability is special enough to make up for it. I do like Freeman a lot as a scat-back and somebody who can take carries on all 3 downs at the next level.
Grade: Early 4th round
*At this point, there's a bigger gap between prospects than we've seen above.
10) De'Anthony Thomas, Oregon - In the right scheme, Thomas' elite speed and acceleration can be utilized to create big plays. With that said, I do think it will take a creative coach to be able to use Thomas to his potential. He won't run inside at the next level, but he can be a threat as a kick returner and in certain looks offensively. His speed is rare and you have to find a way to use it.
Grade: Mid-late 4th round
11) Andre Williams, Boston College - Williams doesn't have a lot of explosiveness, but he does run angry and has a lot of power. I'm not sure he'll be a threat out of the backfield, or be able to take runs to the outside in the NFL, but he should be a nice complimentary piece in your backfield. Williams short-yardage conversion rate is not what you would like it to have been though (less than 50%).
Grade: Late 4th round
12) Silas Redd, USC - As mentioned at the top, these rankings are based solely on tape, with the exception of the injury bug affecting a couple of guys. Redd is one of them. He struggled with injuries all last season and is still currently rehabbing a serious knee injury. With that said, some of Redd's tape when healthy is awesome. He runs hard, low to the ground, has nice burst through the hole, breaks tackles, has good balance, he cuts well, finishes runs with emphasis and purpose, nice vision and good patience as well. He doesn't have an elite quality that stands out, but if healthy Redd could prove to be a very good player at the next level. He's lower on the list because of his injury history though.
Grade: Late 4th round
13) James Wilder Jr., FSU - Wilder has a lot of talent that didn't necessarily translate onto the field at FSU, and might not at the next level either. He's tall and runs high, making him susceptible to body shots and not allowing him to break as many arm tackles, not displaying as much balance as I'd like to see. With that said, he's strong, finishes runs, has really good athleticism, and enough burst through the hole. He lacks breakaway speed, but does have enough athletic ability to get be intrigued.
Grade: Late 4th round
14) Jerrick McKinnon, Georgia Southern - McKinnon was mostly a QB at GSU, but will be a running back at the next level. I haven't been able to watch as much tape as I'd like because of its availability, but against Florida he displayed a couple of things that got me excited. He has really good speed and acceleration, and has a thick body. McKinnon doesn't shy from contact and runs tough despite his 5'9 size.
Grade: 5th round
15) James White, Wisconsin - White has good balance and subtle elusiveness, making himself slippery. He has nice vision and decent acceleration. White finishes runs hard, but doesn't break a lot of tackles and doesn't have a lot of speed. He lacks top-end physical traits, but has a lot of "solid" in his game.
Grade: 5th round
16) Terrance West, Towson - A lot of people are high on West, and I can see why. He's a big back, but has nice feet and agility for his size. My concern is that he comes from a small school with lower competition, and his tape against FBS programs showed me a lack of initiating contact, something I need from big backs.
Grade: 5th round
17) Rajion Neal, Tennessee - Neal is a nice little shifty, quick back who has nice speed in the open field and enough to get to the edge. He runs hard, but lacks size and power. He has nice vision, but doesn't work through traffic as well as I'd like.
Grade: 5th round
18) David Fluellen, Toledo - A long-strider with deceptive speed, acceleration, and quickness. He's 225 lbs, but doesn't play like it enough, not breaking enough tackles and not showing me great balance. Fluellen needs to run lower to the ground, running too high at Toledo.
Grade: 5th round
19) Antonio Andrews, Western Kentucky - Andrews is a battering ram, but one without much burst or quickness. He runs downhill and breaks tackles through the hole which is nice, also being decisive and cutting well. He doesn't have open field ability though and is purely a short-yardage back.
Grade: Late round
20) Storm Johnson, UCF - Johnson has deceptive downhill speed, cuts well through the hole, and has some power in his game. With that said, he doesn't have much elusiveness, disappointing balance, and misses a lot of holes due to heavy feet.
Grade: Late round
21) Tyler Gaffney, Stanford - Gaffney doesn't go down easily at all, but he runs high and doesn't really punish defenders by initiating low contact. He gets up to speed well, but doesn't have much explosiveness, or elusiveness in his game.
Grade: Late round
22) Tim Flanders, Sam Houston St. - Good speed and quickness, with some shiftiness in space. Flanders also displays some nice balance and elusiveness. He's an absolute zero in his pass protection though, and a very small back who doesn't have much in the way of power. While has good speed/quickness, it's not enough to make up for his size. Still, there could be a role for him in the future.
Grade: Late round
23) Marion Grice, Arizona St. - Grice has nice receiving ability, but that's about it. He runs soft, never initiating contact and would rather squirm around defenders than work through them; that said he doesn't have the elusiveness or agility to do so. Grice does have a nice feel for what he's supposed to do and you can see his smarts on the field, but doesn't have much in the way of physical ability to get it done. With that said, his receiving ability is valuable, and if you can get him to run harder he can become a player worth a roster spot and role in your offense.
Grade: Late round - Undrafted
24) Kapri Bibbs, CSU - Similar to Flanders, he's a small, but shifty and quick tailback. He doesn't have any power and runs too indecisive at times. He doesn't have enough speed or elusiveness to make up for his weaknesses.
Grade: Late round - Undrafted
While there are still some prospects I haven't watched the tape of yet, there is my board as of right now, pre-combine. Things will change slightly after it, but I hope this gives you some insight into the RB picture.
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