NeonDeion21
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The new motto of late in the NFL is that you can find running backs late in the draft. The NFL has devalued the position, as evidence,no running backs where selected in the first round in 2013 for the first time in over 50 years. Teams are waiting until late in day three to find their backs. In recent years, Andre Ellington and Alfred Morris are examples of late round steals in the 6th round or later. As for the Cowboys, I don't believe they are out of the running back market just yet because they have DeMarco Murray and drafted Joseph Randle in the fifth round last year. Phillip Tanner is a free agent who won't be back and Lance Dunbar is coming back from a very serious knee injury. You also have to keep in mind that Murray is a free agent in 2015 and isn't the most durable of backs. The team very well could spend a mid-to late pick on a running back, despite the fact that Murray is coming off a career year.
This leads me to a player I fell in love with when watching my favorite school, Florida, lose to Georgia Southern. In that game, Georgia Southern threw only three passes all game, completing none, and still beat Florida 26-20 with the explosive play of wing back Jerick McKinnon. A Swiss army knife at Georgia Southern, Mckinnon played three different positions in school, including quarterback, and racked up 3899 yards rushing in four years to go along with 55 touchdowns. If you want to watch him in this game, here is the video below. I think you will come away impressed.
If I am drafting a running back late, I want him to have at least one special quality. Whether that be as a receiver, terrific speed or size, or just a great athlete in general. Other than Adrian Peterson, there may not be a better athlete playing the running back position in the entire country. I know that sounds like a crazy statement, but we will get to his physical attributes in a second to prove that. If you aren't familiar with spider-charts, (provided by mockdraftable.com), the chart below shows McKinnon's measurables at the NFL Combine compared to all other running backs since 1999. For example, McKinnon's bench press (32 reps) was in the 99th percentile of all running backs. Got it? Let's take a look:
http://mockdraftable.com/player_embed/4551/selected/graph/
I encourage you to read the rest of the scouting report on Jerick McKinnon here: http://all22breakdown.com/?p=954
This leads me to a player I fell in love with when watching my favorite school, Florida, lose to Georgia Southern. In that game, Georgia Southern threw only three passes all game, completing none, and still beat Florida 26-20 with the explosive play of wing back Jerick McKinnon. A Swiss army knife at Georgia Southern, Mckinnon played three different positions in school, including quarterback, and racked up 3899 yards rushing in four years to go along with 55 touchdowns. If you want to watch him in this game, here is the video below. I think you will come away impressed.
If I am drafting a running back late, I want him to have at least one special quality. Whether that be as a receiver, terrific speed or size, or just a great athlete in general. Other than Adrian Peterson, there may not be a better athlete playing the running back position in the entire country. I know that sounds like a crazy statement, but we will get to his physical attributes in a second to prove that. If you aren't familiar with spider-charts, (provided by mockdraftable.com), the chart below shows McKinnon's measurables at the NFL Combine compared to all other running backs since 1999. For example, McKinnon's bench press (32 reps) was in the 99th percentile of all running backs. Got it? Let's take a look:
http://mockdraftable.com/player_embed/4551/selected/graph/
I encourage you to read the rest of the scouting report on Jerick McKinnon here: http://all22breakdown.com/?p=954
