AsthmaField
Outta bounds
- Messages
- 26,489
- Reaction score
- 44,544
Mods: I'm putting this in the FanZone because it also contains info on Ezekiel Elliott, Todd Gurley, etc.
_____________________________________________________
Just how good is the 2017 draft’s heralded class of running backs? A scout shares four years of RB draft grades to show where Fournette, Cook, Mixon, Kamara and McCaffrey fall in comparison to Zeke Elliott, Todd Gurley and the rest of the recent top RB prospects
We’ve heard this is a historic running back class, with as many as four players (Dalvin Cook, Leonard Fournette, Alvin Kamara and Christian McCaffrey) being discussed as first-round possibilities and a fifth (Joe Mixon) who would be in the mix if not for off-field baggage. But how good is the 2017 crop really? Have RB stocks been inflated because of an otherwise so-so year for offensive prospects? Are they getting a boost because of the first-year success of Ezekiel Elliott in Dallas and (before a sophomore slump) Todd Gurley for the Rams, causing the first-round running back to come back into vogue?
So we at The College Column performed an experiment: I asked an evaluator from an NFL team to check his final grades on recent top running back prospects, dating back to 2014, and then factor in the 2017 class. (Confession: This is not my idea. Robert Klemko conducted this exercise two years ago with quarterbacks, when Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston were the top QB prospects.)
Here, then, is Team X's top 15 running back prospects since 2014:
1. Ezekiel Elliott, Ohio State (2016)
2. Leonard Fournette, LSU (2017)
3. Dalvin Cook, Florida State (2017)
4. Todd Gurley, Georgia (2015)
.
.
.
.
.
Read the rest here: http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/04/04/...ekiel-elliott-dalvin-cook-tre-mason-christian
_____________________________________________________
Just how good is the 2017 draft’s heralded class of running backs? A scout shares four years of RB draft grades to show where Fournette, Cook, Mixon, Kamara and McCaffrey fall in comparison to Zeke Elliott, Todd Gurley and the rest of the recent top RB prospects
We’ve heard this is a historic running back class, with as many as four players (Dalvin Cook, Leonard Fournette, Alvin Kamara and Christian McCaffrey) being discussed as first-round possibilities and a fifth (Joe Mixon) who would be in the mix if not for off-field baggage. But how good is the 2017 crop really? Have RB stocks been inflated because of an otherwise so-so year for offensive prospects? Are they getting a boost because of the first-year success of Ezekiel Elliott in Dallas and (before a sophomore slump) Todd Gurley for the Rams, causing the first-round running back to come back into vogue?
So we at The College Column performed an experiment: I asked an evaluator from an NFL team to check his final grades on recent top running back prospects, dating back to 2014, and then factor in the 2017 class. (Confession: This is not my idea. Robert Klemko conducted this exercise two years ago with quarterbacks, when Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston were the top QB prospects.)
Here, then, is Team X's top 15 running back prospects since 2014:
1. Ezekiel Elliott, Ohio State (2016)
2. Leonard Fournette, LSU (2017)
3. Dalvin Cook, Florida State (2017)
4. Todd Gurley, Georgia (2015)
.
.
.
.
.
Read the rest here: http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/04/04/...ekiel-elliott-dalvin-cook-tre-mason-christian
