RB debate continues, R Rice vs. Felix Jones

[Rampage]

a great center of gravity, w/ a huge lower body, combined w/ keeping your legs churning, and you have a hard back to stop

yeah that's nice but we already have one of those. we will not draft rice and will draft a rb who is actually faster than barber.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

yeah that's nice but we already have one of those. we will not draft rice and will draft a rb who is actually faster than barber.

if thats the only criteria then we should just resign Jones.

 

[conner01]

i think rice is a more complete back. he would do better than felix if he had to carry the load.
but felix is more than just a compliment to mb3, he is also one of the best return guys in the nation.
here is the thing, if mb3 stays healthy you will get more out of felix than you would rice with his return ability.
i would be happy with either as they are both good. but with either i think we need another rb later in the draft. we are loosing two rb's so i think we must replace two rb's

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Unlike Julius. He loves his guns and running to the pile. :

:laugh2:

 

[marchetta]

Here's Drew's List of RBs that he's watched film of and profiled. "Round" is where the player's talent ranks him, and not necessarily the round he'll be selected. He's only ranked the RBs he's done a profile of, so J.Stewart and T.Choice aren't ranked yet. FWIW, he ranks RR among the top 10 PLAYERS in this draft.

ROUND PLAYER
1 Darren McFadden
1 Ray Rice
2 Felix Jones
2 Thomas Brown
2 Chris Johnson
3 Mike Hart
2 Cory Boyd

 

[Bob Sacamano]

I thought he ranked CJ as a round 1 talent?

and could I see the Cory Boyd scouting report, as well as the Mike Hart one?

 

[Woods]

I thought he ranked CJ as a round 1 talent?

and could I see the Cory Boyd scouting report, as well as the Mike Hart one?

Cory Boyd RB South Carolina

STRENGTHS
Cory is a powerful, one-cut runner who reminds me on and off the field of Cory Dillon (former RB New England Patriots). He has excellent natural leg strength and is an instinctive blocker. Along with having good hands for passes out of the backfield, he has just enough wiggle and burst to make him a very dangerous threat to collect chunks of yardage once he is beyond the line of scrimmage. Cory is a load to bring down in the open field and understands how to keep the chains moving. He is an instinctive runner who runs with power and quickness.

NEEDS TO IMPROVE
Did a search on Cory because I wanted to know why no one was talking about him. I found out that he got suspended from the team for off field issues that no one seems to know anything about, but knew enough about to suspend him! Cory doesn’t have breakaway speed and looks like he would be a fit as a systems RB. I’ll be honest with you…guys like this depress me.

TALENT BOARD ROUND 2 X C
This kid is very talented, but there are just too many RB’s in this draft to bother drafting him in my opinion. The truth is that you can draft a RB in any round in this draft. In fact, you can even get one later on after the draft in the rookie free agency pool. So, even with all his talent, my suggestion is to pass on him and let someone else deal with this nonsense and baggage. It’s not worth the problems. Maybe Cory will be drafted and turn out to be an excellent player. I hope that happens and I wish him well, but if I owned a team, I just wouldn’t “wish him well and hope he turns out alright” with any of my money -- not even in free agency.

 

[Woods]

I thought he ranked CJ as a round 1 talent?

and could I see the Cory Boyd scouting report, as well as the Mike Hart one?

Mike Hart RB Michigan

STRENGTHS
At the college level, Mike is a powerful, determined runner. He has excellent leg strength and good overall stamina. He has great leadership skills and has been the emotional leader of his team, on and off the field. Mike does a solid job reading defenses and picking up the blitz. He is a team player and wants to win. He makes the players around him better by his play on the field and shows good hands out of the backfield. Mike reminds me of Tiki Barbara (former RB - Garden State Giants.)

NEEDS TO IMPROVE
Mike is a system RB. By that, I mean to impact at the next level he needs to be in the right system. He is a slashing style RB that doesn’t have good lateral agility in the hole. He is not a finesse, “make you miss” type of running back. He is a one cut, north and south runner that needs to keep his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage. Mike’s style of play and his lack of size and bulk makes the possibility of injuries at the next level a main concern for the team that drafts him. Mike is a power runner who lacks the bulk for the next level to be a power runner, but I think he is worth the chance.

TALENT BOARD ROUND 3
Mike Hart’s biggest strength is his leadership skills and his passion to compete and play his best every time he carries the ball. He is not the biggest RB, but overcomes the size factor with intelligence and passion. Mike will impact right away in a zone blocking scheme like the Denver Broncos use. I know he will be a good special teams player and an asset to the team that drafts him in this capacity. I can see him impacting on punt returns right away. Mike has first round talent, but most likely will not be picked in the first round and that makes him one of my sleepers in this draft. If he is picked by the right team and is in the right scheme, he could wind up as the rookie of the year. But I’m not convinced that most teams are smart enough to realize that. Most of the time, system players are passed over for more athletic players who can fit any scheme, which is understandable because of the revolving Head Coach situation that is happening in the NFL. A new head coach will bring in a new system and that new system might not fit Michael’s talents and strengths. As I said before, Mike reminds me a lot of Tiki Barber. It took Tiki a while before he became consistent, found the right system and overcame injuries enough to stay on the field. If Mike is drafted into the right system, all he will have to overcome is the possibility of multiple injuries to become as good as Tiki was.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

thanks, Woods

 

[marchetta]

I thought he ranked CJ as a round 1 talent?

and could I see the Cory Boyd scouting report, as well as the Mike Hart one?

No, he ranked CJ as a 2nd rd talent. He likes his potential to be a feature back after a years offseason, and thinks he could develop into a faster version of B.Westbrook, but CJ isn't ready to be anything more than a 3rd down back his 1st year, and maybe get a few carries as a change of pace RB, so that's why he got a 2nd rd grade.

 

[Iago33]

BLeonard (I assume that's who that is) likes to jump over people. That's a good way to get killed.

Rice has nice moves and very good vision. He looks quick in bursts, but I just hate seeing a running back run down by someone who starts five yards behind him...

 

[vlad]

I'd definitely go with Ray Rice. No question. Someone mentioned the back that will get you 4 yards on 3rd and 2.

He is a true RB, not just a runner. Setting up blocks is such a critical skill for a RB, and I think he does it better than anyone coming out, by far. Living in the NE I've watched him quite a bit, and he translates well to the NFL imho.

With Felix, while I haven't seen him as much, I get the feeling he is like a Reggie Bush. We see how well that is working out with his 3.5 ypc. He'll rip a long run off no doubt, but I think in the NFL when talent is so much better, he won't be able to outrun as easily, or more importantly frequently to the corner.

I'm all for Ray Rice, trade an early pick for Roy W (if that rumor is true), and then pick up a CB. 3 key areas of need, Ray won't need time to "develop", neither will Roy who would be the 1st WR in this draft, even at that old age of 25 that seems to scare board members away. And as for CB, well we saw Reeves get picked on too much. Could be a function of lack of pressure (don't tell me sack numbers), or just could be he's not that good. Either way, you'd like to have some options other than forking $80million over to Newman.

 

[marchetta]

BLeonard (I assume that's who that is) likes to jump over people. That's a good way to get killed.

Rice has nice moves and very good vision. He looks quick in bursts, but I just hate seeing a running back run down by someone who starts five yards behind him...

If you're referring to that Youtube video, you do realize that CB chasing him down from 5 yards back was CB Darrell Revis (sp?) 1st rd pick of the Jets. He's probably one of the fastest CBs in the NFL, and he'd run down most NFL RBs, not named A.Petersen, from 10 yards back.

 

[Rack]

I just left a chat room w/ Drew. He said that Ray Rice rates as a top 10 player in this draft, even though he won't be selected that high. He says that RR is a combination of Emmitt Smith and Thurman Thomas (2 Hall of Famers). Wow! Also, RR has what BP calls the perfect RB body type. He's ~5'10 ~200Lbs. He has huge thighs, like Emmitt and Barry, and not a lot of surface area to hit. Guys of his stature usually have longer careers than guys like DMac, because no one is tackling them by cutting them at the knees. They're just to short for defenders to dive at their legs, so most of their contact is from the waist up. This makes guys like this extremely durable.

Agreed.

I hope we draft him.

 

[Iago33]

If you're referring to that Youtube video, you do realize that CB chasing him down from 5 yards back was CB Darrell Revis (sp?) 1st rd pick of the Jets. He's probably one of the fastest CBs in the NFL, and he'd run down most NFL RBs, not named A.Petersen, from 10 yards back.

Fair point. I still don't like it because I would love a homerun threat like AD.

 

[WV Cowboy]

ROUND PLAYER
1 Darren McFadden
1 Ray Rice
2 Felix Jones
2 Thomas Brown
2 Chris Johnson
3 Mike Hart
2 Cory Boyd

After looking at that list, it seems we could get Steve Slaton in a lower round.

That would be a great 4-6 round pickup.