Zeke or Barkley? Who was the better prospect

[CalPolyTechnique]

Coming out of college it is Barkley. He doesn't have the personality questions Zeke had plus he was the more explosive college player. For people that think Barkley can't get tough yards you must not have watched him in college. He has power. Not Zeke power but he is a power runner.

He's actually bigger than Zeke

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

Barkley is the real deal.

This will be Emmitt/Barry lite. Both will be successful in different ways.

Can't be.

You MUST choose one.

 

[Direwolf63]

Why do you think he's a better prospect? It appears to me that EZ's skillset transfers better to the NFL.

Well more than one scout said he was the highest rated prospect since Payton Manning. So there's that.

Barkley has a great combination of speed and power. Excellent receiving skills. Can return kickoffs, if need be. Only his blocking skills lag behind Zeke. Zeke is thicker so is probably better at 3rd and 2. Barkley is an excellent character guy.

Nobody is slagging Zeke. He was a great prospect coming out and has been great so far. He has a better o-line to run behind so I think he will have more success than Barkley. At least for this season.

I believe our defense will have problems stopping Barkley, especially in space. I think of how Gurley smashed this defense last year and fear Barkley might do the same.

We'll see.

 

[QuincyCarterEra]

Better than Georgia's OL? Disagree. Georgia is known for their O trench players. Who was on EZ's that makes you think they were so much better?

It's not close.

Taylor Decker is a top 10 OT in the NFL. Then there's 2nd rounder(I believe) Pat Elfiein
1st rounder Billy Price

Jamarco Jones was a back up that year I believe so I wont include him.

There's not a single 2014 Georgia Oline that I can identify according to sports-references roster.

 

[Diehardblues]

Why do we as fans always try and discredit players due to the supporting cast. Zeke is a generational talent. Period. He would have done well anywhere he went. Probably not to the 2016 extent. But still awesome.

We don’t know that. It’s a subjective argument.

I think it’s a fair assumption our situation and OL optimized his production.

And if it’s not to the 2016 extent pending how far that drops he’s not Leading rusher and the aweness is not near as great.

 

[phildadon86]

We don’t know that. It’s a subjective argument.

I think it’s a fair assumption our situation and OL optimized his production.

And if it’s not to the 2016 extent pending how far that drops he’s not Leading rusher and the aweness is not near as great.

Zeke's vision is elite. I dont quite understand why we have to take things away from our players because we built a great OL. So the front office shouldnt be doing good things so that we can appreciate guys like Zeke more?

 

[RoboQB]

Last year I saw Barkley play against Ohio State and USC. I know he had over 300 total yards against USC in Rose Bowl. Did well in both games. Saw him play a patsy in 2016 but can’t remember who.

My point earlier was that it remains to be seen who’s better, but where Barkley had a higher rating than Zeke was character. He also compared well to Zeke in several areas.

My comparison of the two RBs strengths compared to each other:
Zeke
1. Has more power than Barkley.
2. Has excellent speed. Not as much as Barkley
3. Excellent receiver- so is Barkley.
4. Great blocker- better than Barkley.
5. Zeke is strong conditioned athlete- Barkey is better conditioned and stronger.

Barkley
1. Less power than Zeke.
2. More speed than Zeke.
3. As good as Zeke as receiver
4. Not as good a blocker as Zeke.
5. Much stronger and better conditioned than Zeke.

Again...pretty close in skill but remains to be seen who’s better in NFL.

Thanks Bob. I respect your analysis and enjoy reading your posts even if I may disagree once in a while.

 

[CowboyGil]

We don’t know that. It’s a subjective argument.

I think it’s a fair assumption our situation and OL optimized his production.

And if it’s not to the 2016 extent pending how far that drops he’s not Leading rusher and the aweness is not near as great.

It is a fair assumption that our O Line optimized his production, but so did his vision, athletic ability and skill. And it's also a fair assumption to say that a 2nd or 3rd round RB would not have had the season he did in 2016.

 

[Diehardblues]

Zeke's vision is elite. I dont quite understand why we have to take things away from our players because we built a great OL. So the front office shouldnt be doing good things so that we can appreciate guys like Zeke more?

We don’t but the point remains our situation and OL is an optimum situation for a RB.

It was for Murray even McFadden. It’s very likely serving Elliott well too.

 

[Diehardblues]

It is a fair assumption that our O Line optimized his production, but so did his vision, athletic ability and skill. And it's also a fair assumption to say that a 2nd or 3rd round RB would not have had the season he did in 2016.

Murray was a 3rd round pick.

 

[G2]

Yep and they don’t all have our OL,

Sometimes neither do we.

 

[Diehardblues]

Sometimes neither do we.

Which is a great example.

 

[G2]

Which is a great example.

You keep suggesting Elliott is a product of this great O line. How great was it last season?

 

[CowboyGil]

Murray was a 3rd round pick.

Zeke did it in one less game and 70 less carries.

 

[Bullflop]

Not sure exactly why it matters who's the best -- we're fortunate to have someone who gets it done so well for us. That's all I care about!

 

[Diehardblues]

You keep suggesting Elliott is a product of this great O line. How great was it last season?

Elliott is a great talent on his own but his production is arguably being optimized by our focus on running game and our OL.

 

[eternaljester81]

Both Brugler and Broaddus said they had a better grade on Zeke than Barkley.

 

[G2]

Elliott is a great talent on his own but his production is arguably being optimized by our focus on running game and our OL.

Name a RB who's not getting O line help and is still elite.
Elliott is arguably the best RB in the NFL. There are a couple close, but he's got it all.

Missing 6 games with the weight of the world on his back, a complete garbage LG, missing the LT, a new RT and he STILL rushes for 1,000?

 

[Diehardblues]

Zeke did it in one less game and 70 less carries.

Zeke is obviously a greater talent than Murray but this OL has produced 2 different league leading rushers and another 1,000 yard rusher who only started 10 games.

 

[G2]

Zeke is obviously a greater talent than Murray but this OL has produced 2 different league leading rushers and another 1,000 yard rusher who only started 10 games.

You're giving last season's O line too much credit. It was far from elite.