2018 RB rookie discussion

[Defender]

Thought I would post my RB ranks on here to start some debate:

1 Saquan Barkely, PSU
2 Derrius Guice, LSU
3 Ronald Jones, USC
4 John Kelly, Tennessee
5 Mark Walton, Miami
6 Kerryon Johnson, Auburn
7 Sony Michel, Georgia
8 Rashad Penny, San Diego St
9 Jordan Wilkins, Ole Miss
10 Royce Freeman, Oregon
11 Josh Adams, Notre Dame
12 Nick Chubb, Georgia
13 Bo Scarbrough, Alabama
14 Kalen Ballage, Arizona St
15 Ito Smith, Southern Miss
16 Akrum Wadley, Iowa

Just curious, have you left out certain players because you don’t like them, or you just haven’t looked into them yet? For example, Jaylen Samuel and LJ Scott?

I appreciate your contribution. It’s always informative to see personal rankings, and yours show much more detail than most.

[clarion contrarion]

I cannot speak for the ranker but did see LJ Scott went back to school and samuels is testing as a TE at the combine so perhaps that is his rationale .

[Defender]

I cannot speak for the ranker but did see LJ Scott went back to school and samuels is testing as a TE at the combine so perhaps that is his rationale .

That’s weird considering Samuels was a RB in the senior bowl, and not bad either. Thank you for the update on Scott, hadn’t heard yet.

[Chwf3rd]

Thought I would post my RB ranks on here to start some debate:

1 Saquan Barkely, PSU
2 Derrius Guice, LSU
3 Ronald Jones, USC
4 John Kelly, Tennessee
5 Mark Walton, Miami
6 Kerryon Johnson, Auburn
7 Sony Michel, Georgia
8 Rashad Penny, San Diego St
9 Jordan Wilkins, Ole Miss
10 Royce Freeman, Oregon
11 Josh Adams, Notre Dame
12 Nick Chubb, Georgia
13 Bo Scarbrough, Alabama
14 Kalen Ballage, Arizona St
15 Ito Smith, Southern Miss
16 Akrum Wadley, Iowa

Just curious, have you left out certain players because you don’t like them, or you just haven’t looked into them yet? For example, Jaylen Samuel and LJ Scott?

I appreciate your contribution. It’s always informative to see personal rankings, and yours show much more detail than most.

I love Samuels but I have him under my TE rankings. Not a perfect fit but I don’t do FB rankings so I thought TE is a cleaner fit than RB. Everyone else not listed I haven’t watched yet. I really wanna watch Hines from N.C. State but I can’t find any cut ups of him.

[dynastyninja]

I've got to dive in on Ronald Jones a little more, so take this with a grain of salt, but I wasn't overly impressed with the guy. He could be good, but I definitely think I've got at least 4-5 backs ahead of him.

Watched a little more and he's growing on me. Not sure where I'd rank him now.

[osubuckeyeman]

Ohio State seemed to stop Jones cold but that is just one game. The whole USC offense was a bit disappointing.

[James McGhee]

Ohio State seemed to stop Jones cold but that is just one game. The whole USC offense was a bit disappointing.

I weighted this game heavily in my take on Jones. Ohio St has much better athletes overall than many of the teams Jones faced. He's got to show he can ball against tough opponents.

[DJB]

Ohio State seemed to stop Jones cold but that is just one game. The whole USC offense was a bit disappointing.

I weighted this game heavily in my take on Jones. Ohio St has much better athletes overall than many of the teams Jones faced. He's got to show he can ball against tough opponents.

I generally like to watch prospects at any position go up against quality defense. Blowing up sub par competition falsely inflates how they look in my eyes.

[cweds]

Ohio State seemed to stop Jones cold but that is just one game. The whole USC offense was a bit disappointing.

I weighted this game heavily in my take on Jones. Ohio St has much better athletes overall than many of the teams Jones faced. He's got to show he can ball against tough opponents.

Have you watched his WSU game? I haven't but his numbers look good.

[Go Bucks]

Ohio State seemed to stop Jones cold but that is just one game. The whole USC offense was a bit disappointing.

OSU defensive line against USC offensive line was a huge mismatch. USC O-line was below average all year. It contributed to many of Darnold's struggles. And it makes Jones' stats even more impressive. After the combine he'll be ranked by most as RB3 or RB4 in this class.

[hjernazian]

I don’t like anything I’m seeing on Chubb post injury. Seriously. Call me crazy but we take players we love outside the first two picks and hope to bank. I would let Chubb drop past me with a late first.

[clarion contrarion]

When I watch tape ,I try to watch 2 types of games one or two against the very best comp the player plays to see how he reacts & performs against teams with NFL type players . 2nd I try to watch against over matched opponents as quality players should dominate or really shine in those type of games .

[Chwf3rd]

I don’t like anything I’m seeing on Chubb post injury. Seriously. Call me crazy but we take players we love outside the first two picks and hope to bank. I would let Chubb drop past me with a late first.

You’re right, Chubb has zero juice and that was obvious on a national stage vs Alabama. Hopefully his value stays this high in rookie drafts so he pushes guys down.

[stoneghost28]

I have Royce right after chubb at 5&6

1) Barkley (not going to bother looking)
2) Guice (haven't looked into him because 1.02 said he is for sure taking him, but have heard grumblings he is nothing special)
3) Michel
4) Rojo (I like Rojo and Michel a lot based on speed and ability at college level, would like to see them weight in at 210+ and still be in low 4.4s)
5) Chubb (depends on the combine and landing spot)
6) Royce (good-great back, not incredible athlete)
7) kerryon (see Royce Freeman)

I wonder if the people saying Guice is nothing special are basing it on a lot of his early '17 film when he was hurt. He looked a lot better when healthy. I think he's a stud, wouldn't surprise me if he outproduced Barkley early on if he lands in a great offense like Green Bay, Oakland, SF, heck even Washington. If he falls further and lands with a borderline playoff team or one that did make the playoffs like Baltimore, Seattle, or Detroit. It's just something worth noting. Sometimes it pays to land in a better situation rather than go higher for a player. If Guice were to fall into Oakland, or SF, he'd land with a great young offense and/or a great OL in Oakland. If he lands in Baltimore, it's sketchy, but it's a good team that could play with leads, ditto Seattle (especially if they had OL help), and Detroit could be better next year if there OL is healthier. I like those situations better than Cleveland (early on) or the Jets or Indy if Luck is still out for Barkley.

Really nervous about the RB's after Guice and Barkley. I flat out don't know if Ronald is gonna be legit, or a poor man's reggie bush. I don't know if Michel ends up a stud or in a committee or Chubb continues to improve with more time removed from the injury, is Royce his production rather than his ehhh athleticism (Hunt is)? Is Kerryon NFL caliber? Just a lot of question marks. I'm very happy I landed the 1.01 in all my dynasty leagues (via trades and sucking properly via productive struggle in a couple), I am lucky enough to only have to worry about a couple picks outside the top 2 zone, I've got the 1.05 in two leagues, the 1.09 in another, and the 1.11 in a fourth league and I'm tempted to just deal down/out as necessary to add a '19 1st in a seemingly stacked WR class and later picks in '18.

I'd just rather have a '19 1st and a couple of later round picks rather than a first rounder after the top 4 or so picks. Too many of these RB's outside of the top 2 look a lot like RB's ranked in the back end of peoples top 10.

[DJB]

Been watching K Johnson quite a bit. His vision and patience is outstanding. Excellent lateral agility as well.

Watched R Freeman . He looks like a jag. Zero lateral ability . Slow plodding back. Not interested in him at all.