4th Round Running Backs

[ericanadian]

Rank the 4th round RBs of the last two years:

Dameon Pierce - Solid rushing capability. Seems likely to take over for Marlon Mack unless Mack has a major resurgence. Has no background as a passing down back, which threatens his ability as a three down back.
Zamir White - Solid rusher, though saw limited action in college sharing duties with James Cook. Being talked about as replacing Josh Jacobs. Might struggle to gain three down capability as well.
Isaiah Spiller - Solid all around back, but lacks top end speed/acceleration. Will slot in as lead backup to Ekeler and may take over the bulk of the carries early given the limitations of Ekeler.
Pierre Strong - Solid space back with some upside. Lacks ideal size and strength which may limit his ability on early downs and will likely shut him out of short yardage.
Hassan Haskins - Big back with decent acceleration and speed, but doesn’t show a lot of ability to make guys miss. Lined up as the number two behind Derrick Henry.
Michael Carter - Solid all around back who looked well positioned to be the new lead back in New York prior to the Breece Hall pick.
Kene Nwangwu - Athleticism projection who some are now suggesting could supplant Mattison as the number two back in Minnesota if he shows continued development (particularly in the receiving game)
Rhamondre Stevenson - Big physical guy who lacks top end speed.
Chuba Hubbard - Looked like an elite back in college prior to injury and then looked pretty ordinary. While he’s looked serviceable behind a bad line in Carolina last year, he still looked pretty ordinary. Will another year separated from the injury see him regain some of that athelticism?

4th round running backs have historically been letdowns, but with Devonta Freeman, Chase Edmonds and Tony Pollard all ascending to some level of relevance, it seems as though running back devaluation has finally gotten to the point where some quality backs (with one or two deficiencies) slip to the 4th.

[Gator Sens]

Spiller - great sleeper and long term value pick. Great skill set. He can block, run and catch. I think his combine numbers are being blown out of proportion. He is still my long term RB2 in this class.

White - great long term option with Jacobs moving on. Great skill set hampered by injuries.

Pierce - best short term option but I don't see him as much more but a stop gap or backup long term.

Carter - solid skill set but Hall makes it very murky for him.

Nwangwu - Cook will miss time. Great pass catcher.

Hubbard - already replaced by Foreman. Not a great sign.

[Mjvb5]

Rank the 4th round RBs of the last two years:

Dameon Pierce - Solid rushing capability. Seems likely to take over for Marlon Mack unless Mack has a major resurgence. Has no background as a passing down back, which threatens his ability as a three down back.
Zamir White - Solid rusher, though saw limited action in college sharing duties with James Cook. Being talked about as replacing Josh Jacobs. Might struggle to gain three down capability as well.
Isaiah Spiller - Solid all around back, but lacks top end speed/acceleration. Will slot in as lead backup to Ekeler and may take over the bulk of the carries early given the limitations of Ekeler.
Pierre Strong - Solid space back with some upside. Lacks ideal size and strength which may limit his ability on early downs and will likely shut him out of short yardage.
Hassan Haskins - Big back with decent acceleration and speed, but doesn’t show a lot of ability to make guys miss. Lined up as the number two behind Derrick Henry.
Michael Carter - Solid all around back who looked well positioned to be the new lead back in New York prior to the Breece Hall pick.
Kene Nwangwu - Athleticism projection who some are now suggesting could supplant Mattison as the number two back in Minnesota if he shows continued development (particularly in the receiving game)
Rhamondre Stevenson - Big physical guy who lacks top end speed.
Chuba Hubbard - Looked like an elite back in college prior to injury and then looked pretty ordinary. While he’s looked serviceable behind a bad line in Carolina last year, he still looked pretty ordinary. Will another year separated from the injury see him regain some of that athelticism?

4th round running backs have historically been letdowns, but with Devonta Freeman, Chase Edmonds and Tony Pollard all ascending to some level of relevance, it seems as though running back devaluation has finally gotten to the point where some quality backs (with one or two deficiencies) slip to the 4th.

Historical precedent has shown that these guys arent really given the job even if they look good as such im after whos got the most likely path to flippability
Pierce
White
Spiller
Carter
Meh on the rest

[Cherokee]

Carter needs to be everyone's number 1 on this list right now

[j4pac]

The upside is Devonta Freeman…who’s success was incredibly shorted lived. That’s what you get with a 4th round RB.

[ericanadian]

The upside is Devonta Freeman…who’s success was incredibly shorted lived. That’s what you get with a 4th round RB.

On one hand, I’m not even sure its that. Freeman was not good until Shanahan showed up and he was able to play in an outside zone system. Most of these guys aren’t in outside zone systems (where draft capital means less) and many of them aren’t a good fit for those systems even if they were. On the other hand, we all know RBs are being devalued by NFL teams, so it seems a fair assumption to think that guys in at least the early 4th have the same shot as the guys that were going in the third before, but who knows…