2019 Rookie RB Review (Round 2 - Updated Daily Pre-Draft)

[MEuRaH]

Well guys I said I would do this prior to the NFL draft, I just didn't realize that my wife would book a trip to Jamaica for a full week prior to it. So while she's sleeping, I'm here to write my 2nd round of this report. Maybe it'll stop all you guys from flooding my inbox asking for tips? Besides, I need a break from constant beer and liquor intake.

In case you missed it, my FIRST REPORT IS HERE. I always do these things in three steps. My first step is my initial thoughts pre-combine, which requires film only and not much else. My 2nd step (written below) is more thorough post-combine but pre-draft. My last step is post-draft because landing spot makes a difference for about 40% of the players.

This installment won't be as in depth as my first one. Now that I'm a writer for DLF, I would prefer to offer the in depth analysis to those who pay for those privileges. I will, however, give my main ranks and a short summary to follow. But first, here are some links to my DLF articles.

In-Depth RBs ADP (1-4)
In-Depth RBs ADP (5-8)
In-Depth RBs ADP (9-12)
In-Depth RBs ADP (13-16)

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The following are tiered running backs, not in a particular official order.

RB1s - Early 1st Rounders (Guaranteed RBs who WILL be RB1s sooner than later)
Josh Jacobs - Mental mistakes are his only flaw. Fixable. More powerful than shifty.
Miles Sanders - Fumbling is his flaw, so he'll be taken later than Jacobs, but again, is easily fixable. More shifty than powerful.

RB2s - Late 1st Rounders (Guaranteed RBs who WILL be RB2s sooner than later)
Myles Gaskin - OK, I'm on board, but just barely. He has moves, he is sturdy, he has speed. Not ever a top 10 RB but he's good enough to be a top 25 perhaps.
Alex Barnes - Doesn't have ability to make defenders miss at the LOS, but checks all the other boxes. RB2 ceiling.

Maybe RB2s - 2nd Rounders (Could be RB2s with lucky placement. 50% chance)
Devin Singletary - Should be successful, but red flags all over the place. High upside, low floor. Placement says a lot.
Damien Harris - Needs to go to a power system, or else you gotta bail on this guy completely.
David Montgomery - Always played zone, but will probably thrive in a power system. Hardest runner to predict in the draft. RB1 ceiling, RB bust floor. Placement will dictate success.

Flex RBs - 3rd & 4th Rounders (RBs who should be good flex plays for their career)
Justice Hill - Straight ahead runner, no lateral movement or speed. RBBC, change-of-pace type.
Mike Weber - Smart player, gets what's given to him and nothing more.
Benny Snell - Instinctive player. Creates space, great feet, big powerful guy. RBBC, TD dependent probably.

Injury RBs - 3rd & 4th Rounders (Guys you can draft and pray/hope for something good)
Rodney Anderson - Plays with wreckless abandon. Always gets hurt.
Bryce Love - Tore his ACL in December. Won't play this year, maybe not next either. Could be an uber stud, but has complications from rehab. Great lottery ticket pick, but don't reach.

Hard Pass (RBs I'd rather not touch)
Darrell Henderson - Never before have I loved a guy so much, only to study him and decide I want no part of him. Plays hard, but not built to play that way in the NFL. Questionable ability to learn and adjust.
Trayveon Williams - He's fast. No power, no zone quickness, no anything else.
Devine Ozigbo - Slight chance at being a possible flex play for his career.
Elijah Holyfield - Touchdown dependent. His only saving grace is his vision and quick feet. Flex ceiling in the right system.
LJ Scott - Holds ball in his right hand only, doubts his own speed (chooses to go inside rather than rush to the edge), misses lanes, isn't quick enough.

[Pullo Vision]

Re Darrell Henderson- "Plays hard, not built to play that way in the NFL. No placement will fix this. Not smart enough to do anything else."

Please explain how you concluded this about his intelligence.

[MEuRaH]

Re Darrell Henderson- "Plays hard, not built to play that way in the NFL. No placement will fix this. Not smart enough to do anything else."

Please explain how you concluded this about his intelligence.

I explained in full detail on the DLF article. More thorough information is going to be given to paid subscribers.

And maybe I was harsh with my verbiage. I'll adjust it.

[Phaded]

And maybe I was harsh with my verbiage. I'll adjust it.

Don't change Mike, don't change.


Nice to see your write-ups on these guys; I haven't really dove into anyone but Jacobs & Sanders at this point - but you've certainly brought up some names I'm going to go watch some tape on.

[Forza_Azzurri]

Ummmm ... Justice Hill vs. Justice Hil?

Does the loss of the “L” make him fast? Otherwise, they seem like similar RBs.

[MEuRaH]

Ummmm ... Justice Hill vs. Justice Hil?

Does the loss of the “L” make him fast? Otherwise, they seem like similar RBs.

No that's a different guy. Evil twin I think.

Thanks for pointing it out.

[Pullo Vision]

Re Darrell Henderson- "Plays hard, not built to play that way in the NFL. No placement will fix this. Not smart enough to do anything else."

Please explain how you concluded this about his intelligence.

I explained in full detail on the DLF article. More thorough information is going to be given to paid subscribers.

And maybe I was harsh with my verbiage. I'll adjust it.

I understand you're trying to be pithy and I'm not dinging for the verbiage. I was genuinely interested in what aspect of his on field performance you examined to determine his intelligence level.

[Blueboy]

Re Darrell Henderson- "Plays hard, not built to play that way in the NFL. No placement will fix this. Not smart enough to do anything else."

Please explain how you concluded this about his intelligence.

I explained in full detail on the DLF article. More thorough information is going to be given to paid subscribers.

And maybe I was harsh with my verbiage. I'll adjust it.

I understand you're trying to be pithy and I'm not dinging for the verbiage. I was genuinely interested in what aspect of his on field performance you examined to determine his intelligence level.

We can presume he's referring to "football intelligence."

[bbsmitz]

You seem to really have soured on Elijah Holyfield between your first post and now. Looking forward to reading about what changed.

[BigBawseRoss]

You seem to really have soured on Elijah Holyfield between your first post and now. Looking forward to reading about what changed.

was gonna say the list went all over the place from 1 to 2...

[MEuRaH]

You seem to really have soured on Elijah Holyfield between your first post and now. Looking forward to reading about what changed.

was gonna say the list went all over the place from 1 to 2...

I've done this for years. I do three rankings; pre-combine, post-combine, and post-draft.

There is usually a lot of movement for a few players. I also moved up Gaskin & Barnes quite a bit. Not as far down as Holyfield, but still...

[Phaded]

Just drafted Henderson at pick 18. Here's hoping you are wrong.

[lukkynumber13]

Just drafted Henderson at pick 18. Here's hoping you are wrong.

At 18, you got a steal.

Even if Henderson doesn’t have a good career, he will have sell moments. He has a lot of fans.

[Vcize]

You seem to really have soured on Elijah Holyfield between your first post and now. Looking forward to reading about what changed.

Holyfield had terrible workouts so that makes sense.

The bigger surprise is that Jacobs went from tier 3 to 1st overall after workouts when his workouts were generally quite poor. That's not even to mention that the guy he jumped for #1 had possibly the best workouts of any RB.

So I guess the question there is what changed regarding Jacobs to move him up so far, since I'm assuming it wasn't his awful workout metrics.

[bbsmitz]

You seem to really have soured on Elijah Holyfield between your first post and now. Looking forward to reading about what changed.

was gonna say the list went all over the place from 1 to 2...

I've done this for years. I do three rankings; pre-combine, post-combine, and post-draft.

There is usually a lot of movement for a few players. I also moved up Gaskin & Barnes quite a bit. Not as far down as Holyfield, but still...

As a newcomer it was a bit of a surprise, but not a bad one. I'm glad you're able to reassess based on new data as opposed to feeling like you need to double down on what you've written in the past.