Official/Final 2020 Rookie RB Ranks

[Sriracha]

Pretty much exactly this. I’m not a Ruggs fan (also in my post history) so it’s was Akers v Aiyuk (who I have been a fan of for a while). If my team was WR needy I would have gone Aiyuk, but RB was the need in this instance.

I liked the prospect of Akers / Claypool, Edwards tier WR over Aiyuk / Vaughn (who I think is a total bust), Moss (RB2 ceiling) just based on team needs.

This is why I dont understand all of the Akers hate. He carries the biggest bust risk of the top 5, but his explosion and “x-factor” as you put it wouldve made him my 1.01 if he came out in 2019.

I dont understand how you can hate Akers as a prospect just because he’s not as safe as the top RBs this year if you loved Sanders (who I did).

The hate on him is a bit irrational

Because I didn’t see any flaws in Sanders game (outside of fumbling, but even that was overstated) and happily spent pick 3 on him. I wouldn’t spend pick 3 on Akers, even in last years class - but will take the risk based on his upside at 8 over Ruggs, Aiyuk et all who are equally as risky if RB is a need.

Sanders was just a far and away better prospect in my opinion, so it’s not really irrational.

I see. Personally I find Akers and Sanders to have very similar issues; In Sanders tape last year, you noticed a lot of vision issues, and a lack of spatial awareness where he'd run into defenders he didn't see as he was trying to make moves in the open field. But given his lack of playing time (only started 1 year) I felt that his vision would see a bigger jump than most rookie RBs as he gained more experience; and his athleticism would allow himself to get into the open field more often than a less explosive/agile RB would be able to.

There's something that people underestimate among a lot of NFL prospects-- better athletes can still succeed despite not being perfect. David Montgomery for instance is one of the most refined RB's in the entire NFL.. but he has to be because he's such a poor athlete (compared to other NFL RBs). Akers similarly will be pushed down by people that over-emphasize "skill" and underestimate how impactful raw athleticism is at the RB position.

[cantguardjake]

This is why I dont understand all of the Akers hate. He carries the biggest bust risk of the top 5, but his explosion and “x-factor” as you put it wouldve made him my 1.01 if he came out in 2019.

I dont understand how you can hate Akers as a prospect just because he’s not as safe as the top RBs this year if you loved Sanders (who I did).

The hate on him is a bit irrational

Because I didn’t see any flaws in Sanders game (outside of fumbling, but even that was overstated) and happily spent pick 3 on him. I wouldn’t spend pick 3 on Akers, even in last years class - but will take the risk based on his upside at 8 over Ruggs, Aiyuk et all who are equally as risky if RB is a need.

Sanders was just a far and away better prospect in my opinion, so it’s not really irrational.

I see. Personally I find Akers and Sanders to have very similar issues; In Sanders tape last year, you noticed a lot of vision issues, and a lack of spatial awareness where he'd run into defenders he didn't see as he was trying to make moves in the open field. But given his lack of playing time (only started 1 year) I felt that his vision would see a bigger jump than most rookie RBs as he gained more experience; and his athleticism would allow himself to get into the open field more often than a less explosive/agile RB would be able to.

There's something that people underestimate among a lot of NFL prospects-- better athletes can still succeed despite not being perfect. David Montgomery for instance is one of the most refined RB's in the entire NFL.. but he has to be because he's such a poor athlete (compared to other NFL RBs). Akers similarly will be pushed down by people that over-emphasize "skill" and underestimate how impactful raw athleticism is at the RB position.

See I don’t think Sanders has vision issues. He took a little while to get going but over the last half of the season he was going at 5+ a carry, and I never saw vision issues in college.

Wheres I don’t think Mont is necessarily that refined, he’s ok but I wouldn’t call him even close to the most refined runner in the NFL.

[gabes1919]

AJ Dillon - My favorite pick. There's more value here than with any of those guys listed above. His RB comparison is a ridiculous list of who's who. If he became a player on a level with the guys above, I wouldn't be shocked. If you're sitting at 1.10 and you need a RB, go ahead and pull the trigger.

Are you able to give a little more incite here? I saw your ranking and was curious to see the man. Dillons best game statistically this year was against NC state and after watching that, I cringe to watch more. Dillon looked to have decent vision, speed and footwork but holy hell, it seems like he gets breathed on the wrong way and he’s down. Am I crazy? It seemed to me that he was playing (at least in that game) very small for his size.

[ericanadian]

AJ Dillon - My favorite pick. There's more value here than with any of those guys listed above. His RB comparison is a ridiculous list of who's who. If he became a player on a level with the guys above, I wouldn't be shocked. If you're sitting at 1.10 and you need a RB, go ahead and pull the trigger.

Are you able to give a little more incite here? I saw your ranking and was curious to see the man. Dillons best game statistically this year was against NC state and after watching that, I cringe to watch more. Dillon looked to have decent vision, speed and footwork but holy hell, it seems like he gets breathed on the wrong way and he’s down. Am I crazy? It seemed to me that he was playing (at least in that game) very small for his size.

He runs with a high pad level and lets the tackler get into him a lot. I suppose some of that is just being that tall, but I suspect he can improve upon it. He also doesn’t have elite balance like Taylor, so seems to get knocked off his feet by those tacklers. That said, he moves really well for a big man. I liked his tape against Clemson and he was decent against Notre Dame.

[MEuRaH]

AJ Dillon - My favorite pick. There's more value here than with any of those guys listed above. His RB comparison is a ridiculous list of who's who. If he became a player on a level with the guys above, I wouldn't be shocked. If you're sitting at 1.10 and you need a RB, go ahead and pull the trigger.

Are you able to give a little more incite here? I saw your ranking and was curious to see the man. Dillons best game statistically this year was against NC state and after watching that, I cringe to watch more. Dillon looked to have decent vision, speed and footwork but holy hell, it seems like he gets breathed on the wrong way and he’s down. Am I crazy? It seemed to me that he was playing (at least in that game) very small for his size.

ericanadian gave a great response. His film is great for a big man and his combine numbers support the film.

This is an exert from my article on him:

He’s powerful through the line and fast in open space. He doesn’t have the quickest moves to make room at the line of scrimmage, but he does have some nifty footwork to elude defenders at the second level. You’ll find Dillon run both zone and power in the system at Boston College, and he was able to stay in and block when asked.

He's a more-polished prospect than most RBs coming out of college with potential physical upside, and his comps are the best of any RB I've ever scouted. He has a high floor. Tons of question marks push him to the 2nd round. If you need RB and can't afford one of those top guys, AJ Dillon is a great backup plan.

[Cameron Giles]

Dillon is built to be an early down, volume back. The only issue for me (aside from the obvious receiving flaws), and I said this in another thread is do the Packers know that?

You look at Derrick Henry (similar type of runner) and the Titans had him in a low volume committee role for a few years, then didn't want to feed him the year after. It took essentially three years for the Titans to realize that they need to give him the ball a ton to get the most out of him. Also, it feels like they started calling better plays for him instead of running everything right up the middle.

[FantasyFreak]

Dillon is built to be an early down, volume back. The only issue for me (aside from the obvious receiving flaws), and I said this in another thread is do the Packers know that?

You look at Derrick Henry (similar type of runner) and the Titans had him in a low volume committee role for a few years, then didn't want to feed him the year after. It took essentially three years for the Titans to realize that they need to give him the ball a ton to get the most out of him. Also, it feels like they started calling better plays for him instead of running everything right up the middle.

I'd say they do, considering they spent a 2nd round pick on him, with AJ in a contract year.

[Hjorimir]

I'll add that Matt LeFleur was the OC in Tennessee before landing the head coaching gig in GB. So, yeah, I think he's aware. In fact, I think he's trying to replicate the recipe for recent success that Tennessee enjoyed last year.

[Sriracha]

I'll add that Matt LeFleur was the OC in Tennessee before landing the head coaching gig in GB. So, yeah, I think he's aware. In fact, I think he's trying to replicate the recipe for recent success that Tennessee enjoyed last year.

LaFleur is from the McVay/Shanahan coaching tree. I doubt he's trying to replicate anything that happened in TEN given how piss poor that offense was; more likely trying to imitate SF's success.

[FantasyFreak]

I'll add that Matt LeFleur was the OC in Tennessee before landing the head coaching gig in GB. So, yeah, I think he's aware. In fact, I think he's trying to replicate the recipe for recent success that Tennessee enjoyed last year.

LaFleur is from the McVay/Shanahan coaching tree. I doubt he's trying to replicate anything that happened in TEN given how piss poor that offense was; more likely trying to imitate SF's success.

Well I don't think Dillon fits that at all.

[Sriracha]

I'll add that Matt LeFleur was the OC in Tennessee before landing the head coaching gig in GB. So, yeah, I think he's aware. In fact, I think he's trying to replicate the recipe for recent success that Tennessee enjoyed last year.

LaFleur is from the McVay/Shanahan coaching tree. I doubt he's trying to replicate anything that happened in TEN given how piss poor that offense was; more likely trying to imitate SF's success.

Well I don't think Dillon fits that at all.

I was talking more about his balanced distribution of Run/Pass. He wants multiple RB's to grind it out. How he gets from point A to point B is different (Shanahan relying on free agency to collect explosive RBs, for instance); but that's the logic.

LaFleur is also not even close to the level of McVay and Shanahan as far as OC's go, so I fully expect this to implode at some point (probably after Aaron is traded or something).

[Hjorimir]

Time will tell.

[ericanadian]

I'll add that Matt LeFleur was the OC in Tennessee before landing the head coaching gig in GB. So, yeah, I think he's aware. In fact, I think he's trying to replicate the recipe for recent success that Tennessee enjoyed last year.

LaFleur is from the McVay/Shanahan coaching tree. I doubt he's trying to replicate anything that happened in TEN given how piss poor that offense was; more likely trying to imitate SF's success.

I think LaFleur blames that mostly on Mariota given that the offense picked it up a fair bit once he was benched.

[Ray Finkle]

LaFleur is from the McVay/Shanahan coaching tree. I doubt he's trying to replicate anything that happened in TEN given how piss poor that offense was; more likely trying to imitate SF's success.

[Shankopotamus]

Akers has a Royce Freeman feel to me. Better talent, and more explosive certainly, but feel like he's fool's gold.