More 2020 Hype: "If You Need A RB or WR, this is the draft for you."

[FantasyFreak]

Elijah Holyfield vibes

Not quite. Holyfield was like 4.8 something, wasn't he? If he can run a 4.6, then that's fine. His best time was 4.65. If he did that with a tweaked hammy, shaving .05 seems fair. Hyde ran a 4.66 and tweaked his hammy at the end of the run, so I think a 4.6 is adequate. He was never going to be a burner.

Fair. I thought I saw 4.72 for Moss.

I am intrigued by Anthony McFarland.

You did. That was unofficial. It was adjusted. That was also the slower of the 2 runs. Agree on McFarland. I liked him as a scat back type. I am so puzzled by his teammate Leak, who looked like he might have legit 4.4 speed on his kick returns etc. Worst technique I'vs seen in the 40, and his footwork is atrocious on the field drills. He won't get drafted and isn't NFL caliber.

[Orenthal Shames]

Not quite. Holyfield was like 4.8 something, wasn't he? If he can run a 4.6, then that's fine. His best time was 4.65. If he did that with a tweaked hammy, shaving .05 seems fair. Hyde ran a 4.66 and tweaked his hammy at the end of the run, so I think a 4.6 is adequate. He was never going to be a burner.

Fair. I thought I saw 4.72 for Moss.

I am intrigued by Anthony McFarland.

You did. That was unofficial. It was adjusted.

[Chwf3rd]

I thought Dillion had the best night with a 4.53 40, 41.0 vert, and a 131.0 broad jump at 247 lbs. I might have to move him up to my RB5.

The tale will be told on day 2 of draft day, but I agree for now. For as productive as he was in his career, always got the sense he'd go between the 4th-6th depending upon how many teams w/dinosaur 3 yards and a cloud of dust type teams had enough of a RB need to speculate on him. The way he tested really blew out of the water the idea that he wasn't/isn't an athlete. The next question concerns why he wasn't more efficient then, because the assumption was he didn't have NFL caliber athleticism. Now why? But it wouldn't shock me at all if he was going 5th round before the combine and goes in the 3rd now, that kinda thing.

The re-sort is interesting now, seems like:

Tier 1:
J. Taylor

Tier 2:
D. Swift
JK Dobbins
C. Akers

Will CEH be drafted reasonably early on day 2 regardless of the 40? Sounded like NFL teams viewed him as a Westbrook. If he's picked between 40-70, he's still in tier 2 regardless of how disappointing that 40 was. Would be nice as I'd there to be a big 5. The big 6 idea (at least w/Moss) seems dead now, not in the sense that there was one, but rather that there might be a possibility (not a probability).

How high does Dillon rank amongst the RB's now for people? 5th, 6th, 7th?

A lot is going to depend on AJ Dillon’s situation. He’s a lot like Derrick Henry where a team will need to really build around him for him to reach his potential. Henry looked like a bust until recently when TEN really committed to his style.

My ranks right now

Tier 1
JTaylor
DSwift
CAkers
JKDobbins
Tier 2
CEH
ZMoss
Tier 3
AGibson
AJDillon

[cantguardjake]

CEH’s 10 yard split was 1.53, good for equal 6th. That’s actually a good time, for comparison it’s faster than Barkley, Kamara, Chubb to name a few (obviously not saying he’s on their level but that he is quicker over 10 yards than any of the above which hasn’t seemed to be an issue for them). He’s great off the mark, doesn’t have elite top end speed which was evident in his film anyway - his time shouldn’t change the way people view him.

My rankings haven’t changed since the combine at all really except Swift has bumped up into #2.

Tier 1: Taylor
(daylight)
Tier 2: Swift, CEH (although I’m actually cooling on drafting him as I have Singletary already, would prefer a bigger back)
Tier 3: Dobbins, Akers
(Daylight)
Tier 4: Kelley, Perine
Tier 5: Vaughn

Players who will probably get drafted but I don’t rate: Moss, McFarland (nice weigh in and speed scores but he looks small on film and plays weak), Dillon (don’t care about his combine he still plays slow).

That’s about it, I don’t see anyone else worth being drafted in a round that’s relevent. I saw this mentioned in another thread and have been thinking it myself, I can see the Chiefs drafting Perine in a later round which I would love.

[FantasyFreak]

Akers field drills really stood out. I was expecting Dobbins to show well, so interested to see his pro day. Akers caught everything, including a sweet 1 handed grab. Great looking feet, natural pass catcher.

[stoneghost28]

A bit worried I have no chance now at Akers w/my 1.06's and 1.07's (have a few too many of those). The one question I have coming out of this is how far can we expect the tier 1/2 RB's (say the big 4 or 5 depending upon how many guys you have in the RB grouping that you'd consider with say a top 6 or 7 pick) to drop when taking into account Jeudy, Lamb, Ruggs, and Reagor's likely top 20ish draft capital usage?

Any chance one of Akers/Dobbins/Swift falls to a 1.06 or 1.07, or are they likely to be 4 of the first 4 to 5 picks? Feels like the latter rather than the former. I was hoping CEH would solidify a top 4 RB ranking so Akers could get pushed down to some of my mid 1sts, but now, barring some weird doings on draft day, I kinda feel Akers will be gone pretty early (and regardless of what Dobbins did, I still expect him to be a top 25-50 pick on draft day, he'll be a top 2-4 overall pick in most rookie drafts barring a horrific landing spot).

[Jigga94]

Shenault undergoing surgery for his core injury. Might explain why he had a disappointing combine, but we won't get any confirmation before the Draft as he will miss his pro day now also. Draft capital/landing spot probably makes or breaks him

[bjd5211]

Don't forget, Shenault had a groin injury he was dealing with until recently (osteitis pubis -- inflammation of the pubic bone) and there had been questions about if he would participate to begin with because of it, and now it appears maybe he shouldn't have. I didn't see any of the runs live or any footage yet, but I saw some comments on Reddit that it looked visibly apparent he strained himself during one of his runs and could be why he performed poorly and sat out a lot of drills.

Ultimately I don't put a massive amount of stock in the combine, especially for guys like Shenault or Reagor who come off as more athletic on the football field than they necessarily test at the combine. They still have their Pro Days as an opportunity to perform publically too, and who knows what they do in private workouts for some teams.

He doesn't look fluid, though. If he was hurt that badly he wouldn''t have run. He'll put up a better time at his pro day, because they all do due to hand times, but he's just not a great athlete. He wasn't coming out of HS, and that hasn't changed. He didn't strain himself, he stumbled and stopped his run because it would have been a poor time. They are allowed to stop before a certain point. I believe Ruggs did the same thing. Speaking of Ruggs, I question if he was really hurt. I would not be surprised if his agent told him not to do the drills after that 4.27, with the other top WR's running slower than some thought. Had nothing to gain after that time.

Shenault never looked that athletic on the field to me. I don't see what others are seeing with the athleticism. He looks big and strong, but I don't see an overly athletic football player on the field.

Shenault undergoing surgery for the injury I mentioned. Definitely looks like it affected his performance at the combine and he should have sat out completely. 4-6 week recovery timeline, so should be just about healed up by the draft and not limited during offseason/preseason training.

[FantasyFreak]

A bit worried I have no chance now at Akers w/my 1.06's and 1.07's (have a few too many of those). The one question I have coming out of this is how far can we expect the tier 1/2 RB's (say the big 4 or 5 depending upon how many guys you have in the RB grouping that you'd consider with say a top 6 or 7 pick) to drop when taking into account Jeudy, Lamb, Ruggs, and Reagor's likely top 20ish draft capital usage?

Any chance one of Akers/Dobbins/Swift falls to a 1.06 or 1.07, or are they likely to be 4 of the first 4 to 5 picks? Feels like the latter rather than the former. I was hoping CEH would solidify a top 4 RB ranking so Akers could get pushed down to some of my mid 1sts, but now, barring some weird doings on draft day, I kinda feel Akers will be gone pretty early (and regardless of what Dobbins did, I still expect him to be a top 25-50 pick on draft day, he'll be a top 2-4 overall pick in most rookie drafts barring a horrific landing spot).

I think RB's will dominate the top of most drafts, but landing spots and draft capital will decide a lot. Lamb and Jeudy are probably top 20 picks, so one or both of them should be in a lot of top 4 picks.

[FantasyFreak]

CEH’s 10 yard split was 1.53, good for equal 6th. That’s actually a good time, for comparison it’s faster than Barkley, Kamara, Chubb to name a few (obviously not saying he’s on their level but that he is quicker over 10 yards than any of the above which hasn’t seemed to be an issue for them). He’s great off the mark, doesn’t have elite top end speed which was evident in his film anyway - his time shouldn’t change the way people view him.

My rankings haven’t changed since the combine at all really except Swift has bumped up into #2.

Tier 1: Taylor
(daylight)
Tier 2: Swift, CEH (although I’m actually cooling on drafting him as I have Singletary already, would prefer a bigger back)
Tier 3: Dobbins, Akers
(Daylight)
Tier 4: Kelley, Perine
Tier 5: Vaughn

Players who will probably get drafted but I don’t rate: Moss, McFarland (nice weigh in and speed scores but he looks small on film and plays weak), Dillon (don’t care about his combine he still plays slow).

That’s about it, I don’t see anyone else worth being drafted in a round that’s relevent. I saw this mentioned in another thread and have been thinking it myself, I can see the Chiefs drafting Perine in a later round which I would love.

CEH has excellent burst, just lacks top end speed. He's good in short areas, his film shows it, and his vert and split confirm good burst.

[FantasyFreak]

For anyone who was worried about Dobbins speed, because Simmons was gaining a bit of ground on him at the end of his 68 yard TD run......Simmons just ran a 4.39. Yikes

[AussieMate]

For anyone who was worried about Dobbins speed, because Simmons was gaining a bit of ground on him at the end of his 68 yard TD run......Simmons just ran a 4.39. Yikes

[FantasyFreak]

Don't forget, Shenault had a groin injury he was dealing with until recently (osteitis pubis -- inflammation of the pubic bone) and there had been questions about if he would participate to begin with because of it, and now it appears maybe he shouldn't have. I didn't see any of the runs live or any footage yet, but I saw some comments on Reddit that it looked visibly apparent he strained himself during one of his runs and could be why he performed poorly and sat out a lot of drills.

Ultimately I don't put a massive amount of stock in the combine, especially for guys like Shenault or Reagor who come off as more athletic on the football field than they necessarily test at the combine. They still have their Pro Days as an opportunity to perform publically too, and who knows what they do in private workouts for some teams.

He doesn't look fluid, though. If he was hurt that badly he wouldn''t have run. He'll put up a better time at his pro day, because they all do due to hand times, but he's just not a great athlete. He wasn't coming out of HS, and that hasn't changed. He didn't strain himself, he stumbled and stopped his run because it would have been a poor time. They are allowed to stop before a certain point. I believe Ruggs did the same thing. Speaking of Ruggs, I question if he was really hurt. I would not be surprised if his agent told him not to do the drills after that 4.27, with the other top WR's running slower than some thought. Had nothing to gain after that time.

Shenault never looked that athletic on the field to me. I don't see what others are seeing with the athleticism. He looks big and strong, but I don't see an overly athletic football player on the field.

Shenault undergoing surgery for the injury I mentioned. Definitely looks like it affected his performance at the combine and he should have sat out completely. 4-6 week recovery timeline, so should be just about healed up by the draft and not limited during offseason/preseason training.

Saw that. He obviously felt good enough to run, though. Regardless, I think we can rule out the 4.40 or sub 4.40 some were predicting. He's a 4.5's guy. I am just not a fan of his game, or his injury history, but that's just my take, I could be wrong, for sure.

[PR0v3]

Will be interesting to see the real NFL draft capital invested in the RBs. Seems like people like Taylor as much as any recent RB save Barkley, but from what I’m seeing it’s still not even clear if he will be the first RB off the board. The fantasy community has consistently been much higher on him than the draft community.

[Packerland]

For anyone who was worried about Dobbins speed, because Simmons was gaining a bit of ground on him at the end of his 68 yard TD run......Simmons just ran a 4.39. Yikes

Haha, I remember watching that live and thinking that Dobbins wasn't that fast. I also remember watching a video where Simmons raced and either beat or barely lost a race to Travis Etienne.