NFL Stock Exchange: An NFL Draft Podcast - 242. Running Back Rankings For 2024 NFL Draft

Episode Date: March 20, 2024

Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers give you their top 10 running back rankings for the 2024 NFL Draft. The two dig into each of their different lists, which traits they value most from the position, and how high some of their top guys could get drafted

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It's awesome. Sign up now at youtube.com slash BS, device and content restrictions apply. Local and national games on YouTube TV NFL Sunday ticket for out-of-market games excludes digital only games welcome to the NFL Stock Exchange podcast in this episode we're talking top 10 running backs for the 2024 NFL draft Connor and I are going to go through all of our backs and this list actually varies more than I thought that it was going to so we'll talk about the traits that are separating factors for Connor,

as well as myself. And we'll just get into a great running back discussion where we see these guys landed and when we could see the first one come off the board. I'm Trevor Sycamore with me as always is Connor Rogers. Let's ring the bell. Welcome to the opening bell of the NFL Stock Exchange Podcast. I'm Trevor Sykema. That is Connor Rogers. Joining you guys for a ranking episode.

Connor, it feels like we have not done a ranking episode in a long, long time, but we're getting back to it. We've got about four or five weeks left until the 2024 NFL Draft. So we've got to give you these, maybe not exactly final, but close to final rankings that we have for some of these positions as we get to draft weekend. Today, we're doing running backs. We're going to give you our top 10 running backs, Connor's top 10 running backs, my top 10 running backs. And as always, I have no idea what the hell he's about to say. I don't know any of the rankings. I don't really know how he feels about these players. Obviously, I've kind of seen the top 10, the top 75, things like that. But I'm excited for this one, man. How are you doing, Connor?

I'm good. We are recording a rare Stock Exchange morning for us. It's true. We don't have many of these. No, we don't. It's kind of a really nice way to start the day. I woke up. I snuck in one more running back before we taped, and that player didn't make the top 10.

But still, we're going to try to talk about as many as we can after the top 10. Yeah. I feel like with this group, Trevor, and I could definitely be lying here, but I think I'm not with wide receiver. I find myself tinkering all the time.

Like I did a top 20 last week for NBC and a couple of people tweeted me like, is this different than your stock exchange ones? And I'm thinking to myself, like I'm sure it is. That was December. I think we did that because there's so many. Yeah, there's so many players in that 30 to 65 overall range

that they could bump down three or four spots and they drop a spot or two in the wide receiver rankings. With running backs, I do think there's a cluster, but I don't think there's anything jarring in terms of changes overall. Now that we've done this exercise, there is one guy that I think I came in higher on and I ended up lower on. There were two guys that really, really surprised me. So I think while it doesn't have a first rounder and maybe not a second rounder, I think there's some really fun conversations around this group. I think we should have second rounders from this group.

I really do. And I agree. I just don't know if we certainly will. this group i think we should have second rounders i from this group i really do and i agree i just don't know if we certainly will cowboys seem like the most likely one but we'll see yeah i i think we do because as much as there are a lot of running backs like i do believe the running back run is going to start somewhere in the middle of the second round and i think right when that first running back comes off the board teams are going to to go, okay, we want this guy. We want this guy. So there might be,

there's a world where there's zero running backs in the top 50. Right. I agree with that. From 50 to 64 to round out the second round, we might get three. Right. So I think that that's my, that's maybe where we're going to be at for these top tens.

And we're going to go at for these top tens and we're going to go as you guys know from this show we'll go from 10 all the way down to one we're going to lump kind of 10 and 6 together mention all those talk about them and then we'll get into the top fives um individually but you know for this this this running back group i found myself making natural tears for a lot of these guys of these it's like okay like i i'd take any of these three um there are traits that i like with this guy there's other traits i like with this guy there's some cons to each one of them as well so i'm excited to kind of get into it and get into this conversation so with that man let's let's just kick it right off i'll have you go

10 through 6 tell me who your 10 through 6 are i'll have some follow-up questions we'll have a discussion about that and then we'll do the same for myself as well. All right, so 10 through six here. Number 10, the Combine superstar, Louisville's Isaac Garendo. Nice, okay, all right. He snuck in at 10, and we'll have a longer combo about him. Number nine, Will Shipley from Clemson, a guy we talked pretty extensively about on our summer

scouting episode number eight ray davis from kentucky an older prospect a guy that's well traveled i think he's been through three programs and was a senior bowl player uh number seven another senior bowl player in marshawn lloyd from use uh from USC, another transfer. I believe a former five-star in Lloyd. And then number six, Blake Corum from Michigan. Oh, wow. You got Blake at six. And listen, Blake is a really impressive college player. I think he has a really high floor as an NFL back.

But you'll notice with the guys that I have ahead of him, when we get to the top five, they just have more special traits than him. And in this position, I really value traits so much. You got to be productive. You do have to have, you know, certain pro aspects,

but it's just a position in the NFL where this might shock you. The really big, the really fast, the really explosive guys are often the best at that position in the NFL. Right. Dude, this is fascinating because you and I's list is going to be very different. That's great. No, it is because I think we align on a lot of different prospects. We see the game very similarly.

And I think the people who listen to this podcast and watch this podcast like that, because I hope that we do a good job of identifying good talent. So naturally, I think that we're going to agree on a lot of stuff. But this, I can already tell, is an episode where we might not be heated on one side or the other, but how we are dividing up this running back group and the traits that we prioritize are a little bit different though. So I think it's going to make for a great conversation because I already think that there is at least one, but there might be two guys in your top five that I don't even have in my top nine, I will say. So interesting. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think

that this is going to be fun. So let's talk about your 10 through 6 first, though. Let's talk about Isaac Arendo. I would love to hear, and I'm pretty close to where you're at. He did not make my top 10. He was somebody I was going to shout out at the end of the show because obviously the combine numbers are bonkers. But what do you think about Isaac Arendo?

Obviously, he sneaks into your top 10. You think this is just a guy who is, hey, so so athletic you got to throw him out there and you got to figure out what you got the funny thing is i really on tape like the kind of runner he is pound for pound better than anything he did at the combine i i don't it was one of those misleading things where i mean just for people that don't know what garendo at the combine he came in six feet 221 pounds he had a 433 40 which is 98th percentile he had a 41 and a half inch vertical which is 97th percentile 129 inch broad jump which is 95th percentile and at that alarming size he still ran a sub 7 3 cone 694 which is 71th percentile. And at that alarming size, he still ran a sub seven three

cone six nine four, which is 71st percentile. But at his size, that's pretty impressive. Oh, it's incredible. Yeah, it's really impressive. So let's start with the good. I mean, with him, he obviously has size speed. And I think that translates to two simple things one he can really lower his pads and run through contact high and low i saw guys bounce off his legs i saw guys bounce off his shoulders and i saw when he when it was blocked up his ability to actually stick his foot in the ground and start galloping and he's gone right that's that's the thing with garendo that you look at i want to read off his uh explosive runs this year so he had 22 explosive runs runs of 10 plus yards or more but he only had 132 carries right so that's a pretty good explosive run rate

when you see guys that have 30 or you know whatever like that they're probably trending towards having it almost 200 carries. So now, obviously, once again, the kind of athlete he is, I think he catches the ball well, where if you get that kind of athleticism in space, if you have any kind of slip screen with blockers out in front, like just once again, the ability that he can gallop just covers up so much turf um he's got the size that i think when the awareness fully comes into play with more reps he's going to be able to block blitzing linebackers and dbs i mean he's a bigger back back there so when you factor in the kind of athlete he is and that he can catch the ball you feel good about him being able to develop into a three down back. Now, why he's number 10, right? Everybody listening is like, well, all that athleticism

and all these great things about him. Like, why is he not higher? I don't think he has great feel as a runner. I think there's times where it's just very clunky. And because of that, you see the 41 and a half inch vertical. I don't think he's that explosive off the touch i don't think he gets the ball on your like remember when watching chase brown because chase brown was one of the last big testers i could think of yeah with brown he had some runs where you'd be like whoa like he

fired out of a cannon that's how it felt like with him right and i mean i know they signed zach moss but i think brown's got a good shot to win that backfield this year. 40-inch vertical for Brown, and he was smaller than Garendo. He was heavy, but he was only about 5'9". Yeah. I didn't see that with Garendo where he got the ball and it was like, oh my God, he's at the second level so fast, and now he unlocks this 4'3 speed,

and he's big and can run over DBs all the time. It felt like it really had to be there for him to get to the second level. I think he's just a little clunkier off the touch. And it's not that none of those great things matter if you can't get yourself to the second level as a runner. It's just that the impact of them becomes a little bit minimized. So with Garendo, if he continues to grow as a runner with more reps,

he could be a legitimate starting NFL running back. I just don't think he's there yet. And I can't tell if it's experience or the fact that he doesn't have some of those more, I don't want to say between the ears kind of gifts. It's more just feel is what it is. Like natural feel and flow as a runner. Yeah. So look, this guy was a track star coming out

of high school both in the 100 meter dash and a long jump so the explosiveness has been there for a long time for him uh he was at louisville but he was at wisconsin before that and he really barely got the ball while he was at wisconsin he goes to louisville and we go man i like this guy better as a pro than juar jordan who was the guy who got most of the carries at Louisville. But you wonder, okay, well, why is that the case? You kind of turn on the tape, and I agree with you. The very first, I guess, like, detractor on his scouting report that I have is, I wish he'd run with more violence.

Like, I don't think that he runs as decisive. He doesn't run as confident. You are 6'1", 220 pounds. Like, go, man. Like, there are a couple of reps that I can remember where he really threw his shoulder into somebody with that power and that speed, that momentum. And it really allowed him to dictate the contact. I did not see that nearly as much as I thought that I was going to. So it's not that I don't think that he can be an early down back.

Well, I mean, he's a good pass protector, and I think he's got good hands as well. So in any down back at the NFL level, he has the physical gifts to do that. But if you've gone to two different programs now, and you haven't been able to be a starting back at either one of them with these kinds of physical abilities, I worry if this is just kind of your style. Like if coaches, if coaches are going to look at you and your body type and what you bring to the field athletically. And if you don't bring that violent type of running style, I just, I'm not so sure that it's going

to warrant a lot more carries. Like you're kind of alluding to, he might need, I don't, I don't know if he gets that. So he is right outside of my top 10. I noticed the physical gifts as well. I think he's 13th for me. Um, but that that was my that was my big concern with him as well as i thought he was going to run with a more north to south violence in his game but i just didn't see it as often as i thought i was going to so well then you can see why he ended up at that era of wisconsin right not this era of wisconsin but the previous era of wisconsin it's, you know, you're big, you're fast, go downhill. We recruit the big track guys. And obviously it didn't work out there for some of the reasons you said. So the other backs that you had, who was it? And this might not be in the right order, but Shipley, Davis, Lloyd, Corum. Okay. So we'll talk about

Corum, obviously. I think there's a lot of people out there who really like will shipley and um i have him in my top 10 as well actually do i have the rest of those guys in my top 10 i might hold on i think the numbers might be wrong here i would think you have lloyd but you never know it's it's pretty open and yes okay so most of mine is the same so i'm to read you my 10 through six, because I think some of the conversations we can just have as a whole. So my number 10 guy is Braylon Allen from Wisconsin. Do you have Braylon in your top five? He's number five. Okay. So he's one of those that's in there. Okay. I have Braylon Allen at 10.

I have Tyrone Tracy from Purdue at nine. Is he is he in your top five yeah he's number four okay i think i thought that he was going to be in your top five so i will shipley at eight i have marshawn lloyd at seven and then i have ray davis at number six so we see that grouping of the running backs i think very much the same it's just the other two guys that are there so 10 for me is braylon allen from wisconsin nine for me is tyrone tr Allen from Wisconsin 9 for me is Tyrone Tracy the former wide receiver who is now a running back who's coming from Purdue Will Shipley from Clemson is 8 Marshawn Lloyd from USC is 7 and Ray Davis from Kentucky is 6 do you have any of those guys that you want to start the conversation with whether it was one of the three that we shared similarly

or Tracy or Allen where did you have Shipley 8 8. Eight. Okay. So I have Shipley nine. So that's an easy one. So, okay. With Shipley, I think a lot of people out there look at Shipley and they just see a future productive pro, right? They, they think of the, all the stereotypes that are out there, right? The, the Danny Woodheads, the, the, the, the Austin Eckler. It's like, whatever you, they just like think that it's that next type of player. And when I watched Shipley, the skill sets, I can understand how people come to that conclusion outside of just saying they're white. I think that he's a really good receiver. They're shifty. They make people miss in space. The thing that held me back from really really loving will shipley is i don't think that he's built very densely is probably the way that i would put it it's the

main problem he goes down on con and it's not like he here's the difference people because i know that y'all are going to send me clips of him bouncing off the tackle and being able to like stay on his feet and get some yards after contact that exists in his tape but he gets knocked off balance way too easy and even for the great balance that he has i saw him go to the ground a lot easier than i thought he was going to so i did this guy is just i i don't really care what the scale says i don't really care what weight you're gonna throw throw out at me. He's light. He's light for a running back. And I think that that is a, that's not something that I love on your scouting profile going into the NFL when hits only get stronger and harder. So that was the big thing

for me. Great elusive athlete, really nice soft hands out of the backfield, but I didn't really trust what he was going to be as a yards after contact type of player. He reminded me of Ty Chandler a little bit. The build, the skill set, coming out of college, the pass catching and return ability. I think that you brought up Eckler. That's kind of the role you would love to see Shipley in. The concerns for me, because we know he's impactful on these, you know, swing passes where he could use his speed to win the sideline. He runs very skinny. He's got good acceleration.

He's a great athlete. He's a formal lacrosse player. Yeah. You got scholarship offers to play. Right. I mean, like just a supernatural athlete, I think also a black belt in karate.

Shout out. I didn't know that. Yeah. I do know he's the first scholarship player in Clemson history to graduate in three years with a 4.0 GPA. I'm pretty sure. Wow. Which is, that's unbelievable. Number one, I couldn't imagine graduating college in three years, let alone doing it with a 4.0 while playing football.

So I was about to say, why would you want to graduate college in three years, right? Well, if you're a football player, it's awesome. Correct. And then I thought, like, wait a second. Remember Tabandre Sweat? Tabandre Sweat at the Combine told me, I said, like, why were you such a better pass rusher this year? And he's like, because I was done with school. I just had an internship. Oh, man.

And I was like, you know what? That's a really fair answer. It's hard to be going to 50 classes and getting better at football. I cannot remember if this was just a rumor that was made up or if it was true. But Matt Leinart's last year at USC, the common knowledge, I guess, was that the only class that he had on USC's campus was ballroom dancing. That last year that he played at USC. Like that's it. I think you have to have more than one class to be enrolled there. So he probably had like,

I don't know, one or two online classes or something, but ballroom dancing was the one that I heard that he like had on campus. That's awesome. And it was just football. The rest of it was just straight football. Me personally, you personally, it took me five years to graduate college. And, you know, just take a little victory lap, baby. You're the first podcaster to graduate in five years. That's it. That's Stevenson Will Shipley. Three years, 4.0 GPA.

What was the best class you took in college? Oh, my goodness. What a great question. Well, the easy cop-out answer is we had a broadcast radio class, which I took and actually inspired me getting into this industry because I love it so much. But other than that, we had an appreciation to film class, which is exactly what you think it is. We just showed up and watched movies. I did the same thing.

And then I read the – and then I would either not watch the movie and fall asleep or watch the movie. And if I watched the movie – and if I fell asleep, I would just go read the imdb recap of it for when we had the quiz about what it's easy money so yeah easy money i did i took it in high school and then i took another films class in college and i agree i think the best class i actually took from damn there's a lot i didn't know about this was intro to space i took as an elective, but it was, it was actually pretty hard, not very difficult, but hard enough where I had to actually open a textbook and read about it. Cause I don't know shit about space.

So that was a good one. The biggest joke I took was intro to religion where, I mean, you did not have to know or do anything, literally anything, anything. So I, I took, I took an intro to the universe class, is the same thing same vibes you know like when i went out there with a giant

telescope at like midnight as a class and we like looked it was awesome dude you're on the rooftops of campus and you're just it was awesome it was awesome yeah stay in school kids yeah it's actually not terrible um so here's the thing with Shipley, man. Back to your play strength narrative or truths. I mean, there's not much leg drive. There's not much mass. He's fumbled seven times over the last two seasons, and he's not a guy that gets 300 touches.

I mean, the fumble rate is concerning to me. He's a strength thing, man. And then the thing that bothered me the most is that I did, because we watched him for summer scouting and then i watched him this year he didn't look as comfortable catching the ball this year not bad in any way but there was some adjustments where i'm like man this is your bread and butter like you're the guy that you're out there to catch the ball yeah and it felt like there was times where i'm like uh it's a tough play but one that you got to make for your role. So I really liked the,

I really liked Shipley. I think he's going to be a third down running back in the NFL for a pretty long time. See, so I want to agree with you, but the pass pro, but here's the problem. Pass pro.

So if you're a third, if you're a third down, let me rephrase that. Yeah. Cause that could be on any down. I agree. You're right. You might have to motion mouth to the slot at times. I mean, you know what I'm saying? Like if you are third down back, I'm going to rephrase that. Yeah. And pass catching back, because that could be on any down. I agree. You're right. You might have to motion him out to the slot at times.

I mean. But you know what I'm saying? If you are just like a pass catching back, then how much am I actually getting you in the football game? Right? No, you're right. You're right. It's not that I don't like what Will Shipley brings to the table,

but if he doesn't get stronger, which I don't know how much you can really expect the guy to get stronger. I know he's still a young man, a young adult. He can get stronger, but he's been in a pretty good strength and conditioning program at Clemson. So it's hard for me to think that he's going to get significantly stronger to be better in pass protection, to be an actual third down back in the league, or be somebody who can take tackles and take contact a little bit better than he did at college. And it's just hard to say.

It's hard to look at a guy in college and say, oh yeah, I've got strength concerns. You'll definitely get better at that when you get in the league. You know, it's not the exact same apples to apples conversation, but like, that's why I have reservations about Olufushanu, right? You're coming from a, one of the best strength and conditioning programs in the country yes he is a young player but still you having strength deficiencies in college normally don't work out well for you at the nfl level so it's kind of just that it's the same thing right there with shipley but um what'd you think of uh of of of marshawn lloyd all right let me pull up my scouting report on lloyd i think for lloyd number one i like obvious

i like him a lot because he's he's pretty dynamic as a runner really good athlete man he has this gliding running style that in his own scheme just flows naturally with the pace of the blocks i think he's got really quick feet for these short area cuts that are just vicious um stop and start i mean defenders are just cuts that are just vicious um stop and start i mean defenders are just lunging at air with a stop and start good variety of moves i mean jukes spins stiff arms dude 99th percentile missed tackles force per attempt average and if you've listened to this show before sense that's one of the metrics that we love to use to try to separate a running back from their offensive line. That's always the great question is, are you a product of the line?

Are you making things happen on your own? Force missed tackles per attempt and yards after contact. Those are two big areas that I personally love to look at. I know that you look at too with the with the ultimate tool that we have um and and he was 99th percentile in that missed tackles forced per attempt average marshall roy was so he was rb7 for me for these reasons um because all those things are great and i i also think he's a dangerous check down option i mean he had three games of 59 plus receiving yards legit receiver he runs low to the ground Why he wasn't in my top five backs. He passes up a lot of holes to run outside,

which you could do in that program. You can't run like he did at the NFL level. Yep. He tore his ACL in 2020. He missed games in both 2022 and 2023. He has been banged up while never topping 115 carries in a college season. I mean, he has not really had a workhorse load at any point of his college career, and he's gotten hurt three of those years. That screams committee running back at the NFL to me. He fumbled three times

this year despite having very limited carries he leaves himself exposed to some really really big hits in space uh in pass pro he kind of lunges and ducks and some blitzers really threw him around i mean like ass in the air kind of there's a couple of nice pass reps but there are some other ones where right it's not effort it's more almost just kind of his build which is weird because he's heavy but it's just i mean the thing is for me with lloyd he has all the gifts of a number one running back and all of the floor problems injuries ball security pass pro issues of a guy that coaching staffs will sour on yeah and i had a really tough time finding the balance of where to put him knowing those things so i stuck him right in the middle

yeah with with uh you know the way that i have the running back rankings divvied out it doesn't make this as clean of a bucket to put these guys in but marshawn Lloyd is in the same bucket as like a Jalen Wright from Tennessee a Trey Benson from Florida State like these are really good athletes NFL caliber athletes for the running back position they've got some of the best like home run ability that we have in the class they've got the ability to switch fields they got the ability to put their foot in the ground and go and just erase some angles and you love that that about him. Um, but with Lloyd specifically, the reason why he's lower on this list than those other guys that I mentioned, despite being a sort of similar athlete is I just don't really trust how he sees the field right now. And the 2020 ACL injury,

I think really set him back because the 2021 season, you could tell that he was just trying to kind of get back into things he started, but it was, you know, he was kind of in and out of the lineup of South Carolina in 2022. That looked like his best year, but then he transfers over to USC. The problem with USC is you can see a little bit, a bit of that Caleb Williams problem with Marshawn Lloyd, where he's not exactly trusting what he sees in front of him to get three or four yards on a play he wants to get 90 yards on every single play so there are times when I watch him deliberately hesitate the rushing lane to say okay is there something bigger and I feel I wonder if just that's how they're taught like is that how USC's offense is taught? Always look for the biggest play

because it's a Caleb Williams thing and it was a Marshawn Lloyd thing this past year for sure. So I don't know if you bring him into an NFL system and tell him to calm it down a little bit, tell him, hey buddy, we don't need 80 yards every time you touch the ball. We just need a healthy four or five. And you are athletic enough.

You can make people miss in space. We know you can get that from us. I don't know if that's ever going to be his style though because right now i don't love how he sees the field he's a little bit hesitant when it comes to actual running in structure i don't want to say between the tackles because some stuff can be you know mid zone outside zone you'd have these pullers and sometimes the best um path is outside of the tackles anyway so i don't just want to say like between the tackles but a little bit of that as well. He just doesn't go for those types of runs. He is more of like,

I got to go make the biggest play every single time I touch the ball, which is cool. It works at USC. I don't know how much work it's going to get you at the NFL level. I don't know how much work it's going to get you at the NFL level. If you're sitting here, NFL defenders are catching you near the line of scrimmage half the time uh because that's just not efficient enough and that's why he's a little bit lower for me but um ray davis is the last guy that i just wanted to

touch on uh before we got into our top five because you got tyrone tracy in your top five and i think i'll get to him in a second but um i like ray davis man long journey for him i mean he started where was it temple is that where he started temple transferred again vanderbilt and i mean he's just been all over the place and um i thought he actually played pretty well with vanderbilt uh even before he went to kentucky so he's got a couple of years of really good production under his belt this is somebody who built really well five foot ten 215 pounds i mean he could take good contact there's somebody who can who's got good balance i think he's got great vision as well. He's a really nice one cut back.

He's not going to be somebody who I think is the greatest athlete in the world. But as you will see, as, as the rest of my rankings list goes on, how you see the field and RB vision, can you just give me those healthy four or five yards every time that we give you the ball?

I feel like Ray Davis has the potential to do that. Even in the NFL, like, is he going to be a 40, 50 give you the ball, I feel like Ray Davis has the potential to do that, even in the NFL. Like, is he going to be a 40, 50 yard down the field, home run type hitter? No, probably not. But again, if you give me these healthy carries, man, I'll take that. That's what I know. I just need steady run game. Let me get these yards, set up these second and short, third and short short converting on second and four uh like all

this kinds of stuff and so i think ray davis has that potential too and my favorite part about him is his footwork and how he sees the field and so he was just out of my top five for that reason ray davis is absolutely the honda civic of this running back oh yeah baby nissan ultima just never quits right a hundred percent i mean there is so much to like with Ray Davis he's a guy that I really watched closely during senior bowl practices and he's just going to be a coaching staff favorite downhill runner built like a bowling ball does all the little things right catches the ball really well and has been productive as a pass catcher as a deeper running back route tree than a lot of guys in this class i mean he legitimately gets to

work down the field at times and he did it at the senior bowl as well always keeps his leg churning through contact yeah no fear of plowing forward i think he's got sneaky wiggle when he sets up defenders thinking he's going with power. Caught seven touchdowns this year. I mean, very dangerous in the open field off slip screens because his tempo is perfect behind his blockers. And the reality with him is he's just got mediocre acceleration, long speed, and explosiveness. He's a 24-year-old prospect that got work across five seasons of college football he's you know he's gonna be not valued in the same way as the top guys because of those things but he could really do everything you ask of him it's not the they're not similar in past

pro ways but his style of running and kind of how he's seen in his body type does remind me of Kyron Williams right and like that Williams is just a I will fight for every yard I've got really good vision I'm a one-cut guy I'm never gonna burn you up the sideline now Williams again Williams had great pass pro tape going into the NFL which I think helped him and Davis doesn't have as much of that. Davis has more rushing production than Kyron did to kind of give them maybe both an equal shot of when they came into the league. But his running style and just how he's built, because I just double-checked,

and Davis is actually just short of 5'9". He's not 5'10", so he's just short of 5'9". He's about a little over 210 pounds. At the Senior Bowl, wasn't he like 223? Oh, did he lose all that weight? His play weight and testing weight is totally different. He plays at 220, and you Google pictures of him, and he looks every bit of 220 plus.

So he's got like 15, 20 pounds on Kyron anyways to be more of a direct match. Yes. He's very, very thick. His combine weight is a total track, you know, number. Yeah. Trying to get him a little bit faster. So yeah, that's what I like. Ray Davis.

It sounds like you really do as well. I do. We'll get into our top fives in a second. Got to shout out our friends over at Fabric by Gerber Life. If you guys have a family, you got to get them term life insurance to protect them. All right. So one of the smartest financial decisions that you can ever make. And this time of year is perfect to get that done.

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on the most i thought going in after i did a film review on him for NBC during the season, watched him last summer. I've watched him since he was like a 17 year old getting carries in college football, which is yeah, he enrolled in college early. And I thought he'd be a top three back for me. And honestly, he just made it at five. It was really, I would really tear him, Corum, and almost Lloyd together, nearly. And then there's going to be a different jump in tier from four to one. With Allen, there is good things. I want to be very clear here.

He's going to play his entire NFL rookie season as a 20-year-old. He's got rare size. It's nuts. I mean, there is a lot for this dude to grow into and improve. He's got pretty rare size. He's 6'1", 235. I think he played above 240. That just creates tackling issues at every level of the field. I mean, he's bigger than most linebackers. He forced at least 45 missed tackles all three seasons of college so think about that that's as a 17 18 and 19 year old that's insanely productive in terms of missed tackles forced considering his age

uh i think he's got good feet for his size when defenders come in low when he gets the second and third level the stiff arm just it makes defenders look like children he squares up against blitzers utilizing that mass he blocks square he doesn't really like duck his head and get sideways um and when you do get him at that second and third level of the field i like his strides like he can really eat up a lot of grass and and not you're not gonna turn to a four three guy but he's got big run ability there why i soured on him when wisconsin pivoted to his own heavy scheme in 2023 which is not what he was brought there to do he was not the same player at all just did not and guess what a lot of teams in the nfl run zone run game so that's not that's

a that's a red flag to me that is he just a gap scheme downhill kind of runner yeah his initial burst is below average he had four four fumbles in two of his three college seasons the past game work is just check down screens and swing passes and he is not an overly comfortable pass catcher uh there's a noticeable delay when he's transitioning from catching the ball to going into open field runner and that kind of negates the idea of getting a guy in space at his size, because if you're delayed transitioning, the tacklers are going to arrive. So with Allen, I mean, his ceiling as a runner is extremely, extremely high. But right now, without any pass catching ability and being very scheme specific he's a compliment compliment runner you know that's downhill red zone tackle breaker and yeah at 20 i love the promise but

i when he came into this program as an underclassman i i expected much bigger things for him as an nfl prospect and he just didn't improve in some areas that you'd hope he'd improve right it's i i want to him being a young prospect is great he started for three years though right now so it's like you you don't exactly he's coming at a younger age obviously like i understand the age metric is there but it's hard for me to go oh he's 20 he'll get way better in the pros he already started for three like he's already had three years of of a full carry load to get better and i agree with you i felt like he kind of just stayed the same back which is impressive i think it's an nfl back but how impactful is that going to be right i don't think he's a um i don't think he is a rare athlete at his size i think he's a good athlete at his size but

how much does that play into more than just committee work um and really is he athletic enough to maintain that really healthy yards per carry average you mentioned how often teams like to go with zone if you have a player who really can't do a lot for you and behind his own blocking scheme, that's kind of tough that, you know, that makes you pretty one dimensional when you kind of come in the game and your defense might be able to key in on that kind of, they might be able to condense the formation. If they know a run is coming and Allen's in the game and they know they're not going to run behind his own blocking stuff. Okay. Well, is, is that going to kind of tip your hand a little bit? It's going to get easier to defend?

Can you stack in between the tackles a little bit better? That's all stuff that I think about. I also worried at times about his decision-making in space because where I think he is actually pretty good with chaos, right? I think that his feet are more nimble than you would expect for a guy who's 235, 240 pounds. And I think that he has some decent one-cut ability when it comes to work near the line of scrimmage. The whole point of a great blocking scheme and the whole point of making people miss is to what?

It's to get into space. With that being the goal, I sometimes saw Allen just not look as comfortable in space where it's like, you know, sometimes I'm not saying this is, this is every time with them, but sometimes you'll get a ball carrier who makes it into open space and either doesn't trust their athleticism or they just feel uncomfortable there. And they're almost like looking around who's the closest guy that I can throw my shoulder into when in reality, it's like, okay, well, I would like you to run away from them a little bit further. Sometimes the situation calls for it, but sometimes you can see guys seeking contact instead of space.

I felt like that was the case at times with Alan. And it's just, if the whole goal is to get you in space, and I feel as though you're a little bit uncomfortable when you get there, it's tough for me to really trust you as a playmaker when things go exactly the way that they need to. The size, the footwork, the stiff farming, the one-cut ability, I think it can yield a pretty good yards after contact average. He had above a 3.0 yards after contact average over the last two years,

which is good. That's fine. But after that, what kind of a player are you? And I just, I am left very unsure of Alan. So maybe I'm way too low on just a six foot one plus 240 pound athlete back there running back. Maybe I'm just way too low on a player like that.

And like you said, at the beginning of the podcast, big guys win at the NFL level. Maybe that's really all that it should have meant with him, but that's the reason why I had him a lot lower because I just didn't, I don't know. I don't have as much faith in him as other players behind zone blocking schemes that feel for space,

what you're doing when it's not just, hey, let me follow this blocker. Let me make this one guy miss and then I'll kind of go down. We'll go to live another day. Yeah, I would love to see, and maybe they don't do this because they already got their guy in Gus Edwards, but I would love to see the Chargers find a way to get him in Harbaugh's scheme.

Is it weird that, like, I'm not kidding, that's the jersey I picture him in? No, it's... Why is that? Am I thinking of somebody? Is this a psychological experiment? Because you also saying the Chargers is really weird to me. Are you thinking of Michael Turner? No.

Not Michael Turner. Not Michael Turner. Oh, this is going to drive me nuts. Who is the big back that retired due to a medical issue from the chargers from the truck i don't know was drafted early well michael turner was definitely a big back that played in the charter she was 244 pounds are you talking about ryan uh matthews i am thinking of ryan matthews i don't think he's like ryan matthews but he's not wasn't ryan matthews big not nearly as big big. He was 220, Ryan Matthews.

That's big, but not Braylon Allen big. Yeah. Yeah, that's a bigger back. I love Ryan Matthews. No, Michael Turner was 240 when he played for the Chargers. I loved Ryan Matthews. Okay, this is just really weird that you said the Chargers out of any team because as I was literally explaining him right there a couple of minutes ago,

I'm thinking of him doing these things in a Chargers uniform. Him in the powder blue is... That's extremely strange. Meant to be. Meant to be. We got some weird stuff going on right now. Okay, number five for me. I have Bucky Irving.

Please tell me Bucky Irving isn't... He's outside your top 10? Yes. Oh, dude. Yes. Man, I thought I liked Bucky Irving, but you love Bucky Irving. No, you're a hater, dude. You're a massive hater.

I am scarred on really, really small backs that are bad athletes. Like the Michael Carter experience, who's an okay NFL player. But when you are really small, and to be fair to Michael, Michael Carter's agilities were phenomenal. So let me actually take that back. Irving didn't do agilities at the combine, but bro, you're 192 pounds and you didn't test well. I just can't.

I just can't do it. I just love. And okay, this is the part that we were going to talk about I love his vision I love how he sees the field I love how he sets guys up all right Bucky Irving was a 100th percentile player over the last two seasons when it comes to missed tackles force per attempt he had This guy had almost Bijan Robinson level missed tackles force per attempt averages. He was a.40. Bijan was like.44.

Travis Etienne was, no, no, Bijan was.42. Travis Etienne was.42. And Javante Williams was.44. And Bucky Irving's like right there in that category with these guys who are like elite at forcing missed tackles. And you know you know here's the thing you know he's not doing it with elite athletic gifts you turn on the tape and you see that from him he's just doing it because he on he sees the game faster than everybody else that he's playing against and I am just such a sucker for a good vision back. And that is Bucky Irving to me.

He is smaller. There's no doubt about it. But I think he's got a lot of fight in him. When he gets up against these linebackers, even some of these defensive linemen, those legs keep churning as best they can. He will try to stay balanced. He will get that one or two yards that absolutely surprise you. So look, I don't think that he's going to be somebody who's going to be hitting home runs at the NFL level but he is somebody who I love what he could do as a

receiver like I love his hands out of the backfield I thought he was a really nice receiver I thought that his um body control his balance his footwork allows him to have some really nice routes out of the backfield that could again set people up once you get into space so I think he has that ability to him and he just he dude he anticipates things so well and he turns it into production i love the bucky irving because of that i am terrified about the athletic testing that he had at the combine but damn it i'm gonna fall for it because when guys see the field that well i just i it's such a i'm such a sucker for that trait it means the most to me because we have seen so many athletes, great athletes come through college football and get to the NFL level.

And they can't do crap in the NFL because they can't see the field in a way that they need to. And I'm 0% worried about Bucky Irving in that regard. So outlier and a lot of different things, but I got to bet on the trait that I measure most for him. So maybe he does end up being somebody who, okay, you know how you have like thresholds for certain players. Maybe there is just truly a threshold of a, or like a floor of like, okay,

you could have really great vision, but if you are not at least this big, if you are not this tall enough to ride the NFL ride, then you are just not going to succeed as a running back. So perhaps we look back and this ends up being a really good scouting lesson for me but for now it's really hard for me not to be a sucker for what he puts out there on tape and i get it the tape is is really good he number one that you said as just natural awareness anticipation feel vision um he's someone that has been really productive with the touches he's had both on the ground and through the air. I just don't know, if I'm an NFL coach,

I don't know what exactly I can do with him. This guy's got more yards after contact per attempt than Braylon Allen does. He's an early down runner. Than Braylon Allen does. He's an early down runner in the NFL at 190 pounds and that was his combine weight so he got up to that for the combine I don't know if that holds up at all I think he's draftable I am a certified hand oh he's using the word draftable he definitely is fifth round connor wouldn't take me up no no he's a top of day three kind of he's a top of day three kind of okay but here's

all right so here's the thing i also wouldn't be taking bucky irving before like late third you know okay so you you he's already five for me but like he's a mid-round player you know I'm not fair when you look at this class as a whole I mean I'm not taking I'm not taking Irving until probably honestly like the same range like I'm not taking him until most likely early part of the fourth round like if I'm thinking hey here's the beginning of the fourth round I can take a good playmaker out of the backfield that's Bucky Irving spot for me I'm just lower on this running back class a little bit overall yeah i am too i don't really have a lot of day two grades i'm gonna give a lot of i

think mid-round grades to a lot of these guys they're either like mid-round third round picks to mid-round grade. That's Tyrone Tracy, Jr., who, I mean, what an incredible transfer for Purdue. Played wide receiver at Iowa, transfers to Purdue as a running back. He's a playmaker in both the run and pass game. I mean mean explosive and agile tester 94th percentile ver 89th percentile three cone incredibly creative runner on tape finesse and power in his game he forced 46 missed tackles on just 114 attempts this season yeah

yeah really good balance really good flexibility a complete natural in the past game, which isn't surprising considering he was a wide receiver. I think he's got the skill set and mindset to become an elite third down running back. Returned kicks, brought one back for a touchdown in 2023. The weaknesses to me are things that he just needs to grow into by actually getting to play the position. He's still learning the pacing and flow of run designs he only had one year of quality production because he really only had one full year of a chance to be a running back i don't care that he's 24 because it's not like he's been a running back

for six years and just getting ran into the line of scrimmage this is new to him and he the flashes are amazing and his skill set fits everything in the mold of today's NFL running back for all three downs I Tracy he is such a creative runner and he's such a good athlete that you are confident the things that translate to me like you said Trevor the missed tackles force per attempt and the high-end athleticism and the floor in the pass game when you check all three of those boxes, you're probably going to be a good NFL running back. He's so much fun. I haven't been RB9 because I don't really know what the hell to do with him. A little bit of a background for him. He started his career at Iowa, played wide receiver at Iowa for most of his time there ended up transferring to Purdue in 2022 he played like wide receiver slash running back a little bit at Purdue but then they went through

a coaching change going into his last year and they wanted to move him to running back and he was like man I've been a receiver my whole college career and I get this from his perspective like he was like I've been a wide receiver for most of my college career. I'm running out of eligibility. Now in my last year, you want me to switch positions. And if it doesn't work, I have no shot at the NFL. Because if what happened in 2023 doesn't happen, he's a complete afterthought.

He's not making it to the league. So he was really hesitant about doing that. But then he was like, he trusted the coach, I think, that came in, who was like, dude,

I know you can be a great running back. He gets a running back. The coach recruited him. I talked to him about this. The coach recruited him as a high schooler. I think he was a Gatorade Indiana player of the year. He was. The coach recruited him as a high schooler to play running back.

And Tyrone Tracy was like, I'm a receiver. And the coach was like, you're a running back. Then it didn't work up to the standards he had hoped at wide receiver the same coach came back to recruit him as a transfer running back and he was like all right maybe you were right dude he is so here's my here's my um little blurb about him when he transferred to purdue there was some split work at running back a wide receiver in his first year but his second year he was all in on running back and looked like a natural.

He has an upright running style, but he remains balanced on his feet for good yards after contact. He has a true make-you-miss type of a running style with really good elusiveness and one-cut ability. The lack of experience as a running back yields some inconsistencies with how he sees blockings and space and where space will be. On third downs, his hands and his route running are obviously very good given his background.

Though he has some really good length and willingness and pass protection, his strength and confidence in that assignment is still hit and miss, but could certainly get better. Bottom line, Tracy Jr. is a natural playmaker with adequate athleticism, both explosively and with agility for a zone blocking scheme, but he must continue to improve in how he sees space

in order to become a consistent rotational starter or a consistent rotational player and even a starter. This is somebody who, man, it's just his tape is fun. Like he, the fact he plays with such high pad leverage that you go like, you are really a wide receiver just giving the ball back. Like you can tell he hasn't trained in like the, I get the ball in my gut, I'm'm going low i got the pad levels down he instead they hand him the ball he's

standing straight upright and he just becomes a receiver after the catch 100 that is what he and he's just like all right time to make somebody miss like time just time to break some ankles he's got really great balance despite uh not being not being super low to the ground like you see a lot of running backs do and he's not gonna look like your traditional running back he's not but he is such a great playmaker out of the backfield i could see a rotational role for him at the nfl level at worst as this kind of like third down swing back change of pace type of a player um somebody who's gonna like give you uh that sort of energy so tracy man he's he's fun i obviously didn't have him in my top five but uh but he is fun and he knows how to block

so that he is well he is definitely willing with his blocking there's no doubt about that he's definitely all right so do you have a four so i have trey benton at four okay he's my number one running back okay all right so he was both of our number one running backs going into this season. And I got a little bit lower on him because his individual numbers this past season all went down. The missed tackles force per attempt that we loved going into the season that was incredible from last year went down a little bit, as did the yards after contact. But the yards after contact didn't go down nearly as much. The reason why I've kind of like dinged him a little bit more

than I think you have after kind of just saying yep and agreeing with me there with you kind of seeing the same thing is, again, it comes down to a vision thing for me. When I watched Trey Benson this year, I saw some flashes of really good vision, but also some inconsistencies with some obvious rushing holes. And sometimes when it was like, man, you've got to be able to see that in order to get the better yards. Benson is an incredible athlete. He's one of the best athletes in this class, especially for giving his weight. But there are too many times I saw this past year, he just tried to out-athlete people. Not nearly as much as Marshawn Lloyd was, and I think it was

more of an issue for Marshawn Lloyd, but I still saw that in Benson. And it's just really hard to be that kind of back at the NFL level. Now, I also sort of had the same concerns about Kenneth Walker. And Kenneth Walker is doing pretty dang good for Seattle when he's out there and when he's healthy. And I had those concerns as well. So I fully admit that it's like, okay, I have these concerns for him, but you can become an incredibly productive player, especially for how good of an athlete Benson is.

And so those were my overall thoughts on him. Really liked him coming into the season because I thought he was a more efficient player. He takes a step back in those efficiency areas, and I think the root of it came from how he saw the field. That spooks me a little bit. It doesn't mean that I don't think he's going to be a productive back. I still think you're picking him within the top 100.

I think he is a rotational committee type of a player at worst, and he can absolutely evolve into a Kenneth Walker type, a Dalvin Cook type of player. To me, he has that style, that ability to bounce off of tackles and continue to gain speed and be a home run hitter. All of that is within the cards for him. But also I could see the other side of it. And maybe that's, maybe I'm a little bit more skittish and worried than I should be, but that's ultimately why he's number four for me. He's close to that category of guys that I think could be RB1s at the next level. I just a little spooked by some of what I saw this year from him. Yeah, admittedly,

it's an underwhelming top back of the class, right? He's my RB1. You know, i don't have him in my top 50 players i still love the contact balance he's a tap dancer in tight areas he i've said this before he's the master of turning a dead play into a three-yard gain it's really really impressive how he could do that i think the upside as a pass catcher is what really sold me here. They did not throw him the ball enough. They didn't. And when you watch the 32 passes that he catches throughout his college career, you're looking at it and going with his athleticism,

his contact balance and space and his feet. And I think he looks relatively natural catching the ball. Why the hell didn't they throw this guy the football? So I think there's a lot. I think he has a much more promising pass catching future in the NFL than he did in college. If they expand his route tree, I thought the angry runs from 2022 were awesome.

I wish there was more of them in 2023. I'm totally with you that that disappointed me i thought the acceleration on tape that instant acceleration was missing uh he's almost too patient where it doesn't unlock that sub 4.4 speed enough and i think he got better in pass pro from 2022 to 2023 but this is even something he said to me right away he's very focused in on getting better in that area and he has to as a three down player so there's a lot i really like about benson um i don't think superstar as a top running back but i think kind of that reliable future starting running back that'll be able to handle all three downs with more ceiling as a

pass catcher than he had in college so let's's talk about Jalen Wright from Tennessee. Do you have him in the top five as well? He's number two for me. Okay. So it's good that you have him at two because I have Jalen Wright at three. So we, I think, see these players similarly. They're in sort of that same bucket. They're right next to each other. And I do that. I mean, that's how I see Jalen Wright from Tennessee. You know, one year full-time starter this past year, but he was the first 1,000-yard rusher at Tennessee since Jalen heard in 2015. I thought that was crazy when I read that.

When he was in high school, he won an indoor state title for the 55-meter dash. He's a sophomore, had a 6.29 at 55-meter dash, which checks out for all the explosive numbers that he had at the combine just because you can watch this guy on tape too he puts his foot in the ground and he can absolutely go um i think that he you know despite having that sideline speed he has good patience too and again like i i really gravitated towards the patience that he showed, despite not having a ton of full-time work in college. This was somebody who had the athleticism to be able to, I would understand some of what I saw with Benson,

where it was like, yeah, all right, you want to get the sideline every time. I get it. You're just that athletic. But I felt as though he was more patient, that he was willing to wait for things to unfold in front of him. I really liked the footwork. I liked how he was able to hop behind the line of scrimmage. And when he got to the line of scrimmage, that one cut ability that allowed him to hit space,

and then we hit open space, man, he could absolutely take off. And I think that that athleticism really takes over. The reason why I have Jalen Wright overall above Trey Benson, I think they're both pretty decent as receivers. Jalen Wright, to me, is the best pass protector of any of the running backs in this class. He's got the size, he's got the strength. And the thing is he doesn't even have the experience really. Like he's sort of been in that role over the last couple of years. This year he was in it a lot and he would go straight up with guys that are coming in. Linebackers, safeties, blitzing

corners, chip blocks, whatever. He to me is the best passion protecting guy in this class. And so when it comes to getting on the field early, I think he has the ability to that. So to do that. So I like Jalen Wright from Tennessee, a good amount, man. I really do.

He was dangerously close to being my top back. I mean, couldn't have been closer. Him and Benson to me are side by side. I fell in love with Jalen Wright throughout this process. Shot out of a cannon, straight line sprinter, always wins the foot race against defensive ends and linebackers. When he gets that momentum going, which he almost always does, he drives through defenders on the back end. Natural hands. Makes an effort to stay square and level and pass pro.

I mean, the thing for me with him is he gets a little bounce happy. His runs, sometimes when they lack feel, they just become unnecessarily chaotic. I'm like, you know what I mean? It's just like this run didn't need to have five defenders around you where you have to do something the same. There's a lot of things like that where it's like it i think more carries will alleviate some of that i think so too not really a ton of lateral quickness on tape but i guess when you're that fast in a straight line it doesn't matter as much uh he fumbled five times over the last two years but only one this year so we got a lot better from 2022 to 2023 i have a second round grade on jalen right i so do i i love the player i i think he was the guy that moved up the most

for me from the middle of the season to now i'm sure yeah i'm sure same thing for me i mean i didn't really have him on my radar even right he was popping in our grading system, and we were both like... RB3 for me. So, I've got Blake Corum as RB2. Okay. And, you know, the more I sat here and thought about it, I love Blake Corum so much the previous season. You know, just the missed tackles forced per attempt, the yards after contact, the first downs gained on third down,

like the third down efficiency for him. I understand that he isn't the best athlete out there right i mean he is what was what was the final measurables for lake quorum he's like five seven two oh five he is five seven average force 205 um 60th percentile four yard dash 63rd percentile vertical jump 89th percentile three cone drill 94th percentile bench press let's go baby short arms we're pumping those things out he has some of the shortest arms yeah boom boom boom i love it go off king uh so but here's the thing about quorum the shorter strides definitely go into him just not being able to be this kind of getaway athlete he's not if you're looking for. He's not. If you're

looking for a home run hitter, if you're trying to get a really vertical run game, he's probably not going to be your cup of tea. What I trust Blake Corum to do better than every single back in this class is read the line of scrimmage, react to chaos as it's coming around you, stay calm, stay poised, stay balanced, get those yards yards after contact and just see that open space better than anybody else him and bucky irving are those two guys that just anticipate better than everybody does and just behind that michigan offensive line i understand people go like oh of course he was productive it was michigan's offensive line but i genuinely think that it was quorum as well like if quorum does not um get injured in November of last year, I think he comes

out of the draft last year. I think he's a, he's a top 50 pick. I think he gets picked probably somewhere in the second round, but before pick 50, somewhere around there. I think he's probably outside of the top 50 now because of that injury in this past year just wasn't as good, but he ended the year really strong. He tested fine for, I think, his athletic limitations of being somebody who is 5'7 and has those shorter stride lengths. But the receiver ability out of the backfield,

I think, is phenomenal. He is a willing pass protector, although, of course, for a guy who's 5'7, at 205 pounds, it's not going to go great for you. But it's just that compact build. He has those weaknesses that come with it, but boy, does he have those strengths. I mean, the core strength is fantastic. The leg drive is fantastic. The balance is to me incredible. And two of the top traits that I have for a running back to get me those healthy yards after contact and those yards, those just yards per attempt averages. I want you to see the field well, and I want you to be balanced. Those things matter so much to me because people love the harp on and we've talked about this before. People love the harp on the 40 yard runs, the 50 yard runs,

when you get up the sideline and it's this highlight reel thing and we all see it on red zone and we go, whoa, crazy, what a run. So many more times in the NFL, you will have the opportunity to gain four or five yards to help your offense out. And Blake Corham, to me, does that better than basically any back in this class. If I need somebody to have a healthy yards per carry average to keep my offense moving on any given down, I trust him to be able to do that. And that's why I have him as RB2 in this class. Because if I'm going to boast, like I said, if I'm going to boast those traits as the two that carry the highest weight for me, yes, it all kind of spits out a formula for all these guys to be stacked against each other to let different skill sets shine.

But that to me is the X factor of these tiers and these buckets of these running backs that I have here. Is that Blake Corham just sees it so well. And he feels like that type of back that every time that you get him the football, he is giving you three to four yards. And I'll take that every day. Yeah, the floor of Corum is excellent. I mean, not overly explosive or fast, and he's small, but pound for pound strength, great balance.

The best understanding of what he's asked to do in the run out of any runner in the class. And it's not even close. Like when it's drawn up, Corum knows exactly where he needs to go, what timing he needs to have. He just has great trust in his rush lanes. Really, really well coached up in pass pro and staying square. Uses his leverage to his advantage. I don't think he'll factor in much in the outside zone running game, and I just thought this year,

man, I know he got hurt. He looked so worn down compared to 2022. But I thought the end of the year looked better. Right, but it made me think he was getting more confident with the knee. Probably, but it's just a matter of that size with all of the touches he's

had in college. And that's fair. Isn't that going to be a problem after two years in the nfl and that's fair so that's fair um jonathan brooks last guy yeah number three for me talk to me about is he number one for you he is number one for me yep okay so brooks obviously coming off the acl i want to pull up my scouting report on him um you know which acl injury in november which sucks a little bit of a factor in this process of course why am i an idiot and can't find my job here we go john brooks report got it i know how to use a computer all right so maybe i think with brooks okay so here's the really good plus acceleration

he can beat the defense to the edge. Really good feel as a runner with these sharp cuts in Texas's run scheme. Knows how to get skinny through really, really tight rush lanes. Slippery in space off of screens and checkdowns. The movement skills and flashes in the pass game show a guy that is ready for more. Like, I think you could motion him out to the slot. I think you can get him in one-on-one matchups with linebackers and nickels and ask him to win in those ways.

I think he's got really good awareness and vision pre- and post-snap as a pass protector, which really impressed me for a young running back. He kind of knew where the rush was coming from that he had to help out with. My thing that separated him from being the top running back in this class was I don't think he has really any leg drive to grind out extra yards. I did not see that power profile in the lower half. He gets a little too patient rather than banging between the tackles to just get downhill consistently. The torn ACL is going to slow him down as a rookie, he'll be he'll be fine with that i love his awareness in pass pro but in the actual rep he's he ducks his head all the time

and his shoulder it's constant like i don't know if i'm strong enough and that kind of goes back to the lower half leg power where i'm like does he not trust that lower half strength here where he's kind of lunging to generate more force? So Brooks is kind of that guy where it's like, okay, if he goes to a run scheme that you have a lot of confidence in McVay, LaFleur, those kinds of guys, like he's going to get what's there with the kind of athlete he is and the kind of feel he has. I just don't know if he'll ever have the power profile to be a great running back. He just feels like a guy that's trapped in being a good one.

I think if the injury didn't exist for Jonathan Brooks, I personally don't think this is even a conversation for most people. I think that what we saw from him, the fact that he's only a redshirt sophomore, the fact that he has the lack of wear and tear, the tread on the tires, if you will. I think he was the best all-around back that we had in college football this past year. Are some backs a little faster than him?

Sure. Are some like a little bit better at contact balance than him? Sure. But you look at this guy, he is above 50th percentile in size and in length for the running back position. I think he's got really nice long speed. For only starting for one year, I think he sees the field incredibly well. He's got a good knack for one-cut ability.

He's got good lateral ability despite his size. I think he's got good hands in the receiving game. Pass protection is a work in progress, but I think it's coming along. To me, I think that this is a – they say five-tool player in baseball. I think this is a five-tool player running back. I think Jonathan Brooks gives you everything you want from the position and i think i i think it's it sounds like i'm more confident since he's rb1 for me and he's rb3 for you yeah i believe this is a scheme versatile back who could be productive in any system for any team i

really do if we get the pre acl injury version injury version of Jonathan Brooks and can allow that guy to get better and see the field even better with more carries, to me, he brings everything to the table that you would want for the running back position. My kind of like bottom line scouting report thing that I have in the draft guide is Brooks is an ideal blend of size, speed, strength, and agility. Though he has limited snap totals, he has good vision in both gap and run schemes. If he can get back to form following the ACL, he has all the tools to be a starting running back for any team in the NFL.

So that's how we ended up with him at RB1. All right. Here we go. Interesting class. A lot of varying floors, ceilings, skill sets, roles, and they're all clustered in a pretty tight group. Indeed. So unfortunately, folks, we're on a time crunch, skill sets roles and they're all clustered in a pretty tight group indeed so unfortunately folks

we're on a time crunch but please ask us about guys like audrey guesstime and cody schrader because i want to talk about those guys in the comments like the lobby yeah yeah yeah like all these dudes i would i would love to hear from you guys please let us know in the comment section best way to do that youtube.com backslash nfl stock exchange if you literally just say hey what do you think about Audrey Gessame? I will try to go back and give you our thoughts because I want to talk about these guys. We're just on a little bit of a time crunch here because we've got to get out of here.

Audio only. If you want to hit us up and ask those questions as well, you can at Tampa Bay Trey at Connor J. Rogers on both Instagram and Twitter. 25K subs on YouTube. Whoa! I didn't know that. I knew we were getting close. Not only are were getting close.

We're not only are we getting close, buddy, we've eclipsed it. Y'all are, y'all are incredible. Y'all are the goats. We love you so much. Appreciate it. Uh,

Connor, you got anything else before we get out of here? No, man. I know, uh, we got to run the day as we always do these long shows that we love. And we'll have another positional breakdown this week.

We will. Maybe. We will. Maybe. I think so. I think we're going to. We're running out of time, so we're trying to get through them. We're trying to get as many as we can, but we believe we will have another position breakdown for you guys. You can comment and ask which one you would want to see.

We've already done wide receiver, corner, edge rusher, quarterback, and offensive tackle. We will circle back around to those, but we're going to try to get to a couple others before we get to that. So if you have a suggestion of ones that we haven't done yet, please let us know in the comments also. I'm Trevor Sycamore. That is Connor Rogers. Thank you guys so much for watching and listening to the NFL Stock Exchange Podcast.

See you guys later this week. Thank you.