I am not too excited about the big 3 RB's in this draft...are you?

[Ozzy]

And running in a straight line is not the same as on the field, tellt hat too all the Ronnie Brown lovers. Caddy without a doubt has the best vision of all RB in this draft. Who is to say that Caddy wouldnt play better at a heavier weight?? Just b/c Ricky gained his weight up (245+) does not mean that if Caddy gains weigth means he will be slow and clumpsy. and Who is to say that Caddy cannot gain weight with his body type?? I do believe your first line in your post earlier was almost identical to the one on ESPN, I believe it was Kipers??? hmmmm

Caddy is not built to be thick, you can see it in his frame. His calves and ankles are twigs. His bone structure is what it is, and it ain't like RW's.

As for Ronnie Brown, you keep thinking all he can do is run a straight line, that's all you got to argue with. Brown has the patience to set his blocks up so well, it opens his eyes to cutback LANES, and that's why he has more runs of 30 yards or more, because he has the speed to get into that lane and never look back. It's not like all he had to do was run straight ahead, and he was, "poof", gone. He uses a spin move very well, like Caddy sidesteps so well. Two different styles is all.

Caddy relies on seeing the guy coming at him so he can side step or juke him, while another is coming at him as well. While he does it very well, it leaves him with less of a chance at taking it for long runs each time. If he can do this and keep above 4 yds per, well, that's plenty enough to be very productive, and a great back.

Brown showed the country how well his vision is in his last game, where he was constantly stretching the LOS to seperate the Lb's from their lanes. He has excelent vision to go along with real good instincts, for how he runs best.

 

[Jaj]

Caddy is not built to be thick, you can see it in his frame. His calves and ankles are twigs. His bone structure is what it is, and it ain't like RW's.

As for Ronnie Brown, you keep thinking all he can do is run a straight line, that's all you got to argue with. Brown has the patience to set his blocks up so well, it opens his eyes to cutback LANES, and that's why he has more runs of 30 yards or more, because he has the speed to get into that lane and never look back. It's not like all he had to do was run straight ahead, and he was, "poof", gone. He uses a spin move very well, like Caddy sidesteps so well. Two different styles is all.

Caddy relies on seeing the guy coming at him so he can side step or juke him, while another is coming at him as well. While he does it very well, it leaves him with less of a chance at taking it for long runs each time. If he can do this and keep above 4 yds per, well, that's plenty enough to be very productive, and a great back.

Brown showed the country how well his vision is in his last game, where he was constantly stretching the LOS to seperate the Lb's from their lanes. He has excelent vision to go along with real good instincts, for how he runs best.

Caddy showed surprising power at 205. He has bulked up to 217 and was very impressive in all the agility drills. The weight hasn't slowed him down one bit. He will be the better back and there was a reason he started (fine got the majority of the carries) over Ronnie Brown.

 

[knight6jb]

Caddy is not built to be thick, you can see it in his frame. His calves and ankles are twigs. His bone structure is what it is, and it ain't like RW's.

As for Ronnie Brown, you keep thinking all he can do is run a straight line, that's all you got to argue with. Brown has the patience to set his blocks up so well, it opens his eyes to cutback LANES, and that's why he has more runs of 30 yards or more, because he has the speed to get into that lane and never look back. It's not like all he had to do was run straight ahead, and he was, "poof", gone. He uses a spin move very well, like Caddy sidesteps so well. Two different styles is all.

Caddy relies on seeing the guy coming at him so he can side step or juke him, while another is coming at him as well. While he does it very well, it leaves him with less of a chance at taking it for long runs each time. If he can do this and keep above 4 yds per, well, that's plenty enough to be very productive, and a great back.

Brown showed the country how well his vision is in his last game, where he was constantly stretching the LOS to seperate the Lb's from their lanes. He has excelent vision to go along with real good instincts, for how he runs best.

No doubt in my mind Brown will be a good back, but Brown's vision and agility is what is lacking. I am not saying he doesnt have them, but it is far from excellent. All i have to argue, is that Brown is a straight line runner, yea cuz he is. He has the physical attributes for RB, but not the vision or agility. I realize the man is 230 and runs a 4.4, but thats not what makes a RB. If you havent seen the thing with the top 25 rushers in NFL history si there vision, they see things others dont. So Brown showed his vision in the last game (one game) well thats good lets draft him #2 overall. and I forgot Caddy doesnt have the patience to watch his blocks set up.....

 

[Ozzy]

Caddy showed surprising power at 205. He has bulked up to 217 and was very impressive in all the agility drills. The weight hasn't slowed him down one bit. He will be the better back and there was a reason he started (fine got the majority of the carries) over Ronnie Brown.

The weight was not muscle, which when added in such a short time, will make the muscle tighten up. He is much better fit, if he wants more weight, at around 210.

In your opinion he will be better, where as, in a lot of others opinions he won't. It's not like Caddy was going to play FB at Auburn, and they wanted to get both players on the field at the same time. Brown could have left after his junior season and was projected as a first round pick, yet he stayed.

I've watched a lot of Auburn Football the last three years thanks to my satalite, and IMO they're both going to be good ones....

 

[knight6jb]

Caddy showed surprising power at 205. He has bulked up to 217 and was very impressive in all the agility drills. The weight hasn't slowed him down one bit. He will be the better back and there was a reason he started (fine got the majority of the carries) over Ronnie Brown.

Seriously he gained the weight(what you think is all water) and still owned in the agility drills!

 

[knight6jb]

The weight was not muscle, which when added in such a short time, will make the muscle tighten up. He is much better fit, if he wants more weight, at around 210.

In your opinion he will be better, where as, in a lot of others opinions he won't. It's not like Caddy was going to play FB at Auburn, and they wanted to get both players on the field at the same time. Brown could have left after his junior season and was projected as a first round pick, yet he stayed.

I've watched a lot of Auburn Football the last three years thanks to my satalite, and IMO they're both going to be good ones....

Who is to say it wasnt muscle??? Why cant someone gain alot of weight due to muscle in a month or more?? Did you feel his muscle to know it didnt tighten?

 

[bakedmatt]

The only sure thing in this draft?...I would say Braylon Edwards....Aren't you like forced to HIT Big with the 2nd overall pick?

that's kind of funny to me how you call braylon edwards a sure thing. when he had a knack for dropping the sure thing (being the easy catch) during his college career. furthermore, high-profile michigan wrs have never lived up to their high billing for whatever reason. not so sure thing if you ask me.

i love the possibilities of braylon too, but to think he doesn't carry a risk is silly to me. especially when you compare him to the 3 RBs, all of which could produce even better returns immediately.

 

[Ozzy]

No doubt in my mind Brown will be a good back, but Brown's vision and agility is what is lacking. I am not saying he doesnt have them, but it is far from excellent. All i have to argue, is that Brown is a straight line runner, yea cuz he is. He has the physical attributes for RB, but not the vision or agility. I realize the man is 230 and runs a 4.4, but thats not what makes a RB. If you havent seen the thing with the top 25 rushers in NFL history si there vision, they see things others dont. So Brown showed his vision in the last game (one game) well thats good lets draft him #2 overall. and I forgot Caddy doesnt have the patience to watch his blocks set up.....

No!! I said Brown showed the country in his last bowl game, but I saw it long before that. Browns Vision is excellent. Vision is not what makes a runner great, running does. Vision gets extra yards, and keeps them alive. Runners use their vision to fit the style they run with, but the better ones will do it naturally, Brown and Caddy do it well. Caddy has to constantly look around, because he wants to make people miss. His vision instincts are more like short sighted, he is not always looking for long running lanes. He wants to make them. Brown is more far sighted, seeing the lanes the Lb's and Safeties take, then he uses his speed to split them.

IMO Caddy has plenty of patience. He waits for the tacklers to commit their hips very well. Once they do, their thru most of the time. He's more of a take them on one at a time runner. Not at all a bad thing either.

 

[Ozzy]

Who is to say it wasnt muscle??? Why cant someone gain alot of weight due to muscle in a month or more?? Did you feel his muscle to know it didnt tighten?

What are you saying a month or more for? He added that weight in less than a month. It was at the senior bowl first, then the combine later, which was more like two weeks!!! He either ate ten times a day, or he used water pills because I doubt he used steroids.....K?

 

[knight6jb]

Not positive but I think it was Feb.23-present(april 15) thas more than a few weeks.....(7weeks)

 

[Awsi Dooger]

There is a very simple verification whether you've seen Ronnie Brown play. If you've seen him play, you want no part of him at #2.

He's big, strong, fast, nice spin move and great hands. The NFL defenders he will be unable to juke are bigger, stronger and nearly as fast. The NFL has a way of nullifying the strengths of a limited back like Ronnie Brown, and magnifying the weaknesses. Not that I completely agree with the Curtis Enis comparison, but it's not completely off base. Brown is certainly faster and more than one gear. Still, it's certainly more real-world than comparing him to Ahman Green. Give me a myopic break. Green is much more instinctive and fluid, a great slide step that Ronnie Brown can only dream about.

Benson is a poor man's Ricky Williams. He's also naturally smaller, one fact that is seldom mentioned here. For all his thick legs and bubble butt, Benson played at above 220 only last season. He's barely 5-10. I think his best weight is in the 215 range. Ricky could carry 20 pounds more than that comfortably. If Benson insists on playing at 220+, I think it will diminish his speed and quickness to a point he won't be eluding many top tier NFL defenders.

Cadillac played above Brown for a reason. Pure ability. He's the only potential great running back among this trio. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if Marion Barber has a superior career to Benson or Brown.

 

[Agent51]

Respectfully disagree. They have weaknesses, but this is a really, really, good class of RBs. Brown is one of the most well-rounded prospects to come out in a long time (Edge? LT?). Benson is a slightly worse version of Ricky, but only Ricky was Ricky. Caddy is the best pure runner, and so behind the right line he's going to do some great things. He may not catch and block as well as other prospects, but in terms of rushing yards, he'll rack 'em up IMO.

Imagine what Caddy would do in Denver

 

[TeeMoney]

The NFL has a way of nullifying the strengths of a limited back like Ronnie Brown, and magnifying the weaknesses...

Well, you just stepped your foot in it Ausi. The reason Brown is, in most minds, the #1 back is because he is a "complete" running back. So, you take away his inside running and he has the speed to run outside, you take away the outside, he hits it up inside, you take away the running game, he's thrown to in the flats or he has the speed to stretch it downfield. Or are you saying the NFL will prey on his inability to change direction quickly? Come on, that's just silly- or maybe the NFL will prey on his colorblindness? He is the prototypical running back for the pro's. Jack of all trades.

I would rather have Carnell, but I just thought that statement was wrong.

 

[SuperMarksBros.]

the bottom line with rb's is, this years crop is especially deep. kiper has noted that 1st round rb talent can be found deep into the 2nd.

 

[Marino2Clayton]

There isn't a damn one of you that has watched these running backs. If you had, then you wouldn't be making completely off the wall comparisons like the one of Ronnie Brown to Curtis Enis. Please!! The two backs aren't even the same type of build and definitely don't have the same skill set.

These three running backs are easily the best runningbacks since LaDainian Tomlinson was drafted, and it's the best group of top backs since Edgerrin James and Ricky Williams were drafted.

The fact of the matter is, Ronnie Brown's skill set and body type most closely resembles Ahman Green than any other running back. He's a great at catching the ball out of the backfield and has the speed to run the downfield routes that the tight end would run. He's also a terrific runner who has the burst of speed to get to the outside and the size to run it in between the tackles. Just because he is a one cut and up the field runner isn't a reason to knock him. Those are the types of running backs that are the best running backs in the NFL.

Cedric Benson is so close to Ricky Williams on the field that if you didn't know their name, you would think they were the same running back. Cedric has tremendous explosion coming out of his stance. The guy rarely goes down on first contact. Out of 1,112 career rushing attempts, he lost yards on only 35 carries or so. Cedric has great power, excellent vision, tremendous balance, and extremely quick feet. To knock him for being a four year starter is absolutely ridiculous.

Cadillac Williams is another explosive running back with tremendous vision, balance, and quickness in the open field. He's also got deceptive power. Tremendous instincts. He reminds me of Curtis Martin in that he can slip through the smallest of holes and sees everything on the field from the playside to the backside.

Terriffic post KB. Its easy to just say "I've see every Auburn game, or I've seen that guy play in college." But no one can back it up with the insite that KB has.

I have truthfully only seen Cedric play in 4 games last year. However, on the other hand I have seen every game that Carnell and Ronnie have played during their entire career on the plains at AU. I even followed both their recruitments comming out of high school.

I am in pretty much total agreement KB's analysis.

My one problem with Carnell is that he runs a little too hard for his size. I'm just worried about how he will hold up at the pro level at his size. Remember in college he broke his collarbone in 2001 and his leg the next year.