Slimm's 2015 Runningbacks (Underclassmen) | Page 2 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Slimm's 2015 Runningbacks (Underclassmen)

ckparrothead said:
Blows my mind that RB James Conner and WR Tyler Boyd aren't even eligible for these underclassmen lists yet. I'm going to have some fun watching Pitt games for the next few years. Hopefully Chad Voytik ends up a decent QB so those other two can live up to their potential. He did look decent when he came in for Savage in the bowl game. I thought he looked even better than Savage in that game, actually. Savage hadn't been having a great game.
Click to expand...


They're both outstanding freshmen. Especially Boyd, he's a special talent.

I saw so many good looking freshman all over the place last year. There's a few freaks here and there that look like they could play in the NFL after their freshman seasons in the mold of Clowney, Julio Jones, A.J. Green, Adrian Peterson, etc. I think Marquez North and Laquon Treadwell both have that look at receiver.

Derrick Henry, Su'a Cravens, Vernon Hargreaves, Christian Hackenberg, Carl Lawson, Myles Jack, Laremy Tunsil, Chris Jones, Eddie Vanderdoes, Leonard Floyd, Dwayne Washington, O.J. Howard, and Alex Collins are all fantastic.

Elijah McGuire for UL-Lafayette is another one. Ryan Switzer, Alquadin Muhammad, T.J. Logan, Kareem Hunt, Jared Goff, Maty Mauk, Amba Etta, Thomas Tyner...

Florida St. had two freshman that really stood out to me in Levonte Whitfield and Nate Andrews. I watched Andrews quite a bit here in high school for Fairhope. Bama offered him but he chose FSU. Auburn has another one waiting in the wings at the QB position in Jeremy Johnson. He can play. Big, athletic kid that's going to be downright scary when he assumes the starting job for Malzahn.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yeah aside from Conner (who is mostly just fun to watch, it's still hard to get a bead on what his pro prospects really are) and Boyd (who legitimately has good pro prospects)...the guys I'd seen that were young and very good were Myles Jack of course, Chris Jones, Alex Collins, Carl Lawson and Vernon Hargreaves. I thought Nkemdiche played pretty well too.

I remember when USF was recruiting hard for Alex Collins, I was enamored with him. Such a great blend of physical characteristics. I don't know if he was highly rated or not, but I adored him. I do remember that when his mom went crazy and withheld his letter of intent because she wanted him to stay in Florida, I was quietly hoping it somehow led to him choosing USF after all.

Vernon Hargreaves was a no-brainer as a recruit. USF went after him hard and were in the running until near the end because of his dad. He probably made the right call going elsewhere. He was immediately better (IMO) than Purifoy, Roberson and Watkins...all of whom look a bit overrated. Hargreaves has NFL written all over him.

Whenever I'd look at a wide receiver and I'm trying to gauge whether the corner he's beating is any good or not, I don't have time to do film study on each of those individual corners so I check ratings services to see where the corner is rated. Purifoy kept being rated very high. Yet I kept using him over and over as an example of when this wide receiver beat a corner that was supposedly high rated. Eventually it stopped meaning much because obviously the ratings were wrong about Purifoy. Now that he's actually coming out of the draft himself and I've looked at him more intently, that becomes more obvious.
 
Ajayi has terrible ball security.. Gurley is Marshawn Lynch 2.0 and definitely worth a first round pick. I really like Mike Davis, surprised you have him so low.. Melvin Gordon reminds me of Jamaal Charles but his 3rd down abilities (or lack thereof) are a huge concern for me. But man, what a talented runner
 
fininpsl said:
My big concern with Duke Johnson is durability. He's not a big back but he runs hard, and he's taken a fair amount of punishment in his first couple of years in school. He's was knocked out of several games before he went down for the season against FSU with the leg injury. When he's healthy he's elite. And a football player through and through.
Click to expand...

I love Duke. When he's in the game no matter the deficit I feel like we have a chance to come back. But durability in terms of injuries is not the issue with him. True he hadn't missed any games until he broke his leg vs FSU this year but he has left three games early in his career due to concussions (FAU & UNC this year & once his freshman year). All occurred when he attempted to block with his head down. That concussion history could push him down in the draft next year.
 
futurescout said:
Ajayi has terrible ball security.. Gurley is Marshawn Lynch 2.0 and definitely worth a first round pick. I really like Mike Davis, surprised you have him so low.. Melvin Gordon reminds me of Jamaal Charles but his 3rd down abilities (or lack thereof) are a huge concern for me. But man, what a talented runner
Click to expand...

I'd say that Ajayi could improve his ball security, but terrible is harsh, and he's a dynamic, well-rounded RB. Runs with power, quickness, and speed.
 
I will be paying a lot of attention to running backs as I think this is an area the team will address in next years' draft -- maybe early. I've seen a lot of Melvin Gordon and my only concern is receiving out of the backfield. That could drop him farther than people might anticipate. If he can improve in that area, the rest of his game is first round worthy.

I really like Todd Gurley for his power, speed and vision. He gets a lot of yards after initial contact. Duke Johnson is an exciting prospect who I think would fit Miami's offense well.
 
The kid I have at #10 on my list of underclassmen RB's is only a redshirt sophomore, but I think he's going to break out big for the Huskies this year. He only carried the ball 47 times last year as a backup to Bishop Sankey, averaging a little over 7 yards/carry and scored 4 TD's. Dwayne Washington is a phenomenal talent for his size, and put up some incredible numbers this spring during testing.


40: --------- 4.44
Vertical: -------- 36.5"
Broad Jump: ---- 10'9-1/4"
3-cone: -------- 6.63


On the left in photo below...

Bl9CLNrCYAAMkR-1.jpg





[video=youtube;-8_jko9QbsA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8_jko9QbsA&feature=player_embedded[/video]
 
Last edited by a moderator:
TedSlimmJr said:
The kid I have at #10 on my list of underclassmen RB's is only a redshirt sophomore, but I think he's going to break out big for the Huskies this year. He only carried the ball 47 times last year as a backup to Bishop Sankey, averaging a little over 7 yards/carry and scored 4 TD's. Dwayne Washington is a phenomenal talent for his size, and put up some incredible numbers this spring during testing.


40: --------- 4.44
Vertical: -------- 36.5"
Broad Jump: ---- 10'9-1/4"
3-cone: -------- 6.63


On the left in photo below...

Bl9CLNrCYAAMkR-1.jpg





[video=youtube;-8_jko9QbsA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8_jko9QbsA&feature=player_embedded[/video]
Click to expand...

That's a nice find. Some of those physical tackle breaks and stiff-arms are pretty noteworthy, and it's obvious he has legit speed.
 
Marlon Mack, who has had my juices flowing since I first heard he was considering USF and I looked at his high school tape, just sent a loud and clear message that he will be a guy you want to watch for 2017.

That's a long way away obviously. But the true freshman ran 24 times for 275 yards and 4 TDs last night. It was against Western Carolina, but it was a hella impressive performance.

The reason he got me all jazzed coming out of high school was because I rarely see a back with his kind of vision out of the backfield, seeing both the line of scrimmage and the linebackers before he even has the ball, while at the same time possessing such physical gifts. Speed, explosiveness, tackle breaking, he's got the full package.
 
Also should be noted that James Conner of Pitt ran 14 times for 153 yards and 4 TDs against Delaware.

He is...an animal.

But like these other guys we're talking about, he's not draft eligible.
 
Gurley is a beast. Brandon Wilds is looking pretty good in this game against Georgia. Outshining Mike Davis for sure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom