Three Running Backs in Round One? | Page 3 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Three Running Backs in Round One?

Step #1 draft Pitts at 3. Step #2 draft Harris at 18. Step #3 walk away with a huge smile on my face. Just drafted two awesome weapons for our offense and it was only day 1 of the draft!
 
With the Patriots signing Cam Newton for starter money I think the Patriots draft Najee and go ground and pound. With the defensive players returning they could be a problem. I just can’t figure any other strategy for New England.

Back to the OP, yea I would wager on three running backs in round one.
 
Fin Thirteen said:
In a draft where there's a lot of depth at the same positions you find the elite players (WR, OT, S, OC) it stands to reason that the few elite players there are in other positions will be drafted higher than normal. Harris is a lock in upper R1 and there could be a run on RBs bottom R1 and top R2.

Williams, Carter and Kylin Hill are the more interesting guys in my view, from a value perspective. Stevenson just isn't fast enough to interest me in the top 100 or so. Gainwell is a bit of a Bowden type, hybrid RB/WR with a lot of talent, but not a killer between the tackles. Carter is maybe the best combo of rushing talent, low tread and receiving ability but for Miami he's a bit too similar to what we have in Gaskin (who i doubt is going anywhere). Kylin Hill is undervalued and is going to turn some heads as a pro, i believe.
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I just don't understand why Najee Harris going in the 1st round would be "higher than normal".

He's a physical phenom. Former top recruit. He is a WONDERFUL human being. Everyone that speaks to him feels impact. He's averaged 6 yards per carry pretty much every year at Alabama. He scored 26 TDs this year. He's an elite level pass catcher at the position, and I don't use that term lightly. He blocks.

The foundational layer of the Alabama offense is not the passing game featuring the quarterback and all of those receivers. It's not. This year really showed that as they lost Tua Tagovailoa, Henry Ruggs, and Jerry Jeudy to the NFL, and lost Jaylen Waddle for all but four games, and the offense still trucked through the SEC en route to an NCAA Championship.

The foundational layer of the Alabama offense is one principle, which is itself a mindset: if the defense keeps two safeties back, they're going to pound you into the dirt with the ground game, and you're not going to stop it until you start crowding the line of scrimmage.

Everything is layered on top of that foundation. The RPO layer is an extension of the ground game, like a long hand-off that takes advantage of defensive movement, similar to a screen. The play-pass layer is an extension off the RPO layer. It's built to look and smell like an RPO. The passing game which features a bunch of crossers is there to lighten up the pressure on pass protectors who have to protect for longer stretches of time on slower developing play-passes. But all of this starts with that foundational principle, which is that if you're going to sit back with two deep safeties, Alabama are going to crush you on the ground.

You could look at Alabama and say, well they always have really productive runners. And yes that's true. But they've also had really good running backs that made their impact on the NFL. Look what Josh Jacobs has done for the Raiders. Look at Derrick Henry. Look at Kenyan Drake. Look at Mark Ingram. Look at Eddie Lacy, before he ate his way into obscurity. Damien Harris was superb in New England this year, but nobody noticed because nobody cares about New England in the post-Brady era. Even T.J. Yeldon made an impact early in his career in Jacksonville.

The only duds have really been Bo Scarbrough (so far, PFF has actually graded him well in 180 snaps he's done through the first two years of his career) and Trent Richardson, and I'd say especially with the latter player there were some other things going on there that weren't just about talent. Whether Trent Richardson flamed out in the NFL or not, not even the most jaded will go so far as to say he was not really a good college back after all.

For two years now, Najee Harris has been the lead driver of that foundational layer. They lost a bunch of passing game talent, so they leaned on him even more, and they were just as good.

I just don't get, "higher than normal" in that context. Saquon Barkley went #2 overall. Leonard Fournette and Ezekiel Elliott went #4 overall. Christian McCaffrey went #8 overall. Todd Gurley went #10 overall. Melvin Gordon went #15 overall. Josh Jacobs went #24 overall. Penny went #27 overall. Rashaad Penny went #27 overall. Sony Michel went #31 overall. Clyde Edwards-Helaire went #32 overall.

That's 11 first rounders in the last 6 drafts, and 5 of them went Top 10.

So how would Najee Harris going mid-1st round be, "higher than normal"?
 
ckparrothead said:
I just don't understand why Najee Harris going in the 1st round would be "higher than normal".

He's a physical phenom. Former top recruit. He is a WONDERFUL human being. Everyone that speaks to him feels impact. He's averaged 6 yards per carry pretty much every year at Alabama. He scored 26 TDs this year. He's an elite level pass catcher at the position, and I don't use that term lightly. He blocks.

The foundational layer of the Alabama offense is not the passing game featuring the quarterback and all of those receivers. It's not. This year really showed that as they lost Tua Tagovailoa, Henry Ruggs, and Jerry Jeudy to the NFL, and lost Jaylen Waddle for all but four games, and the offense still trucked through the SEC en route to an NCAA Championship.

The foundational layer of the Alabama offense is one principle, which is itself a mindset: if the defense keeps two safeties back, they're going to pound you into the dirt with the ground game, and you're not going to stop it until you start crowding the line of scrimmage.

Everything is layered on top of that foundation. The RPO layer is an extension of the ground game, like a long hand-off that takes advantage of defensive movement, similar to a screen. The play-pass layer is an extension off the RPO layer. It's built to look and smell like an RPO. The passing game which features a bunch of crossers is there to lighten up the pressure on pass protectors who have to protect for longer stretches of time on slower developing play-passes. But all of this starts with that foundational principle, which is that if you're going to sit back with two deep safeties, Alabama are going to crush you on the ground.

You could look at Alabama and say, well they always have really productive runners. And yes that's true. But they've also had really good running backs that made their impact on the NFL. Look what Josh Jacobs has done for the Raiders. Look at Derrick Henry. Look at Kenyan Drake. Look at Mark Ingram. Look at Eddie Lacy, before he ate his way into obscurity. Damien Harris was superb in New England this year, but nobody noticed because nobody cares about New England in the post-Brady era. Even T.J. Yeldon made an impact early in his career in Jacksonville.

The only duds have really been Bo Scarbrough (so far, PFF has actually graded him well in 180 snaps he's done through the first two years of his career) and Trent Richardson, and I'd say especially with the latter player there were some other things going on there that weren't just about talent. Whether Trent Richardson flamed out in the NFL or not, not even the most jaded will go so far as to say he was not really a good college back after all.

For two years now, Najee Harris has been the lead driver of that foundational layer. They lost a bunch of passing game talent, so they leaned on him even more, and they were just as good.

I just don't get, "higher than normal" in that context. Saquon Barkley went #2 overall. Leonard Fournette and Ezekiel Elliott went #4 overall. Christian McCaffrey went #8 overall. Todd Gurley went #10 overall. Melvin Gordon went #15 overall. Josh Jacobs went #24 overall. Penny went #27 overall. Rashaad Penny went #27 overall. Sony Michel went #31 overall. Clyde Edwards-Helaire went #32 overall.

That's 11 first rounders in the last 6 drafts, and 5 of them went Top 10.

So how would Najee Harris going mid-1st round be, "higher than normal"?
Click to expand...
You can get Najee lower than "Top 10" and be really happy.

So that's my argument..he may be a TOP 10 talent but sometimes Top Ten talents don't go in the Top 10...

He's my #2 back, though. College Stats don't always translate to NFL success when you have a whole team of likely NFL players like Bama does..it can but not always.

Top 3 RB's are:

1. Travis Etienne
2. Najee Harris
3. Javonte Williams

All three may be 1st round RB's..I'd be happy with either of the three at 18 if that's the route we go, tbh.
 
Birdmond said:
With the Patriots signing Cam Newton for starter money I think the Patriots draft Najee and go ground and pound. With the defensive players returning they could be a problem. I just can’t figure any other strategy for New England.

Back to the OP, yea I would wager on three running backs in round one.
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I was a little surprised that New England signed Newton, but it was for only one year.

Have to believe they draft a quarterback, but maybe it's someone like Trask, who might go round two?
 
ckparrothead said:
I just don't understand why Najee Harris going in the 1st round would be "higher than normal".

He's a physical phenom. Former top recruit. He is a WONDERFUL human being. Everyone that speaks to him feels impact. He's averaged 6 yards per carry pretty much every year at Alabama. He scored 26 TDs this year. He's an elite level pass catcher at the position, and I don't use that term lightly. He blocks.

The foundational layer of the Alabama offense is not the passing game featuring the quarterback and all of those receivers. It's not. This year really showed that as they lost Tua Tagovailoa, Henry Ruggs, and Jerry Jeudy to the NFL, and lost Jaylen Waddle for all but four games, and the offense still trucked through the SEC en route to an NCAA Championship.

The foundational layer of the Alabama offense is one principle, which is itself a mindset: if the defense keeps two safeties back, they're going to pound you into the dirt with the ground game, and you're not going to stop it until you start crowding the line of scrimmage.

Everything is layered on top of that foundation. The RPO layer is an extension of the ground game, like a long hand-off that takes advantage of defensive movement, similar to a screen. The play-pass layer is an extension off the RPO layer. It's built to look and smell like an RPO. The passing game which features a bunch of crossers is there to lighten up the pressure on pass protectors who have to protect for longer stretches of time on slower developing play-passes. But all of this starts with that foundational principle, which is that if you're going to sit back with two deep safeties, Alabama are going to crush you on the ground.

You could look at Alabama and say, well they always have really productive runners. And yes that's true. But they've also had really good running backs that made their impact on the NFL. Look what Josh Jacobs has done for the Raiders. Look at Derrick Henry. Look at Kenyan Drake. Look at Mark Ingram. Look at Eddie Lacy, before he ate his way into obscurity. Damien Harris was superb in New England this year, but nobody noticed because nobody cares about New England in the post-Brady era. Even T.J. Yeldon made an impact early in his career in Jacksonville.

The only duds have really been Bo Scarbrough (so far, PFF has actually graded him well in 180 snaps he's done through the first two years of his career) and Trent Richardson, and I'd say especially with the latter player there were some other things going on there that weren't just about talent. Whether Trent Richardson flamed out in the NFL or not, not even the most jaded will go so far as to say he was not really a good college back after all.

For two years now, Najee Harris has been the lead driver of that foundational layer. They lost a bunch of passing game talent, so they leaned on him even more, and they were just as good.

I just don't get, "higher than normal" in that context. Saquon Barkley went #2 overall. Leonard Fournette and Ezekiel Elliott went #4 overall. Christian McCaffrey went #8 overall. Todd Gurley went #10 overall. Melvin Gordon went #15 overall. Josh Jacobs went #24 overall. Penny went #27 overall. Rashaad Penny went #27 overall. Sony Michel went #31 overall. Clyde Edwards-Helaire went #32 overall.

That's 11 first rounders in the last 6 drafts, and 5 of them went Top 10.

So how would Najee Harris going mid-1st round be, "higher than normal"?
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Great post. I think my only concern with Harris is mileage. He's not necessarily fast, but quick enough.

Other than that, I really think he's perfect for what Flores is building in Miami.

Love him in the passing game, both as a blocker and a receiver.
 
SF Dolphin Fan said:
Great post. I think my only concern with Harris is mileage. He's not necessarily fast, but quick enough.

Other than that, I really think he's perfect for what Flores is building in Miami.

Love him in the passing game, both as a blocker and a receiver.
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Travis is a better Receiver and faster...but all college kids can work a bit more on their blocking as RB. I would love either..or Williams. Second round should be able to land one of them, at least, I'd guess!
 
ckparrothead said:
I just don't understand why Najee Harris going in the 1st round would be "higher than normal".

He's a physical phenom. Former top recruit. He is a WONDERFUL human being. Everyone that speaks to him feels impact. He's averaged 6 yards per carry pretty much every year at Alabama. He scored 26 TDs this year. He's an elite level pass catcher at the position, and I don't use that term lightly. He blocks.

The foundational layer of the Alabama offense is not the passing game featuring the quarterback and all of those receivers. It's not. This year really showed that as they lost Tua Tagovailoa, Henry Ruggs, and Jerry Jeudy to the NFL, and lost Jaylen Waddle for all but four games, and the offense still trucked through the SEC en route to an NCAA Championship.

The foundational layer of the Alabama offense is one principle, which is itself a mindset: if the defense keeps two safeties back, they're going to pound you into the dirt with the ground game, and you're not going to stop it until you start crowding the line of scrimmage.

Everything is layered on top of that foundation. The RPO layer is an extension of the ground game, like a long hand-off that takes advantage of defensive movement, similar to a screen. The play-pass layer is an extension off the RPO layer. It's built to look and smell like an RPO. The passing game which features a bunch of crossers is there to lighten up the pressure on pass protectors who have to protect for longer stretches of time on slower developing play-passes. But all of this starts with that foundational principle, which is that if you're going to sit back with two deep safeties, Alabama are going to crush you on the ground.

You could look at Alabama and say, well they always have really productive runners. And yes that's true. But they've also had really good running backs that made their impact on the NFL. Look what Josh Jacobs has done for the Raiders. Look at Derrick Henry. Look at Kenyan Drake. Look at Mark Ingram. Look at Eddie Lacy, before he ate his way into obscurity. Damien Harris was superb in New England this year, but nobody noticed because nobody cares about New England in the post-Brady era. Even T.J. Yeldon made an impact early in his career in Jacksonville.

The only duds have really been Bo Scarbrough (so far, PFF has actually graded him well in 180 snaps he's done through the first two years of his career) and Trent Richardson, and I'd say especially with the latter player there were some other things going on there that weren't just about talent. Whether Trent Richardson flamed out in the NFL or not, not even the most jaded will go so far as to say he was not really a good college back after all.

For two years now, Najee Harris has been the lead driver of that foundational layer. They lost a bunch of passing game talent, so they leaned on him even more, and they were just as good.

I just don't get, "higher than normal" in that context. Saquon Barkley went #2 overall. Leonard Fournette and Ezekiel Elliott went #4 overall. Christian McCaffrey went #8 overall. Todd Gurley went #10 overall. Melvin Gordon went #15 overall. Josh Jacobs went #24 overall. Penny went #27 overall. Rashaad Penny went #27 overall. Sony Michel went #31 overall. Clyde Edwards-Helaire went #32 overall.

That's 11 first rounders in the last 6 drafts, and 5 of them went Top 10.

So how would Najee Harris going mid-1st round be, "higher than normal"?
Click to expand...
I think you make a good case by using that rather nasty trick called history + facts! You should know we don't do that
anymore! Truth and facts are to be shunned! That said, I'm not debating the validity of Harris as an R1 pick, nor Travis
and not Williams -- who I probably like the most.

But of the 3, IMO, I have more questions about Harris in terms of his game translating to the Pros. To me he's definitely
the "shakiest" prospect but perhaps also in possession of the most upside -- tho not convinced on that last part.

Last, at the end of the day -- odds are all 3 of these guys are going to do quite well in the Pros.
 
Gatorboy999120 said:
Travis is a better Receiver and faster...but all college kids can work a bit more on their blocking as RB. I would love either..or Williams. Second round should be able to land one of them, at least, I'd guess!
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I really like Williams the best of the three, but would be thrilled with any of them.
 
ckparrothead said:
I just don't understand why Najee Harris going in the 1st round would be "higher than normal".

He's a physical phenom. Former top recruit. He is a WONDERFUL human being. Everyone that speaks to him feels impact. He's averaged 6 yards per carry pretty much every year at Alabama. He scored 26 TDs this year. He's an elite level pass catcher at the position, and I don't use that term lightly. He blocks.

The foundational layer of the Alabama offense is not the passing game featuring the quarterback and all of those receivers. It's not. This year really showed that as they lost Tua Tagovailoa, Henry Ruggs, and Jerry Jeudy to the NFL, and lost Jaylen Waddle for all but four games, and the offense still trucked through the SEC en route to an NCAA Championship.

The foundational layer of the Alabama offense is one principle, which is itself a mindset: if the defense keeps two safeties back, they're going to pound you into the dirt with the ground game, and you're not going to stop it until you start crowding the line of scrimmage.

Everything is layered on top of that foundation. The RPO layer is an extension of the ground game, like a long hand-off that takes advantage of defensive movement, similar to a screen. The play-pass layer is an extension off the RPO layer. It's built to look and smell like an RPO. The passing game which features a bunch of crossers is there to lighten up the pressure on pass protectors who have to protect for longer stretches of time on slower developing play-passes. But all of this starts with that foundational principle, which is that if you're going to sit back with two deep safeties, Alabama are going to crush you on the ground.

You could look at Alabama and say, well they always have really productive runners. And yes that's true. But they've also had really good running backs that made their impact on the NFL. Look what Josh Jacobs has done for the Raiders. Look at Derrick Henry. Look at Kenyan Drake. Look at Mark Ingram. Look at Eddie Lacy, before he ate his way into obscurity. Damien Harris was superb in New England this year, but nobody noticed because nobody cares about New England in the post-Brady era. Even T.J. Yeldon made an impact early in his career in Jacksonville.

The only duds have really been Bo Scarbrough (so far, PFF has actually graded him well in 180 snaps he's done through the first two years of his career) and Trent Richardson, and I'd say especially with the latter player there were some other things going on there that weren't just about talent. Whether Trent Richardson flamed out in the NFL or not, not even the most jaded will go so far as to say he was not really a good college back after all.

For two years now, Najee Harris has been the lead driver of that foundational layer. They lost a bunch of passing game talent, so they leaned on him even more, and they were just as good.

I just don't get, "higher than normal" in that context. Saquon Barkley went #2 overall. Leonard Fournette and Ezekiel Elliott went #4 overall. Christian McCaffrey went #8 overall. Todd Gurley went #10 overall. Melvin Gordon went #15 overall. Josh Jacobs went #24 overall. Penny went #27 overall. Rashaad Penny went #27 overall. Sony Michel went #31 overall. Clyde Edwards-Helaire went #32 overall.

That's 11 first rounders in the last 6 drafts, and 5 of them went Top 10.

So how would Najee Harris going mid-1st round be, "higher than normal"?
Click to expand...

Bearing in mind our other needs Harris is the only RB I would consider at 18, ideally I would target 36 for that RB pick, most likely guy in that range is Williams. I could certainly however see a scenario when all three of the top guys are gone before we pick in the 2nd round, so we may need to get more comfortable taking a RB with 18 or engineer some kind of trade down or up.
 
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Geordie said:
Bearing in mind our other needs Harris is the only RB I would consider at 18, ideally I would target 36 for that RB pick, most likely guy in that range is Williams. I could certainly however see a scenario when all three of the top guys are gone before we pick in the 2nd round, so we may need to get more comfortable taking a RB with 18 or engineer some kind of trade down or up.
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This is so true -- the board can be wicked cruel sometimes -- when you're like a few picks away from one of your prime targets and some rude GM bastard plucks YOUR GUY! I hate that ****! Even with 4 picks in the top 50 odds are we're gonna get clipped somewhere! Trade down could help for sure -- but then you miss on 3 through whatever your 1st R1 landing spot is. It's ALL the talent gone that you have to consider -- and offset by the additional R2 etc. you picked up. Unless you get a bonanza it's not as automatic as some seem to present.
 
3rdandinches said:
Step #1 draft Pitts at 3. Step #2 draft Harris at 18. Step #3 walk away with a huge smile on my face. Just drafted two awesome weapons for our offense and it was only day 1 of the draft!
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Step #4 - Watch teams stack the box on us all year because we don't have a speedster to take the top off the defense
 
SF Dolphin Fan said:
In Charlie Casserly's latest mock he had Harris going in the top 10.

I would laugh, except that Casserly is a former, well respected GM.

I've seen Harris, Etienne and Williams mocked in the first.

Is this the latest trend? Last year, in what I thought was a better running back class, only one went in round one.

I've assumed Miami would get one of these three backs at #36. Is that unrealistic?
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Najee at 8 would be surprising, but more surprising is he has Justin Fields falling to Pittsburgh at 24.
 
I can see Trey Sermon as a valuable committee back for us... if we resist the temptation to draft a RB early, Trey could probably be had in the 4th round or so. Like Harris, he is a bit over-aged and is likely a one-contract player, but as a 4th rounder, that is much more acceptable than in the first or late second.

With Sermon, Gaskin, and Ahmad... we'd have a nice stable of RBs with different skill sets, and could game-plan the one who worked best for the individual game.

At the end of last year, I'm not sure there was a more powerful back in college football, and the only thing holding down his value is that he was knocked out of the Championship game.
 
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