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*** TJ Yeldon (2015 Draft Eligible) Bandwagon *** (1 Viewer)

doowain

Footballguy
Had the opportunity to snag him in a developmental league draft over the summer, so I've watched Alabama games closely.

Prior to the draft, I saw his high school highlights. Now, I know most top recruits pop off the screen on their high school tape, but what I saw was intriguing. Then, I saw his highlights from the Spring Game and read about how all of his teammates were raving about him. He was living up to the hype.

There was one problem though. The Alabama backfield was crowded. Their 3rd stringer could be the starter on most teams in the country. Would we have to wait until 2013 to see what this kid could do? Nope. He burst onto the scene on national television vs. a highly ranked Michigan team, rushing for 111 yards/1TD on 11 carries, showing the electric moves that were talked about all summer.

He not only leapfrogged the upperclassmen ahead of him to grab the RB2 spot, but he's outplayed starter Eddie Lacy in an almost even timeshare.

Yeldon

93 carries

649 yards

7.0 ypc

7 TD

Lacy

109 carries

596 yards

5.5 ypc

7 TD

By the end of the year, we may see him supplant Lacy as the starter. And with Lacy likely headed to the draft in 2013, it will be the TJ Yeldon show for the next couple years.

He's 6'2 216 at 18 years old. 18 YEARS OLD. Scary to think he could fill out even more. As it stands right now, he's almost a physical twin to Adrian Peterson. And, oddly enough, his game resembles him a lot too. The jump cuts and lateral movement. The acceleration/explosiveness (4.46 40)....and the power to run you over. He's a very good goalline runner. And I know it's a small sample size, but what I've seen, he's a much more polished receiver than Peterson was in college.

I know to compare him to Peterson (one of the best college RBs EVER) is bordering on blasphemy. I just really believe he is this good. And by all accounts, he's a great kid. So no knucklheadedness to worry about (hopefully).

The next Alabama RB to go in the 1st round? Top 10?

 
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Stud.

He is running behind essentially an NFL line so that helps.

That said, he looks like the real deal. Heres to staying healthy.

 
Had the opportunity to snag him in a developmental league draft over the summer, so I've watched Alabama games closely.

Prior to the draft, I saw his high school highlights. Now, I know most top recruits pop off the screen on their high school tape, but what I saw was intriguing. Then, I saw his highlights from the Spring Game and read about how all of his teammates were raving about him. He was living up to the hype.

There was one problem though. The Alabama backfield was crowded. Their 3rd stringer could be the starter on most teams in the country. Would we have to wait until 2013 to see what this kid could do? Nope. He burst onto the scene on national television vs. a highly ranked Michigan team, rushing for 111 yards/1TD on 11 carries, showing the electric moves that were talked about all summer.

He not only leapfrogged the upperclassmen ahead of him to grab the RB2 spot, but he's outplayed starter Eddie Lacy in an almost even timeshare.

Yeldon

93 carries

649 yards

7.0 ypc

7 TD

Lacy

109 carries

596 yards

5.5 ypc

7 TD

By the end of the year, we may see him supplant Lacy as the starter. And with Lacy likely headed to the draft in 2013, it will be the TJ Yeldon show for the next couple years.

He's 6'2 216 at 18 years old. 18 YEARS OLD. Scary to think he could fill out even more. As it stands right now, he's almost a physical twin to Adrian Peterson. And, oddly enough, his game resembles him a lot too. The jump cuts and lateral movement. The acceleration/explosiveness (4.46 40)....and the power to run you over. He's a very good goalline runner. And I know it's a small sample size, but what I've seen, he's a much more polished receiver than Peterson was in college.

I know to compare him to Peterson (one of the best college RBs EVER) is bordering on blasphemy. I just really believe he is this good. And by all accounts, he's a great kid. So no knucklheadedness to worry about (hopefully).

He was already ahead of Fowler and Dee Hart but both got injured early on in the season. That's why he's seeing this many carries.Upright style needs to be worked on, footwork needs to be worked on, but other than those two things major potential at NFL level.

 
He reminds me of AP. I love the guy. I hadn't been following his class, so I didn't know much about him before the season. But you could tell he was going to be a special college player early on (Michigan game).

I think he is worth a pick in upcoming devy drafts that allow it.

 
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Kenyan Drake is more like AP. After Lacy declares for the draft, we will all see next year. Yeldon doesn't really make cuts like Peterson. He has this running motion where he shuffles his feet.

This is the kind of move where Drake reminds me of AP:

 
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Kenyan Drake is more like AP. After Lacy declares for the draft, we will all see next year. Yeldon doesn't really make cuts like Peterson. He has this running motion where he shuffles his feet.This is the kind of move where Drake reminds me of AP:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xENVbUglH50Here are some other highlights:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi8vh13gkM4
Trying to decipher this. Are you saying that Drake will be the lead back next year when Lacy leaves?
 
Alabama has an offensive line that makes everyone look great. Even Ingram. The backup has been the better player for a while now. Lacy was a monster as the backup last year, Richardson before him. I wouldn't get too excited about him.

 
Alabama has an offensive line that makes everyone look great. Even Ingram. The backup has been the better player for a while now. Lacy was a monster as the backup last year, Richardson before him. I wouldn't get too excited about him.
Who are you more excited about, in his class? Want to get some context, here. And Lacy looked good, but never better than Richardson. So, the backup has looked better once, in recent years.
 
Alabama has an offensive line that makes everyone look great. Even Ingram. The backup has been the better player for a while now. Lacy was a monster as the backup last year, Richardson before him. I wouldn't get too excited about him.
Who are you more excited about, in his class? Want to get some context, here. And Lacy looked good, but never better than Richardson. So, the backup has looked better once, in recent years.
Now that Lattimore is out, I'm not that excited about anyone. I do like Lacy, but like Montee Ball better.ETA: I was talking more about Yeldon than Lacy, btw.
 
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Alabama has an offensive line that makes everyone look great. Even Ingram. The backup has been the better player for a while now. Lacy was a monster as the backup last year, Richardson before him. I wouldn't get too excited about him.
OK....let me get this straight. The backups in previous years looked incredible, so even though Yeldon looks top notch, we should dismiss him? How does that make any sense?And two of those three Bama RBs you mention were 1st round picks. Lacy will likely be a 2-3 rounder. I'd say that's something to be excited about. Alabama RBs, even those without elite physical tools (Ingram) come NFL ready and are drafted as 1st rounders. IMO, Yeldon has elite ability with room to grow. On top of that, he's producing at a really, really good clip per touch AS A FRESHMAN. THAT is why we should be excited about him.
 
Alabama has an offensive line that makes everyone look great. Even Ingram. The backup has been the better player for a while now. Lacy was a monster as the backup last year, Richardson before him. I wouldn't get too excited about him.
OK....let me get this straight. The backups in previous years looked incredible, so even though Yeldon looks top notch, we should dismiss him? How does that make any sense?And two of those three Bama RBs you mention were 1st round picks. Lacy will likely be a 2-3 rounder. I'd say that's something to be excited about. Alabama RBs, even those without elite physical tools (Ingram) come NFL ready and are drafted as 1st rounders. IMO, Yeldon has elite ability with room to grow. On top of that, he's producing at a really, really good clip per touch AS A FRESHMAN. THAT is why we should be excited about him.
I'm not saying anything about dismissing him. I'm just saying that every RB on Alabama looks great. He went undrafted in my dev league, and I'm sure he'll go in the 1st next year. Get excited all you want. I'm just not going to get THAT excited just yet.
 
Bernard out of UNC belongs in this conversation too. Over 1200 yards and 13 TDs so far this year. He's a beast.

 
Bernard out of UNC belongs in this conversation too. Over 1200 yards and 13 TDs so far this year. He's a beast.
I'm very high on him as well. Got him in my other devy league. He'll most likely come out this year, though. And he's much, much smaller than Yeldon/Peterson. Not really a fair comparison.
 
Looks okay. Wouldn't put him on the Richardson/Peterson level though. Not sure there's anybody like that in NCAA right now.

I haven't really seen a can't-miss RB prospect in the 2015 class yet, but I would probably rate Jeremy Hill (LSU) or Johnathan Gray (Texas) highest so far.

 
Still developing an opinion on him and this weekend's game will go a long ways toward pushing me onto the bandwagon (I doubt it will push me off though), but the Ingram comparisons are just plain lazy.

 
Kenyan Drake is more like AP. After Lacy declares for the draft, we will all see next year. Yeldon doesn't really make cuts like Peterson. He has this running motion where he shuffles his feet.This is the kind of move where Drake reminds me of AP:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xENVbUglH50Here are some other highlights:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi8vh13gkM4
Trying to decipher this. Are you saying that Drake will be the lead back next year when Lacy leaves?
Drake (#17) is a true freshman like Yeldon. If/when Lacy leaves early, it will be Yeldon's turn at lead back with Drake being the #2 back. Drake was the state of Georgia's player of the year last year. He's good. Looks like he is shot out of a cannon every time he touches the ball. Drake is currently #3 and gets the mop up duty.
 
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Kenyan Drake is more like AP. After Lacy declares for the draft, we will all see next year. Yeldon doesn't really make cuts like Peterson. He has this running motion where he shuffles his feet.This is the kind of move where Drake reminds me of AP:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xENVbUglH50Here are some other highlights:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi8vh13gkM4
Trying to decipher this. Are you saying that Drake will be the lead back next year when Lacy leaves?
I'm saying Drake will get more carries after Lacy leaves, therefore getting more exposure/pub and larger sample size for people to see that he is more like Peterson than Yeldon is. Yeldon is talented but I don't see Peterson in his game.Here are his carries from the past game vs Mississippi State:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSTDRU8f2Tg&feature=youtu.beWatch the runs at :10, :18, and :29.
 
Kenyan Drake is more like AP. After Lacy declares for the draft, we will all see next year. Yeldon doesn't really make cuts like Peterson. He has this running motion where he shuffles his feet.This is the kind of move where Drake reminds me of AP:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xENVbUglH50Here are some other highlights:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi8vh13gkM4
Trying to decipher this. Are you saying that Drake will be the lead back next year when Lacy leaves?
I'm saying Drake will get more carries after Lacy leaves, therefore getting more exposure/pub and larger sample size for people to see that he is more like Peterson than Yeldon is. Yeldon is talented but I don't see Peterson in his game.Here are his carries from the past game vs Mississippi State:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSTDRU8f2Tg&feature=youtu.beWatch the runs at :10, :18, and :29.
I can see the resemblance in their running styles but AP was 10 lbs. heavier as a freshman. What made AP unique is that he had the power to go with those moves. If Drake puts on 15 lbs. watch out.
 
Still developing an opinion on him and this weekend's game will go a long ways toward pushing me onto the bandwagon (I doubt it will push me off though), but the Ingram comparisons are just plain lazy.
I think he's somewhere between Ingram and Richardson as a prospect. :)
 
Still developing an opinion on him and this weekend's game will go a long ways toward pushing me onto the bandwagon (I doubt it will push me off though), but the Ingram comparisons are just plain lazy.
I think he's somewhere between Ingram and Richardson as a prospect. :)
Right where I am too, he'll have to be other wordly for me to be as high on him as I was with Richardson but I won't rule it out. Kid's just a true frosh. I still think Ingram's better than most give him credit for, he's just horribly misused in the wrong offense for him, but he never was a special prospect. Good prospect, and still is, but not special at all. Yeldon could be, lot of time for the pendulum to swing.
 
It took about two carries in the Michigan game, and I thought to myself, "this kid is special." Barring injury, or something going wrong between the years he should be the next great RB.

 
It took about two carries in the Michigan game, and I thought to myself, "this kid is special." Barring injury, or something going wrong between the years he should be the next great RB.
As a Michigan fan once I saw him take off on those first couple of carries any glimmer of hope I had of staying competitive were gone, not gonna lie - my jaw dropped.
 
Alabama has an offensive line that makes everyone look great. Even Ingram. The backup has been the better player for a while now. Lacy was a monster as the backup last year, Richardson before him. I wouldn't get too excited about him.
OK....let me get this straight. The backups in previous years looked incredible, so even though Yeldon looks top notch, we should dismiss him? How does that make any sense?And two of those three Bama RBs you mention were 1st round picks. Lacy will likely be a 2-3 rounder. I'd say that's something to be excited about. Alabama RBs, even those without elite physical tools (Ingram) come NFL ready and are drafted as 1st rounders. IMO, Yeldon has elite ability with room to grow. On top of that, he's producing at a really, really good clip per touch AS A FRESHMAN. THAT is why we should be excited about him.
I'm not saying anything about dismissing him. I'm just saying that every RB on Alabama looks great. He went undrafted in my dev league, and I'm sure he'll go in the 1st next year. Get excited all you want. I'm just not going to get THAT excited just yet.
You are also discounting that the RB Alabama signs are some of the best in the country in high school. Yeldon's was the #1 RB with some services.Sure the Alabama OL helps make them look good...but they are normally very talented to begin with.For 2013....Alabama has signed the # 2, 6, and 8 RB in the country...including Derrick Henry, who could break the all-time rushing yardage record.
 
Alabama has an offensive line that makes everyone look great. Even Ingram. The backup has been the better player for a while now. Lacy was a monster as the backup last year, Richardson before him. I wouldn't get too excited about him.
Who are you more excited about, in his class? Want to get some context, here. And Lacy looked good, but never better than Richardson. So, the backup has looked better once, in recent years.
Exactly. And in that year in which the backup looked better (Trent as the backup to Ingram) he actually was!
 
I think this is the best OL Bama has ever had and they have a qb that is number 1 in qb efficiency in the nation. As such, the circumstances are more favorable this year than any in the past. Yeldon looks good, but given the same opportunities, I think Trent would be far better.

Yeldon is finding gaping holes to run through. Still think he's a great freshman rb...but I haven't seen ability that compares to AP.

 
Alabama has an offensive line that makes everyone look great. Even Ingram. The backup has been the better player for a while now. Lacy was a monster as the backup last year, Richardson before him. I wouldn't get too excited about him.
Love this logic and hope it persists for many years to come. Ingram is the gift that keeps on giving.
 
Alabama has an offensive line that makes everyone look great. Even Ingram. The backup has been the better player for a while now. Lacy was a monster as the backup last year, Richardson before him. I wouldn't get too excited about him.
Love this logic and hope it persists for many years to come. Ingram is the gift that keeps on giving.
So, Alabama'e OL had nothing to do with Ingram looking great?
 
Alabama has an offensive line that makes everyone look great. Even Ingram. The backup has been the better player for a while now. Lacy was a monster as the backup last year, Richardson before him. I wouldn't get too excited about him.
Love this logic and hope it persists for many years to come. Ingram is the gift that keeps on giving.
So, Alabama'e OL had nothing to do with Ingram looking great?
LEt's skip to the chase here. What is your point and how does it relate to OP?
 
Alabama has an offensive line that makes everyone look great. Even Ingram. The backup has been the better player for a while now. Lacy was a monster as the backup last year, Richardson before him. I wouldn't get too excited about him.
Love this logic and hope it persists for many years to come. Ingram is the gift that keeps on giving.
So, Alabama'e OL had nothing to do with Ingram looking great?
LEt's skip to the chase here. What is your point and how does it relate to OP?
Ok. It's not that I don't like Yeldon. I do. If I can get him in my dev league next year, I will take him. The point is that with their OL being what it is, I wouldn't get THAT excited about him. It's very hard to tell if a guy is just a product of the system, or if he's a true blue chip prospect. At least at this stage of his career, and with the success of nearly everyone that runs behind that line, I'm tempering my expectations at this point.
 
Alabama has an offensive line that makes everyone look great. Even Ingram. The backup has been the better player for a while now. Lacy was a monster as the backup last year, Richardson before him. I wouldn't get too excited about him.
Love this logic and hope it persists for many years to come. Ingram is the gift that keeps on giving.
So, Alabama'e OL had nothing to do with Ingram looking great?
Why do we all get to pretend Ingram wasn't a GREAT college back now? Because he hasn't made his mark in the pros yet? This forum was so high on the kid, that his slow start has pushed the pendulum too far to the other side. What logic is there in proclaiming someone a bust less than 200 carries into their career?
 
My comp on his running style would be Harvey Williams. he looks like a player.

 
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Alabama has an offensive line that makes everyone look great. Even Ingram. The backup has been the better player for a while now. Lacy was a monster as the backup last year, Richardson before him. I wouldn't get too excited about him.
Love this logic and hope it persists for many years to come. Ingram is the gift that keeps on giving.
So, Alabama'e OL had nothing to do with Ingram looking great?
LEt's skip to the chase here. What is your point and how does it relate to OP?
Ok. It's not that I don't like Yeldon. I do. If I can get him in my dev league next year, I will take him. The point is that with their OL being what it is, I wouldn't get THAT excited about him. It's very hard to tell if a guy is just a product of the system, or if he's a true blue chip prospect. At least at this stage of his career, and with the success of nearly everyone that runs behind that line, I'm tempering my expectations at this point.
OK, that makes plenty of sense. However just because an OL is great shouldn't affect your evaluation of a player. Watching him run this year I have a few thoughts (I've seen every game)1. They've got to get him to lower his pads or he's going to get killed. It will be very interesting to watch him this game.2. He has deceptive speed, at least in terms of watching him on tv. He doesn't look like he's moving all that fast and then he's to the second level3. I don't think he is a natural at the position and it seems he hasn't really learned it yet. Richardson was a natural running back and you saw it immediately. I think Yeldon will have to be coached into a lot of the finer points. Footwork especially.4. He's fairly powerful already. After two years in Bama's weight training program, he could be scary.I think if you are looking for someone to compare him to, I'd say a slower Darren McFadden or a les bulky SJax. I don't see the once-in-a-decade combo of skills and natural talent that Richardson has.
 
Yeldon runs upright because he doesn't lift his knee/feet very high. He likes to shuffle his feet.

Yeldon and LSU's Alfred Blue are very similar:

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Yeldon runs upright because he doesn't lift his knee/feet very high. He likes to shuffle his feet. Watch how Drake cuts, he gets lower to the ground.Yeldon and LSU's Alfred Blue are very similar:

This thread is about Yeldon. I get that you love Drake, but every reply you make doesn't have to be about Drake. HTH.
 
I haven't really seen a can't-miss RB prospect in the 2015 class yet, but I would probably rate Jeremy Hill (LSU) or Johnathan Gray (Texas) highest so far.
Forgot about Todd Gurley from Georgia. He might be the best of the bunch. 2015 RB class is shaping up pretty nicely so far. Yeldon vs. Hill tonight should be interesting.
 

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