I really think one of these two guys is going to emergence as the starter for Arizona by the end of year. With Mendenhall on a 1 year deal and coming of an injury and Ryan Williams unable to stay healthy the opportunity is there if someone steps up. On the one hand Arizona took Taylor earlier and he is more of the prototypical 3 down back, but his talent doesn't seem very special. He seems like a jack of all trades master of none type of a player. On the other hand Ellington is a more talented back that's held back a lot by his lack of size. I know scouts have him pegged as more of a COP back but then again that's always what people say about undersized backs.
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Better Dynasty prospect: Stepfan Taylor or Andre Ellington? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter jimbodan
- Start date
EBF
Footballguy
I like Taylor the most of those two. Ellington was a good value pick in the 6th round, but Taylor has the more prototypical featured back skill set. Good power, foot quickness, vision, hands, and blocking ability. Innate ability to move his feet and make people miss. In a lot of ways he reminds me of Doug Martin. The obvious sticking point is the workout numbers. He's got no speed at all and his jumps were bad. On paper, he's not athletic enough to play in the NFL. In reality, I'm not sure it's that clear cut. There are plenty of guys walking around the league who didn't wow anyone in their workouts (Benson, Gore, McCoy, Foster). This guy has some of the same qualities. He isn't a sprinter, but on the field you can see that he's got an ability to make sharp cuts and run on a swivel. He has very quick feet. When I watch this highlight reel I don't see a bad athlete.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSguCSmL1nM
There are obvious risk factors here. The 5th round is a wasteland for RB value and Taylor's combine numbers are so bad that virtually no successful pro has tested worse. Even so, he's probably my favorite of the backs who were chosen on day three. I think he has a chance to beat the odds and would roll the dice on him in the 25-30 range of a rookie draft.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSguCSmL1nM
There are obvious risk factors here. The 5th round is a wasteland for RB value and Taylor's combine numbers are so bad that virtually no successful pro has tested worse. Even so, he's probably my favorite of the backs who were chosen on day three. I think he has a chance to beat the odds and would roll the dice on him in the 25-30 range of a rookie draft.
Alex P Keaton
Footballguy
EBF - which specific plays in the highlight video impressed you the most?
EBF
Footballguy
Some good ones starting at...
1:27 vs. UCLA
2:31 vs. Cal
2:53 vs. USC
3:57 vs. USC
The last one might be the best. Really showcases his footwork and change of direction.
I don't think any of them are are as talented as Mendenhall or Williams and past injury history is far from always being indicative of future injury history, and the reverse is also true. And if Mendenhall does seize the job and performs well they'd likely bring him back so the contract status and injury history of these two is not as important to me as it is to others. Fact the team took two Rb's should not be an indictment on them either as I actually believe them when they said they went into the draft with the goal of getting one RB but just thought Ellington was good value.
I'd prefer Ellington but the problem I have with him is he seems like more of a COP back. That's got two issues in this offense. Arians does typically rely on a feature back for first and second down, so not a RBBC guy. Does not mean he can't change his approach but that's more often how he's dialed it up. So the next issue is he does not utilize his backs often in the passing game. So total playing time and PPR opportunity's might be a little lacking.
What I like about Ellington is something Arians touched on and that he's different than the other backs on the roster, he's the one space back on the team. He also, like Stepfan, was considered one of the better pass protection backs in the draft.
Stepfan was highly productive, durable, and is also good in pass protection. I also thought one of the players he reminded me of was Vick Ballard who of course won the job under Arians. His production and tape was good, if he so much as had a few positive measurements I think he's have been a second round pick. But you I say that can't help but think about the aunt and uncle proverb.
The biggest issue, and really only issue, with Stepfan is the measurable are uncommonly horrible and it's not just the speed. It's everything. I consider Ballard to be in the bottom 5 measurable wise of any starting RB in the NFL and he beats Stepfan in every category. You can't find a starting RB in the NFL as across the board bad in the measurable category as Ballard. Historically speaking I'm not sure how far back you'd have to go find a productive starter with workout numbers this poor.
I try not to get to caught up in workout numbers but I did notice something a few weeks ago. I took a look at that I consider the top 20 or so fantasy backs. All but 3 of them had at least a 33" vertical. The 3 that did not are exceptional, McCoy, Rice and Charles. So I wanted to see if they possessed a similar trait. They do. Besides possessing various positive traits those 3 excelled at the 10 yard sprint and 3 cone drills. Does this mean anything? In all honesty maybe not, sometimes guys just know how to play and that may be the case with Taylor. But I do believe vertical is a decent measure of explosion while 10 yard sprint and 3 cone drills are decent measure of quickness and agility and all the top backs exhibit some or all of those trails along with other positives like 40 times.
As for some of those other backs that were brought up with poor measurements. Again, not a single one of them was across the bad as Taylor.
With regards to Luck raving to Arians about him. Well that teams could use another RB and they have his college OC and they passed .
In the case of Stepfan I just can't find a single physical trait to be excited about except maybe his build.
I'd prefer Ellington but the problem I have with him is he seems like more of a COP back. That's got two issues in this offense. Arians does typically rely on a feature back for first and second down, so not a RBBC guy. Does not mean he can't change his approach but that's more often how he's dialed it up. So the next issue is he does not utilize his backs often in the passing game. So total playing time and PPR opportunity's might be a little lacking.
What I like about Ellington is something Arians touched on and that he's different than the other backs on the roster, he's the one space back on the team. He also, like Stepfan, was considered one of the better pass protection backs in the draft.
Stepfan was highly productive, durable, and is also good in pass protection. I also thought one of the players he reminded me of was Vick Ballard who of course won the job under Arians. His production and tape was good, if he so much as had a few positive measurements I think he's have been a second round pick. But you I say that can't help but think about the aunt and uncle proverb.
The biggest issue, and really only issue, with Stepfan is the measurable are uncommonly horrible and it's not just the speed. It's everything. I consider Ballard to be in the bottom 5 measurable wise of any starting RB in the NFL and he beats Stepfan in every category. You can't find a starting RB in the NFL as across the board bad in the measurable category as Ballard. Historically speaking I'm not sure how far back you'd have to go find a productive starter with workout numbers this poor.
I try not to get to caught up in workout numbers but I did notice something a few weeks ago. I took a look at that I consider the top 20 or so fantasy backs. All but 3 of them had at least a 33" vertical. The 3 that did not are exceptional, McCoy, Rice and Charles. So I wanted to see if they possessed a similar trait. They do. Besides possessing various positive traits those 3 excelled at the 10 yard sprint and 3 cone drills. Does this mean anything? In all honesty maybe not, sometimes guys just know how to play and that may be the case with Taylor. But I do believe vertical is a decent measure of explosion while 10 yard sprint and 3 cone drills are decent measure of quickness and agility and all the top backs exhibit some or all of those trails along with other positives like 40 times.
As for some of those other backs that were brought up with poor measurements. Again, not a single one of them was across the bad as Taylor.
With regards to Luck raving to Arians about him. Well that teams could use another RB and they have his college OC and they passed .
In the case of Stepfan I just can't find a single physical trait to be excited about except maybe his build.
