I really would like to get your reaction to this, given the statement you made earlier.
I'm not exactly clear on what you are asking me to comment on. Are you asking me about your extrapolation? If so I believe I've already hinted at the answer when I briefly responded to Yudkin's YPC post, although it was more directed at Brown's NFL YPC and not his collegiate YPC.
College YPC is not even close to an absolute indicator of a runningback's NFL potential as a matter of fact it is a worse indicator than is NFL YPC. Mostly due to the large variances in:
a) systems
and
b) schedule strengths
If it was an absolute indicator there would be no need for NFL scouts to evaluate RBs. Thus I think that although Brown's YPC was impressive, it doesn't mean a whole heck of alot in terms of NFL potential. Travis Minor ever ring a bell? Rashan Salaam, every Penn State Runningback?
There are several runningbacks that had mediocre YPC numbers(by NFL Draft standards) that have been Hall of Fame caliber runningbacks and there are also several runningbacks with great college YPC numbers that turned out to be busts.
Overall it just isn't a very good indicator...if it was that easy NFL teams would just draft based on YPC.
I have watched both Foster and Brown play in college as well as last year in the NFL and it has always been apparent to me that Foster is a superior talent. He has everything you'd want in a back. Brown in my opinion has subpar talent. He isn't as good at making people miss and he doesn't have the natural speed that Foster posesses either.
Most NFL scouts agree with me as most of them had Foster ranked as a first rounder, the same cannot be said for Brown. From what I've seen on the NFL field the scouts respective rankings were justified.
Unless you're a power runner like Eddie George or Bettis, you wont last in the NFL if you can't make people miss. Brown just isn't elusive or fast enough to be an everydown NFL back.
That is my humble opinion on Brown's ability.
One factor that I believe is of great assistance to me is that I make it a point to watch every NFL game, I also tape about half of them and watch them over. If you're just staring at box scores it makes it much more difficult to truly evaluate a player's ability.
Now I'm sure the Brown owners who saw the exact same playoff games I did are going to come back with "I saw something completely different" so I guess you have to ask yourself whose opinion do you value more and why. Also ask yourself what has the Titans organization done to show their support for Brown, along with other qualitative factors.
I have come to the conclusion it doesn't look good for Brown, obviously all the Brown owners that have responded to this thread see it differently. I have already stated this before but I have nothing to gain or lose by downgrading Brown...I don't have him in any leagues and there are plenty of other players that are just as worthy of a 4th round pick so I really don't care how he does either way. I find it interesting that most of the responses on this thread come from Brown owners though.
Ultimately only time will tell.
I hope that answers your questions.