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Christine Michael (11 Viewers)

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I liked what I saw on the field from Christine Michael in limited time at A&M. However, he had an ACL injury in 2011, and had to share carries in 2012 after being in the doghouse.

At the East/West Shrine game, Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com said:

“Michael has been the top back in practices....He has a powerful frame and he’s displayed an explosive burst to and through the hole. He doesn’t have natural hands out of the backfield, but he’s still a very intriguing prospect.
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His numbers were excellent at the combine...top 5 in many categories for RB: Drill Results Rank

Bench Press: 27 Reps 4th

40-Yard Dash: 4.54 seconds 10th

Vertical Jump: 43” 1st

Broad Jump: 10’5” 2nd

Cone Drill: 6.69 seconds 1st

20-Yard Shuttle: 4.02 seconds 1st

60-Yard Shuttle: 11.56 seconds 6th

He's had injuries, attitude issues, apparently isn't great in pass pro, and now overslept at the combine, missing a couple of Team interviews.

http://m.nfl.com/news/0ap1000000145607/christine-michael-overslept-at-nfl-scouting-combine/

What is your take on this guy? Is he worth a look, or will his 2 cent head keep him from making it in the NFL?

 
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In terms of fantasy value without knowing what backfield situation he's going to I am less concerned with some of the character stuff and more concerned with issues of pass protection because that will probably keep him off the field even if his situation appears good on paper.

 
How well he does in the NFL won't be because of lack of talent. I think he's one of the best overall skill-set backs in the draft, and has always been one amongst his class going back to his high school days (5 star recruit with Trent Richardson and Bryce Brown). He can run, and makes it look easy, IMO. You can get to the NFL on talent alone, but it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to stay in the NFL. As Drop stated, it will come down to how well he can improve in the blocking/blitz area. Can he overcome the injuries and character concerns (overslept and missed two team interviews at the combine)? And does he show up to camp ready to work and not live off past fame and natural abilities?

He's probably the back I'm most interested in as far as what team he goes to.

NFP has him ranked last of 39 RBs with a score of 3.9. Don't know the last time they updated it, but it raises some questions...

 
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Certainly looked very talented in the years I saw of him at A&M (only his injury allowed Cyrus Gray to get significant playing time), but as someone else pointed out, you are gambling here that he'll learn pass protection. Hard to get on the field w/o that. If it takes him a year or two to learn it and doesn't make an immediate impact in 2013, you can get him for pennies on the dollar in 2014. But damn those are some impressive combine numbers. You have to feel like he could be a Blount type player. Blount tore it up his rookie year w/o the benefit of getting a job handed to him due to draft slot and without pass protection. If Michael lands in a nice spot, I might take a gamble on him in redrafts.

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCVqxFeWFoU

Oh my goodness, why has no one shown me this before now? This guy glides across the field, makes ridiculous cuts. Can't go past Round 2 which means all of our teams realistically have a shot at this guy.

A team like the Falcons couldn't go wrong signing Jackson to a deal and drafting this guy in the 2nd. Even if it required a little trading. I think he is a guy you bring in to compete potentially for the starting job, challenge a veteran.

Would like to see Bruce Arians pull the trigger on this guy for my Cardinals.

 
he's got some very impressive measurables and talent to go with it... he could be a great back, if he gets his head on straight.

he was in the doghouse last season for unknown (to me) reasons and he missed a couple of the biggest interviews of his life at the combine because he "overslept".

i'd take a shot at him because of the potential alone though... if he goes to a great situation i'll be looking at him earlier than planned too.

ETA: i'll take him over knile davis anyday.

 
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I think 2013 is the worst RB class I have seen in the past decade.

Having said that, I've got Michael as a top 3 RB in the draft. Same tier as Bernard behind Lacy. He has the size/speed/burst combo to be an effective NFL player. The question is upside. Will he be just serviceable or can he become an above average starter? I lean towards the former. He's a heavy back and he has an explosive initial burst, but he's not really that elusive and he's had a lot of issues with durability. You can watch some of his game cuts here:

I don't see a whole lot of wow factor there in terms of his agility and vision, but his size/speed/athletic ability combo ensures that he'll be capable when thrust into duty. I think he's a top 12 rookie pick in this draft and probably a 3rd-4th round pick by the NFL in April.

 
'Eminence said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCVqxFeWFoUOh my goodness, why has no one shown me this before now? This guy glides across the field, makes ridiculous cuts. Can't go past Round 2 which means all of our teams realistically have a shot at this guy.A team like the Falcons couldn't go wrong signing Jackson to a deal and drafting this guy in the 2nd. Even if it required a little trading. I think he is a guy you bring in to compete potentially for the starting job, challenge a veteran.Would like to see Bruce Arians pull the trigger on this guy for my Cardinals.
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Some of those runs are from earlier in his college career when he was a lighter weight.
 
'EBF said:
I think 2013 is the worst RB class I have seen in the past decade. Having said that, I've got Michael as a top 3 RB in the draft. Same tier as Bernard behind Lacy. He has the size/speed/burst combo to be an effective NFL player. The question is upside. Will he be just serviceable or can he become an above average starter? I lean towards the former. He's a heavy back and he has an explosive initial burst, but he's not really that elusive and he's had a lot of issues with durability. You can watch some of his game cuts here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l52K5QZ2OEwI don't see a whole lot of wow factor there in terms of his agility and vision, but his size/speed/athletic ability combo ensures that he'll be capable when thrust into duty. I think he's a top 12 rookie pick in this draft and probably a 3rd-4th round pick by the NFL in April.
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Not to put you on the spot, but that is a big difference. top three vs bottom five of almost 40 prospects
 
'Xue said:
'Eminence said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCVqxFeWFoUOh my goodness, why has no one shown me this before now? This guy glides across the field, makes ridiculous cuts. Can't go past Round 2 which means all of our teams realistically have a shot at this guy.A team like the Falcons couldn't go wrong signing Jackson to a deal and drafting this guy in the 2nd. Even if it required a little trading. I think he is a guy you bring in to compete potentially for the starting job, challenge a veteran.Would like to see Bruce Arians pull the trigger on this guy for my Cardinals.
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Some of those runs are from earlier in his college career when he was a lighter weight.
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And pre-ACL
 
'Eminence said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCVqxFeWFoUOh my goodness, why has no one shown me this before now? This guy glides across the field, makes ridiculous cuts. Can't go past Round 2 which means all of our teams realistically have a shot at this guy.A team like the Falcons couldn't go wrong signing Jackson to a deal and drafting this guy in the 2nd. Even if it required a little trading. I think he is a guy you bring in to compete potentially for the starting job, challenge a veteran.Would like to see Bruce Arians pull the trigger on this guy for my Cardinals.
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sorry, no. Average. He is faster than NCAA DEs, not NFL DEs to get to the outside. Wont work in the League.Peace
 
'msommer said:
'EBF said:
I think 2013 is the worst RB class I have seen in the past decade. Having said that, I've got Michael as a top 3 RB in the draft. Same tier as Bernard behind Lacy. He has the size/speed/burst combo to be an effective NFL player. The question is upside. Will he be just serviceable or can he become an above average starter? I lean towards the former. He's a heavy back and he has an explosive initial burst, but he's not really that elusive and he's had a lot of issues with durability. You can watch some of his game cuts here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l52K5QZ2OEwI don't see a whole lot of wow factor there in terms of his agility and vision, but his size/speed/athletic ability combo ensures that he'll be capable when thrust into duty. I think he's a top 12 rookie pick in this draft and probably a 3rd-4th round pick by the NFL in April.
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Not to put you on the spot, but that is a big difference. top three vs bottom five of almost 40 prospects
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Not to put anyone on the spot...but those rankings are more than suspect. I don't have Micheal third, but I certainly don't have him rated as 39th.
 
'EBF said:
I think 2013 is the worst RB class I have seen in the past decade. Having said that, I've got Michael as a top 3 RB in the draft. Same tier as Bernard behind Lacy. He has the size/speed/burst combo to be an effective NFL player. The question is upside. Will he be just serviceable or can he become an above average starter? I lean towards the former. He's a heavy back and he has an explosive initial burst, but he's not really that elusive and he's had a lot of issues with durability. You can watch some of his game cuts here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l52K5QZ2OEwI don't see a whole lot of wow factor there in terms of his agility and vision, but his size/speed/athletic ability combo ensures that he'll be capable when thrust into duty. I think he's a top 12 rookie pick in this draft and probably a 3rd-4th round pick by the NFL in April.
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Thanks for sharing that link, extremely helpful. I didn't find him impressive at all. Poor vision, no wiggle, minimal lateral movement, did poorly in traffic and didn't get extra yards. He was adept at sprinting through a giant hole and getting to top speed quickly. And the couple of plays I saw where he was asked to block, thought he did well. :shrug: But as a RB prospect, I wasn't impressed.
 
'Alex P Keaton said:
Thanks for sharing that link, extremely helpful. I didn't find him impressive at all. Poor vision, no wiggle, minimal lateral movement, did poorly in traffic and didn't get extra yards. He was adept at sprinting through a giant hole and getting to top speed quickly. And the couple of plays I saw where he was asked to block, thought he did well. :shrug: But as a RB prospect, I wasn't impressed.
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I came away more impressed than you did. He made some people miss, knocked some over to gain extra yards and showed a decent speed/strength combo. No idea how he'll pan out but I did think he got extra yards after contact (not on every play, but on several).
 
Mayock had some pretty good things to say about his physical ability and talent, and that the only issue is the character and off-field concerns.

 
As we know the NFL is now a passing league and if he can't pass block or catch the ball out of the backfield then he won't see the field much if he does make a NFL roster.

 
Texas A&M Pro Day Excerpt:

Running back Christine Michael decided to stand with his numbers from the combine, but did look outstanding during positional drills. He caught the ball well out of the backfield and looked explosive in his cuts.

Michael also attempted to clear up a "misunderstanding" after reports surfaced that he missed multiple meetings with teams at the combine. However, he explained that he was extremely sick that week and it was more of a misunderstanding. Michael said he already apologized to the teams and has formal workouts scheduled with the Indianapolis Colts, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings.
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I don't know what to make of this guy, but he strikes me as a workout warrior. Chances are he will get drated higher than I have him rated. I don't think I could spend a first on him, unless he goes in the top 2 rounds and to a good situation.

 
'Shanahanigans said:
I don't know what to make of this guy, but he strikes me as a workout warrior. Chances are he will get drated higher than I have him rated. I don't think I could spend a first on him, unless he goes in the top 2 rounds and to a good situation.
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This makes a lot of sense to me. However given how the current draft is shaping up and the current lack of premium placed on the RB position in the Nfl right now I think a 3rd round pick would likely solidify him as a 1st round fantasy pick for me if he is also drafted into a decent opportunity to play.I see a lot of evidence building in his favor. When I watch these clips and others I have seen of him I like what I see. Michael does a very good job of making the 1st tackler miss, consistently he times his cuts so that the tackler is only getting a small target and little time before he cuts away. He also has plenty of speed with good size to power through tackles. I feel like people are being quieter about him as a prospect than perhaps they should. I suppose in part because most of the scouting services have not been ranking him all that high.
 
If I am rolling the dice on any back in this draft, he is it. Has the size, speed, power, toughness, and most importantly game tape to back it up. I don't think his injuries are running style related, so maybe I'll roll a 7. I think another team will see the same and take him round 2.

 
Just finished writing up Michael.

I didn't expect to like him so much, but without the character and injury issues he looks like a good player. If not for the added risks I think he's easily the 2nd best back in this draft.

 
Yea, he's right up there for me. The only other guy I'd think about is Bernard. Michael has the physical tools. Bernard has the production. Wouldn't be surprised if Michael ends up better at the next level. Never been too high on Gio.

Not buying the Doug Martin comp though. Martin was one of the best receiving backs in the league last year and is a great space player.

 
For those who have reviewed his film, is the challenge with his blocking skills a technique issue that can be corrected with NFL coaching?

 
'EBF said:
Not buying the Doug Martin comp though. Martin was one of the best receiving backs in the league last year and is a great space player.
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No problem with that. Receiving sample sizes are small, a couple big plays can really affect the score, and of everything I use I'd say that's most subject to being misleading. But on average it's still better to use it than not use it even if it's not perfect.And FWIW... 'better than Ridley, Henry, Greene' is pretty decent, even if Martin is a stretch. And I do think he's quite a bit better than those guys. If he falls to the third he makes me really uneasy though. He's a guy the NFL should be all over.
 
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'EBF said:
Not buying the Doug Martin comp though. Martin was one of the best receiving backs in the league last year and is a great space player.
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Hey EBF, this turned out to be a helpful comment.I adjust rushing performance on the basis of several factors -- one of which applies to Martin. I just checked it again, three or four years after developing it, and it holds up for the new guys in the database too (2010-2012). So I'm pretty confident about that.When I developed that rushing adjustment I also applied it to the receiving performance numbers, but never really looked at what that was doing in isolation. It seemed to work, so I left well enough alone.But after your comment, I took a look at the players who had completely clean/good profiles except that the adjustment I was applying to their receiving numbers had resulted in that metric being adjusted from average or better to negative. In other words, if I undid the adjustment for the receiving stat whose overall profile would it actually improve?Turns out that there were only three players who fell into that category (which is why it seemed to work in the first place):Doug MartinDanny WoodheadIan JohnsonSince Martin and Woodhead have been great in space in the NFL I'm thinking that the adjustment that works for rushing isn't needed on the receiving side and I'm going to undo it for the time being.And instead of Martin being in the grouping with Michael, who has a negative receiving metric but is in a group of players that qualify as decent prospects anyway (Ridley, Greene, Ivory, T Henry, etc), Martin actually moves into a better grouping. Which is what you were suggesting in the first place.
 
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Glad I could help. Not sure if it matters at all, but Martin was also a pretty effective kick returner in college.

2008 - 10 kickoffs for 222 yards (22.2)

2009 - 6 kickoffs for 178 yards (29.7)

2010 - ???

2011 - 10 kickoffs for 338 yards (33.8)

I don't think kickoff returns demand as much elusiveness as punt returns, but you probably still have to be a pretty good athlete to do that job. Especially if you're a 220+ pound RB.

One of the things I liked about Martin as a prospect was his versatility. He could do everything, and we saw that carry over to the NFL last year.

 
from Rotoworld:

ESPN's Todd McShay says Texas A&M RB Christine Michael is the biggest risk at the RB position in the draft."You look at him on tape, you see explosiveness, quickness... So what’s the problem? Baggage," McShay said. "Durability baggage, you go back to 2010 a season ending injury. The same in 2011 and then there a lot of character issues you have to wade through. He’s a big time risk and he’s probably going to go in the second round."Source: Sports Day
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The saying is 90% of success in the NFL is from the neck up and that is THE big red flag that must be considered.

However, when I watch him and the way he has this "lean and reach" running style that gets him into gear so quickly, it reminds me of a healthy Fred Taylor. So, for me, it will come down to where he lands and his perceived situation. If he goes somewhere and people kind of forget about him a bit thinking he is stuck behind someone then, yeah, I'm going to roll dice on him all over the 2nd round. He can easily be a situaiton like MJD. Not saying similar player: situation. He comes out and people gloss over him thinking he is stuck behind Fred Taylor, he falls to the end of the 1st round in fantasy drafts but is almost immediately useful in fantasy and within a year or two, he's a solid perennial RB.

IF he goes somewhere where they keep him involved and he doesn't get lost in the shuffle, he's worth the risk. No doubt about it.

 
The Shutdown Corner NFC West draft review podcast with Greg CosellBy Doug Farrar

Excerpt:

On where Seahawks running back Christine Michael could fit into Seattle's plans: "He's a really intriguing running back. He's got size, lateral quickness, and natural power. He's got acceleration. He's got really explosive feet for a 220-poound back. I thought he was really decisive downhill. I liked him a lot. It's a pick where I'm sure they'll say that they had him highly rated and they had to take him, and I can understand that. But what's really fascinating about it is that here's a league in which running backs are not theoretically valued, and here's a guy who hardly carried the ball [in 2012], and he gets taken with the 62nd pick in the draft."
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With Marshawn Lynch absent, Christine Michael flashes

Excerpt:

Post by Eric Williams on June 3, 2013 at 2:15 pmAbsent for the beginning of his team’s organized team activities (OTAs), Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch re-joined the team last week.

However, the bruising running back was absent for today’s morning workout open to reporters.

Pete Carroll is not scheduled to talk until Thursday, so no reason was given for Lynch’s absence.

However, with Lynch out, second-round draft choice Christine Michael took advantage of the extra reps. The Texas A&M product had been nursing a hamstring injury, and did not workout during the OTA session open to reporters last week.

But Michael looked quick and explosive during individual and teams drills this morning.
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Rotoworld:

Second-round pick Christine Michael has received "a lot" of first-team reps at Seahawks OTAs.

Marshawn Lynch's participation has been hit or miss, but it's a possible indication Michael will have an opportunity to unseat Robert Turbin for the primary backup job. Pete Carroll is a devoted believer in the best-competitor-will-play philosophy. Michael is also a more talented runner than Turbin.

Jun 7 - 5:52 PM

Source: Seattle Times
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Coach Pete Carroll expressed some reservations regarding second-round RB Christine Michael's pass protection.

As we see so often, blocking can be a stumbling block for rookie backs trying to climb the depth chart. ESPN's Mike Sando expects Robert Turbin to stick as Marshawn Lynch's primary backup. "[Michael] has not done as much pass protection work as we'd like," Carroll said. "When we looked at Robert last year, we felt the same way, but Robert came on really strong as a pass-blocker, so we hope to do the same thing with Christine." Michael remains a strong Dynasty stash as a more talented natural runner than Turbin.

May 15 - 11:42 AM
Source: ESPN.com
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Rotoworld:

Seahawks second-round RB Christine Michael reportedly impressed the coaching staff during OTAs and minicamp.
With Marshawn Lynch skipping all the voluntary sessions, Michael got a chance to spread his extremely talented wings. Former NFL scout Matt Williamson predicts Michael will be a "total stud and true every-down running back" by 2016. That big chance could come sooner if Marshawn Lynch's unresolved DUI case grows legs before Week 1. We suspect Michael will outplay incumbent backup Robert Turbin at training camp.

Related: Robert Turbin

Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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