Jamaal Charles entering draft (1 Viewer)

[EBF]

Tear these apartFelix Jones--> Brian WestbrookRashard Mendenhall--> Ahman Green (Nebraska)Jonathan Stewart--> Jamal Anderson (though I like the Jamal Lewis one too, but stewart can catch!)Jamal Charles--> Tatum Bell (explantion below)*Before you jump on me hear it out. I think the Portis comparison is a bit overblown. I simply don't see Charles Having the success that portis had running between the tackles. He's also has a huge negative against him in his passblocking, which IMO has never been on par with some of the other prospects. Off the bat, he will have to become more physical or risk losing crucial playing time. Ball handling has also been an issue in the past. What it boils down to is the fact he is nowhere near the prospect CP was coming out of Miami. Does Charles have good potential as a runner? Of course. He could be a very viable one-cut ZBS back. But he's simply not Portis. At least, not yet. I think his effectiveness in other schemes will be limited because it magnifies what he does not do well and as a result, he may lose some significant PT early on.

Pretty good comparisons, although it will be surprising if Mendenhall, Stewart, and Jones all end up becoming Pro Bowl caliber backs. I agree that they have some similarities to the guys you listed, but they can't necessarily be expected to duplicate that kind of success. The odds are pretty good that at least one of those three guys will be a disappointment. As for Charles, I think he offers a little more flash than Bell ever did. If you want to compare him to an underachiever, I'd say Michael Bennett is a better comparison. Both guys have world class straight line speed and enough quickness to make you think they're more than just a track star playing football.

 

[awesomeness]

Am i the only one who thinks Felix Jones is more like Clinton Portis than Brian Westbrook? Felix's cuts dont seem to be as sharp as Charles' which is why i think hes more like westbrook.

 

[crush304]

Tear these apartFelix Jones--> Brian WestbrookRashard Mendenhall--> Ahman Green (Nebraska)Jonathan Stewart--> Jamal Anderson (though I like the Jamal Lewis one too, but stewart can catch!)Jamal Charles--> Tatum Bell (explantion below)*Before you jump on me hear it out. I think the Portis comparison is a bit overblown. I simply don't see Charles Having the success that portis had running between the tackles. He's also has a huge negative against him in his passblocking, which IMO has never been on par with some of the other prospects. Off the bat, he will have to become more physical or risk losing crucial playing time. Ball handling has also been an issue in the past. What it boils down to is the fact he is nowhere near the prospect CP was coming out of Miami. Does Charles have good potential as a runner? Of course. He could be a very viable one-cut ZBS back. But he's simply not Portis. At least, not yet. I think his effectiveness in other schemes will be limited because it magnifies what he does not do well and as a result, he may lose some significant PT early on.

i not sure there was a big gap prospect wise between portis and tatum, both went in the 2nd round, both had risks and both had high upside, portis hit his upside and tatum didn't

 

[the hairy scotsman]

I think Charles will test the waters and find that he should stay in school another year. Same thing regarding Steve Slaton. Charles also was known to fumble. I just think why go pro and be 2nd rounder when you can stay in school and be a top 20 pick next year. Injury always concern but I think he needs to work on technique holding the ball and pass catching skills. He's a burner no doubt but the NFL isnt a track meet.

The bolded part made me curious. I looked up his stats and they state that he didn't have a single fumble his entire college career. Since i don't watch that many college games could you please explain why you come up with a fumble issue ?! Your insight would be appreciated.

Wow.I'd like to know where you found those stats.

As most people here know, I'm a Texas fan. Look at my avatar. That's Charles. He fumbles. A lot. At decidedly inconvenient times in the game, too.

Kid is a talent, fastest RB I've ever seen in person, ran a 10.12 100m at the NCAAs, getting 2nd, but goes down with first contact way too often (not for lack of trying, mind you). Has a tendency to hesitate and try too hard to hit the home run rather than just taking what's there and then trying to get to the next level, although he's been improving in this area greatly of late. Admitted himself this year that he needed to learn to hit the hole hard like true freshman backup Vondrell McGee, whom I think you'll all be talking about on here in a coupla years.

When JC came in as a freshman, I thought he had a chance to be the best back, statistically, ever at Texas. That's saying something. His freshman year was tremendous. He regressed since then, then picked it up in the latter half of this year.

If he goes to a team with a good OL and/or a team who knows how to get him into space, he'll be devastating. He's incredibly fast. If he gets a step, he's gone. Charles has tremendous stopping and cutting ability, as well as great vision and that those subtle, quick, small direction changes that make people miss and leave them wondering why. He's not bad as a pass catcher, either, having been sent deep many times out of the backfield for long completions as well as typical screens, etc.

Good luck to him on draft day.

 

[Hawk]

I think Charles will test the waters and find that he should stay in school another year. Same thing regarding Steve Slaton. Charles also was known to fumble. I just think why go pro and be 2nd rounder when you can stay in school and be a top 20 pick next year. Injury always concern but I think he needs to work on technique holding the ball and pass catching skills. He's a burner no doubt but the NFL isnt a track meet.

The bolded part made me curious. I looked up his stats and they state that he didn't have a single fumble his entire college career. Since i don't watch that many college games could you please explain why you come up with a fumble issue ?! Your insight would be appreciated.

Wow.I'd like to know where you found those stats.

As most people here know, I'm a Texas fan. Look at my avatar. That's Charles. He fumbles. A lot. At decidedly inconvenient times in the game, too.

Kid is a talent, fastest RB I've ever seen in person, ran a 10.12 100m at the NCAAs, getting 2nd, but goes down with first contact way too often (not for lack of trying, mind you). Has a tendency to hesitate and try too hard to hit the home run rather than just taking what's there and then trying to get to the next level, although he's been improving in this area greatly of late. Admitted himself this year that he needed to learn to hit the hole hard like true freshman backup Vondrell McGee, whom I think you'll all be talking about on here in a coupla years.

When JC came in as a freshman, I thought he had a chance to be the best back, statistically, ever at Texas. That's saying something. His freshman year was tremendous. He regressed since then, then picked it up in the latter half of this year.

If he goes to a team with a good OL and/or a team who knows how to get him into space, he'll be devastating. He's incredibly fast. If he gets a step, he's gone. Charles has tremendous stopping and cutting ability, as well as great vision and that those subtle, quick, small direction changes that make people miss and leave them wondering why. He's not bad as a pass catcher, either, having been sent deep many times out of the backfield for long completions as well as typical screens, etc.

Good luck to him on draft day.

That's a good post regarding Charles. Great speed, good moves, good vision, actually a better inside runner than people would expect because he has that ability to make moves in small space. Problems he has had include tendency to run sideways looking for a big hole and a big play instead of cutting it upfield to take the 4 or 5 yard run. He improved on that issue tremendously over the last half of the season. Other big problem is fumbles, and as Hairy Sctosman mentioned, always seemed to happen at the worst times. For example, against Central Florida when Texas was trying to run out the clock to win the game Jamaal inexplicably fumbled which caused that game to be frightfully close. And of course, the biggest fumble of the year for Texas when Jamaal lost the ball as he was going in for a TD against Oklahoma. His body wound up in the endzone (from the stands, I thought he had scored and was celebrating), but the ball wound up in the Sooners' hands at the 3 yard line. They promptly drove it 97 yards for a TD. Painful. His fumbling issues have gotten better over the second half of the season also.I'd be surprised if Jamaal were the 2nd RB chosen, but not as surprised as I would be if he somehow slipped past the 2nd round.