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My Top 8 college RB's - Impact Pro's NEXT YEAR! (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter JohnnyU
- Start date
This thread may come in handy next April.
Bonfire
Footballguy
i believe Benson is being supremely overrated on a lot of these lists, he is the product of wr talent around him last year, and a cake season (so far) this year. being the feature back at texas for that long anyone with at least minimal skills could put up outstanding numbers, without being an outstanding back. i rate him from 6th-10th at best.
Ohio State homer here.From everything I've heard, he is now living with some family in Texas and looks like a tub of goo. If he starts working out again, he may be ready for the combine. He will obviously not be playing for Ohio State again. There will be three big knocks on him:1. Headcase2. Durability - only really played 2/3 of one season of college football3. Rust - he has not played organized football in over two yearsI wish him the best, but the deck is stacked against him. He is damn exciting to watch though. Consider that OSU has not had a good RB immediately before or since Clarett. The O line is just not good.
Bengalsfan
Footballguy
I too encourage you to pay attention to DeAngelo Williams of Memphis.
rabidfireweasel
Footballguy
There was a reason he was three time Texas player of the year in high school.He looking stunning in his first year, had turf toe his second year, seemed disinterested in the first half of 03 and has looked stunning since.There is no link for this, but long time Houston Chronicle football columnist John McClain still has many contacts with the folks in Titans scouting. He stated about 6 weeks ago on Sports radio 610 in Houston that they though Benson was a better pro prospect than Ricky Williams.If he can keep his head on straight- and that is definitely an if- he is a very good pro prospect with both good strength and good speed. I actually think Benson is underrated on this board.
EastBayFunk
Footballguy
You forgot Hodges Mitchell.
Adrian Peterson is special. Not gonna type up all the reasons why, simply to not sound like a homer but I have watched OU football for a long time & he has a chance to be their best. I don't give out compliments like that very often (esp. considering OU's past rb talent & tradition) but after reading of all his hype coming outta HS, he has lived up to it. Godwilling & barring injury, people will be climbing all over one another to have him on their fantasy teams in the future.
UrlacherIsGod
Footballguy
Whatever...lol. Adrian Peterson could've been an NFL back right out of high school. I can't remember the last time I saw running back with this kid's talent and physical ability. There's a reason he was THE top recruit this year.
ILUVBEER99
Footballguy
If Adrian Peterson was allowed to come out after this year he would be the 1st RB taken...easily.
Bevo
Footballguy
Adrian Petersen is a very good college RB already and has the talent to be a great one.BUT... he would get torn up in the NFL if he was starting right now; not to mention that he would be getting his QB killed on a regular basis. Let the young man mature and learn a little bit before throwing him to the dogs.And speaking of cupcake schedules so far (as someone mentioned about Benson), Petersen has yet to play a down of college football outside of Norman AND against a bunch of cupcakes.Like I said, I think he has the talent to be a great one; but he hasn't come close to PROVING that he is a great yet.
Diablo
Footballguy
Though I am fan of Peterson's talent and I will say that he has a chance to be a great NFL back one day, now is not his time.Benson, Brown, Cadillac, and others are still clearly ahead of him at this stage until he proves he can last injury wise along with put up a body of work that shows he is worthy of the title of "Best RB" in college football.No player can come out of high school and straight to the pros, their body wouldn't handle the punishment and the knowledge factor it takes to succeed. There is a very good reason the NFL doesn't want young players until after 3 yrs from high school and I am smart enough to believe them in that fact.
John McClain is the biggest blow hard columnist I've ever read/listened to. He really doesn't know what he is talking about. He has these "sources" that make these fantastic proclamations that never come to fruition.That being said, I really think Ced Benson is an outstanding college running back, better by far than most guys mentioned in this thread. However, I don't think he will be as good a professional running back as Ronnie Brown or Cadillac Williams or a the Barber kid from Minnesota.And for all those that are proclaming Adrian Peterson the next superstar, easy now. He's played 4 college games so far. Give me a break. I also heard that Marcus Vick is better than his brother.USC has three better running backs than Adrian Peterson right now, so all you OU homers can wait a few years more.
ILUVBEER99
Footballguy
I'm not saying Adrian Peterson is ready for the NFL, all i'm saying is that due to having the ability to become truly great he would be the 1st RB taken in this years draft if he was allowed to enter.Teams don't let potential greatness slide by them, and although he hasn't proven himself yet, he has hope to become one of the great ones, something I don't feel any other RB's in this years class have.Certain players have the IT factor, and watching Adrian Peterson makes my jaw drop, that's all i'm saying.In no way do I think he is ready for the NFL, but when he is watch out.
Colin Dowling
Footballguy
:rotflmao:
:rotflmao:ILUVBEER99
Footballguy
I have a feeling your opinion is different from 99% of NFL scouts, but to each their own.
ILUVBEER99
Footballguy
I love Moats. I do a college FF league and was lucky to get him on my team so I watch him every chance I get.He looks so quick it amazes me. He's listed at 201 but looks smaller. Do you think he really weighs in at that? If so he should be climbing up draft boards each week.
jurb26
Footballguy
See the av to know who he reminds me of!!! But no, I'll bet he is closer to 195 or so. He is only like 5'9" though, so the frame is compact and he is very strong from what I read and hear. He is lightning quick though and hardly ever gets hit hard. Runs with great vision and low to the ground to brush off harder blows. It is his explosivness that will seperate him at the next level though IMO. The explosivness is on par with what I think both Bush and Peterson have. An ability to see and hit the hole before Ds can even adjust. Bush and Peterson don't have that same vision yet, but will soon enough IMO.
EastBayFunk
Footballguy
I disagree. I've seen USC plenty. I have all of their running backs on my KFFL fantasy team and I still think Peterson is better than all of them.
jurb26
Footballguy
Peterson is NOT better than Bush right now. No way, no how.
Lets let him prove his ability vs. real college competition before placing him in line with one of the best college football players in the country and a Hiesman front runner.Nobody is down playing his POTENTIAL here, cause it is obvious. This however is a big statement at this moment in time.
EastBayFunk
Footballguy
I disagree. I think he has better vision and is a more natural runner. He's already bigger than Reggie and I imagine that he'll continue to add weight throughout his college career. Bush is a better receiver and a more unique player, but I don't think he's a better running back than Peterson.Peterson is NOT better than Bush right now. No way, no how.
jurb26
Footballguy
I guess I can see your point. Bush IMO is the best plan football player in the country. So versitile it is scary, Faulk likeI disagree. I think he has better vision and is a more natural runner. He's already bigger than Reggie and I imagine that he'll continue to add weight throughout his college career. Bush is a better receiver and a more unique player, but I don't think he's a better running back than Peterson.Peterson is NOT better than Bush right now. No way, no how.
Peterson has more the traditional RB traits though. I still contend that he has to show this ability when OU is not just pushing the other team aroung up front though. His running insticts have not truely been tested yet at this level IMO.
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EastBayFunk
Footballguy
To each his own. I don't deny that Bush is a great player. I actually follow college recruiting pretty closely and I'm very familiar with Bush. His highlight film from high school is one of the best I've seen. Nevertheless, I feel like Peterson is a better pure runner and a better NFL prospect. He just has the look of a franchise back to me. That's not to say that Bush won't also turn out to be an excellent pro. He has great speed and quickness. He's shown a knack for making big plays. If he continues to develop then I'm sure he'll be a high draft pick too.
ConstruxBoy
Kate's Daddy
Awesome thread! I love this stuff. My opinions
eterson could be the next "superstar" RB. Only seen one of his games this year, but I saw the Army High School All Star game in January and he was a man among boys there. Watched him run right by the guy I was watching the game for, Dan Connor (Penn State), like he was standing still. Connor is getting some early playing time for PSU and looks damn good. Maybe the quickest LB we've had since Arrington. Also really like Maroney at Minnesota. I like him better than Barber, actually. Reminds me of a quicker Lamont Jordan. Not exactly a ringing endorsement... 
eterson could be the next "superstar" RB. Only seen one of his games this year, but I saw the Army High School All Star game in January and he was a man among boys there. Watched him run right by the guy I was watching the game for, Dan Connor (Penn State), like he was standing still. Connor is getting some early playing time for PSU and looks damn good. Maybe the quickest LB we've had since Arrington. Also really like Maroney at Minnesota. I like him better than Barber, actually. Reminds me of a quicker Lamont Jordan. Not exactly a ringing endorsement... I live 20 minutes away from Tech and have been at all the home games thus far. Moats is for real. Seeing him live and watching Bush on TV though......Bush is much faster. Is it just me or does anyone else think Bush will be a WR in the pros? He looks much better split out than running the ball. Moats has 3 games so far with 230 yards plus in a 4/5 receiver offense.
cstu
Footballguy
What do you guys think of Marlon Lucky? I live in LA and want to go check out one of his games since the video I've seen is absolutely amazing.
Marlon Lucky
Marlon Lucky
Willie Mays Hayes
Footballguy
I seriously can't believe that Kay Jay Harris isn't mentioned anywhere in this thread. He's been hampered by a hammy injury for a couple games but this kid is the real deal with an NFL-ready body at 6'2" 240 lbs with 4.4 speed. He's 25 years old because of his stint as a minor league baseball player. He's has the feature back dimensions to be a great NFL player.
Thorpe
Footballguy
Texas Tech, Oregon, Bowling Green, and Houston are not the 4 best run defenses, plus all those games were played in Norman. I'd like to see Peterson on the road and against some stiffer competition before I induct him into the Hall of Fame. OK's season hasn't started yet, in my opinion, with those 4 home games. Let's see what OK and Peterson can do against Texas, @OK State, @Tex AM, and @K State. If he averages 150 per game for those 4 games and OK wins those 4 games, then he has my vote.
the hairy scotsman
Footballguy
Mmmmm...no. I saw every game either one of these guys ever played in college. Ced may be the best back this year,and is running far better this season than his vaunted 2nd half of 2003, but none of these guys approaches Ricky's level of physical dominance in college. He was unbelievable. Now, if CB looks like a better pro prospect to the Titans, maybe it's a character issue they're looking at.
Against whose badass defense did he convince you that he'd win the Heisman and be a top 3 pick? Was it...a) Bowling Green
b) Houston
c) Oregon
or
d) Texas Tech?
I'm not saying he doesn't have the potential, but let's not make him the next Dickerson just yet. Doing it this weekend in Dallas would only be a start, and that's a big if.
Well, I've put in bold italics the accurate parts of this paragraph. As I stated above CB is impressive this season. I questioned his decision to return for his senior season, as I didn't think he'd be able to raise his stock much after the great 2nd half he had last year. I see now that I was wrong. He quit baseball and re-dedicated himself to the off-season training program. The result is that he is the biggest, strongest, most explosive and fastest that he's ever been. To top that off, he's running with the punishing, physical attitude he had prior to the massive collision he had with big teammate Mike Williams in the Big 12 CG. He seeks contact, finishes every run moving forward, and always moves a pile. No, he's no RW, but he's the closest thing I've seen this year.Also, in the Wazzu game last year, he did pretty well when "genius" Greg Davis actually called his #. He is the running game's biggest enemy.
Dude. Benson's freshman year Texas had a decent OL. His next 2, they were terrible. This year, they seem to be pretty good. We'll see for sure this weekend. Yes, he had the advantage of Roy Williams, BJ Johnson and Sloan Thomas, but he also had the disadvantage of OC Greg Davis. This season, he's producing his best #s yet, avging over 180 ypg, usually in about 2.5 quarters of play. In a road rivalry game at Arkansas, he rolled up 188 and 2 tds. All that w/o the luxury of Roy, BJ, and Sloan. You ever hear of Limas Sweed? Or Nate Jones? Brian Carter? Eric Enard? Didn't think so. Those aren't names that are gonna strike fear in the hearts of db coaches. The d's Ced's been running on have been designed to stop one thing...the run, and he's been running right thru 'em.
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Colin Dowling
Footballguy
I think we all get so anxious to annoint RBs as "future studs" that we forget to realize that (a) there isn't a void of good RBs in the NFL right now and (b) even the best college players don't necessarily translate to even mediocre pros.For example: KJ Harris. Its a coincidence, but Harris reminds me of Quincy Wilson and Artose Pinner. He strikes me as a smart runner with good size, slightly better than average visions, slightly better than average wiggle, and mediocre speed. I also think that at this point, TA McClendon falls in to the same category for me. In other words, being a special looking college RB is not enough. It never has been, it never will be.Players like Benson, Brown, Williams, Moats, Bush, and Peterson have a completely different "look" to them. For example, harsh on Peterson for not having played a top ranked defense, but his skills are ridiculous. He's 18 years old (19 if he's had his birthday), and he's able to take the ball and make the opposition look downright inferior. When Peterson is breaking through the line and an LB breaks down, the first thing that goes through my head is, "Well, that guys about to get knocked on his ###..." Players like that have a different look entirely.The Tennessee defense isn't fantastic by any means, but Ronnie Brown, Moats, and Caddy just "look" different. In other words, its fun to make lists of 8-12 college RBs that we think are going to be good pros, and they may all be "good" pros, but the ones that are going to be game-changing, franchise-backs are few and far between.ANd for the record, I'm a big Benson fan. I think he's going in the top-5 and I think he's going to win the Heisman, but he's not anywhere near as good as Ricky was in college.COlin
the hairy scotsman
Footballguy
One of the reasons I say to wait and see about a kid like AP is things like injuries...and just crazy ##### that can happen in big rivalry games...or any game for that matter. He needs to stand the test of time. Remember Marcus Dupree, the rb that played for OU? He was most definitely a man amongst boys...prolly the next Earl Campbell. He was that big, strong and fast.Thing is, one day in the Cotton Bowl in October against Texas, safety Richard Peavy hit him so hard he (quite literally) couldn't remember which sideline to go to. He ended up on the Texas sideline, dazed and lost. Our trainers helped him back home.MD was never the same. He played only sparingly in a couple more games, if I remember correctly. Maybe a Sooner out there can verify. Maybe he played no more college ball at all. He simply lost his will. He later resurfaced in the USFL, and, I believe with the LA Rams, but didn't do much. Brain injuries have a way of messing people up. It was sad. He was a man....but, then, so was Richard Peavy. Biggest hit I've ever seen.
Same thing with Ced Benson. He collided head-on with big OT Mike Williams in the Big 12 CG and I believe it almost ruined his career. He was just not the same after that play for 1 1/2 seasons (end of freshman year 'til mid junior year). He may have had some turf toe, but that wasn't his big problem for a season and a half. He just wasn't agressive. He wasn't hitting the hole hard,and finishing his runs, like before. Now he is, and he's in the best shape of his life.
Same thing with Ced Benson. He collided head-on with big OT Mike Williams in the Big 12 CG and I believe it almost ruined his career. He was just not the same after that play for 1 1/2 seasons (end of freshman year 'til mid junior year). He may have had some turf toe, but that wasn't his big problem for a season and a half. He just wasn't agressive. He wasn't hitting the hole hard,and finishing his runs, like before. Now he is, and he's in the best shape of his life.
purplehaze67
Footballguy
Dan Pompei presented this list of his top-10 senior RBs in last week's Sporting News. Not sure if there is an on-line link or not -- could not come up with one in a brief search. There was some commentary that accompanied each selection, but in the interest of keeping this post copyright-safe, I'll omit it.
Marcus Dupree was not finished due to a hit, I can promise you that. He may have gotten rocked but the key to his career was he was unmotivated & lazy. Dupree simply did not love fball the way people wanted him to. Unfortunate b/c even Switzer said that Marcus was better (more potential, for sure) than any other back he had seen. Dupree had hamstring problems that eventually ended his playing days.Back to Peterson. Say what you will v. the run defenses he has faced. But you cannot argue his vision, speed & strength. This is an 18 yr old kid out there. One thing he has that Dupree did not is the most important thing for an athlete in any sport: WORK ETHIC.Plus I don't think he has to have 150 yds on UT this weekend to prove he is good. Just watch the game & you can form an opinion then. I would be surprised to see him have that many yds, simply b/c I think OU will throw more this weekend. If Peterson stays healthy... that is the key... he will be a guy you will want on your fantasy teams that's all I will say.No, he wouldn't be a good fit in the Nfl rt. now, due to the speed of the game & the learning/blocking curve, but I think he would make a play here & there that would make people go Wow!I agree w/the comparison of Reggie Bush w/the Faulk like recieving abilities, he's a dandy one. But to say SC has 3 backs better than AD (his nickname that means ALL Day) is absurd & they have never seen him perform. Just watch as the season unfolds.... he'll continue to get better, great vision seperates him from others, IMO.
the hairy scotsman
Footballguy
Maybe, MD's laziness is well documented, but he was lazy before the hit, and Switzer still played him what, 15, 16 games? And he dominated...including against a very good Texas defense the previous year. After that hit, he was done.
My point exactly. Remember, people were saying the same things about CB's field sense, strength, and vision before Mike Williams rang his bell. A year and a half later, he finally got it going again.Big game this weekend. We'll see how AD and Cedric do.
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Colin Dowling
Footballguy
If Reyes gets drafted before Brown, I'll eat my own head with a slathering of Cream Cheese.Colin
speaking of Brandon Jacobs, what the hell were he and Terry Jackson (ex-Minnesota RB) thinking? Both of them decide to transfer because they can't get playing time in front of Caddy/Ronnie Brown and Barber/Maroney. So they both transfer to Southern Illinois!?!? Right back to square one.
More Dupree info: Marcus left due to being homesick &transferred to Southern Miss. Later took off for the USFL, had hammy problems, tore up a knee, came back to USFL, got a shot w/the Rams, more hammy problems & torn up knee. But I guess the hit took him outta football & not any injuries or poor work ethic.
EastBayFunk
Footballguy
A player doesn't have to be playing against the best competition in the world in order to show outstanding skills. High school football is a great example of this. Most of the top prospects are out there playing against teams comprised mainly of mediocre athletes with no hope of playing NCAA ball. That doesn't mean that what the top prospects accomplish in high school is meaningless and in no way indicative of future potential.When I watch a RB I can often see whether he has the physical skills needed to play at the next level. It doesn't really matter who's trying to tackle him. What matters more is how he runs.
the hairy scotsman
Footballguy
OK Sooners. This isn't a rivalry thing. I'm just telling you like it is, and the way I've heard several other sooners tell it also. Look, the kid dominated before the hit. Switzer built the offense around him. After the hit from Peavy, he walked off to the wrong sideline and didn't finish the game. He never played a single down for Southern Miss. He basically never did anything else to amount to anything in college or pro football ever again, aside from one decent flurry with the New Orleans Breakers. Sure, he later had knee problems, but I guess it's just mere coincidence that he was a stud right up until the moment of Peavy's hit and then immediately thereafter disappeared ....And Funk, nobody's saying AD CAN'T do it, we're just saying he hasn't done anything against a real team yet. Until then, noone's gonna take any "3rd overall pick" or "sophomore Heisman" talk seriously.
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