Skat is a really fun player to watch. What a baller, but making a living by breaking tackles in the NFL probly isn’t sustainable as a feature back. He’s got a little juice, but I can’t see him ever shaking loose of a RBBC (unless there’s an injury).
Long-term, I think Skat has a chance to make for some nice depth. You’ll always have to watch out for him getting replaced by a more dynamic player, though. I didn’t see Skat as a 1st round rookie talent for that reason. He’s more like a typical mid-late 2nd, IMO.
Imo he’s a very dynamic player, he just doesn’t have breakaway speed. I don’t have “easily replaceable plodder risk” as a major concern
I wouldn't call Skat easily replaceable or a plodder, and he does have a little juice, but he'll be at risk of being replaced (theoretically) every draft. Most all the top RBs are pretty dynamic...or at least more dynamic than Skat. Skateboo is a wrecking ball and has to make his living breaking tackles.
That's really not a sustainable way for feature backs to thrive. Skat is a spot starter, IMO. Next week looks good with Tracy's injury. When Tracy is healthy, it depends on opponent, how the offense is looking, etc. He still can be valuable as a spot starter.
This is just demonstrably wrong though. He was one of the best receiving backs in the class, he was one of the most elusive backs in the class with forcing missed tackles, he not only played all three downs in college but excelled in all game scripts and situations. Hell, he could even pass the ball competently in flickers and trick plays. He's about as dynamic as they come except he doesn't have breakaway speed. Which again, doesn't matter if you can still churn out chunk plays. He had more than a dozen 30+ yard runs in college last year, and 4-5 60+ yard runs. That's all you need to be a starter in the NFL, the ability to turn the field over. Even the fastest backs in the league don't get house calls often because of the way defenses in the league are now built. LBs and safeties are preferred smaller and faster to take away one play scores in favor of giving up smaller gains underneath. Hence why I keep saying, breakaway speed is overrated; it's a nice to have but not a need as the opportunities to use it come maybe 2-3 times an entire season, if that.
Ultimately, as much as I like Cam he needs to prove it on the field which he hasn't done yet. But I don't get people automatically writing off his POTENTIAL to be a feature back in spite of what evidence we DO have clearly showing it's completely within the realm of possibility. Much more so than a number of other backs people ascribe that potential to.
Someone earlier mentioned trying to trade Cam for Henderson which I think is a long shot at best in redraft or dynasty. I don't think many, if any, owner is straight up swapping a guy they drafted in redraft in the 4th/5th for a guy taken in the 8th/9th or later based solely on what we've seen so far. Even less of a shot in dynasty, again because of initial investment and an incredibly small sample size. But looking at that small sample size, so far Cam has shown in a game and a half more of being a feature back than Henderson has. That's just the reality of the tape. Again, I think I've been the biggest Cam guy around since February; but even I figured he wouldn't be getting work till late this season. So what he's done so far on a garbage team behind a garbage line in spite of poor draft capital, missing camp, and being behind an entrenched starter who performed great last year should be noted by anyone who wants to win in fantasy. Feels wild this even has to be a debate tbh, especially jumping from this thread to one like JCMs lol.
