Okay. First off I'm not a scout i have a degree in internet warrior. I woke up with Kaleb ranked over Quinshon. I've watched a bunch of tape. Did some reading. I now have Quinshon over Kaleb. He is a little faster and at least tested as a bit better of an athlete. Outside of that my takeway on film tipped the scale. Quinshon seems to run a little more compact which suits the speed of the nfl a little better. His shorter stride in traffic just looks smoother to me. All my opinion of course and reserve the right to swap them again based on discussion .
I'll post in Quinshon thread for discussion also.
I'll add to this discussion because it was heavy on mind a few weeks ago.
Before the combine I had Kaleb ranked as the #3 RB, even after his slew of poor testing results I only moved him down to RB4. Always over Judkins. I drafted Kaleb in one rookie draft as RB6 and went super heavy on him the early redrafts I did before the NFL draft so I'm very invested in him. When I drafted him before the NFL draft I knew he'd likely fare better in a wide zone scheme but also knew the teams that run this system frequently for the most part had no RB need. Chicago and Pittsburgh seemed like the two major candidates to me that ran this scheme heavily, and had a path to getting on the field early and as such they were the two teams I was hoping he'd get drafted.
I had 3 different rookie drafts where I was OTC and facing a Judkins vs Kaleb debate. I straight shot Judkins in all 3, which required me to go against my predraft ranking even after Kaleb landed in an ideal spot for his style.
In the end for me when Kaleb and Judkins got drafted was more important to me then where. Is that wrong?
Judkins at pick 36 is premium draft zone for a RB, obviously 4 picks from round one. Non-health realted bust rates are pretty low for RB's drafted in this range. It signals commitment. Kaleb meanwhile got the other end of that stick and that's not much concern for me for redraft but the lack of commitment for dynasty does worry me a little. And I want to say I know that how he performs will ultimately decide their commitment to him but just the same right now it's not a lot and I've experienced so many RB's who teams don't have a big commitment just get their value crushed by a FA signing or draft pick.
I was talking to someone a few days ago and said I could make some excuses as to why Kaleb lasted a little late in the draft but would have been nice to see the Steelers show a little urgency. You know like trade up a few spots since everyone in the league knew they had a RB need and he was a perfect fit. Instead I came across some news that had me even a little more uneasy about his draft capital/commitment when I read the Steelers offered the Jags that pick and were willing to move into round 4. This is especially signficant as an indicator they were perfectly fine risking losing Kaleb because the Giants pick was one ahead of the pick the Steelers would have got. This matters because the Giants just hired Ladell Betts to be their RB coach this off-season. Ladell Betts job the previous few seasons? He's been Iowa's RB coach the duration of Kalebs career. The Giants as we know did go RB in that spot but Steelers had to think if they move back they likely lose Kaleb and they seemed perfectly ok with it.
Last thing is one of the leagues I went Judkins over Kaleb I share the team with someone. They asked me if I was concerned about Sampson on Judkins. I said just a little, but the difference in draft capital and Judkins being like over 20 pounds heavier suggests different styles and for me I was more worried about Sampson ultimately lowering his upside by making it a RBBC, like Chubb/Hunt, but not usurping him. What I added to that to my partner was that if you are concerned about a 4th round RB the Steelers have 3 thirds, 2 4ths and 2 5ths next year and even in a weaker RB class there are always good RB's available and they did no show a whole lot of urgency in drafting this one.
