I drafted the guy in several dyansty leagues last year but...
1st of all, Blount is 24 and a rookie...he was held back in multiple grades it would seem growing up and he has a tendency to lose his cool. I don't think he's the sharpest tool in the shed and I doubt his wonderlic was real high. Brains don't matter you say? Perhaps in some systems but I think it does matter in remembering plays called, what holes to hit, and picking up the pass rush.
This is just bad, MOP. Normally, I find your posts very informative and enlightening, but this is just weak. Blount just turned 24 in December. He played 2 years in JC, and he was at Oregon for 2 years. If he was 23 when he left Oregon, that means he was 19 when he graduated HS. Perhaps he was held back 1 year for grades/behavior, or perhaps his parents started him a year late so he'd be the oldest/biggest kid in his grade, rather than the youngest/smallest. As for the Wonderlic, a simple search would show that he scored a 16. For the record, the ability to do well on the Wonderlic is (IMO) not a good indicator of NFL ability/talent, especially not at the RB position. Look at E. Smith's attempts at TV commentary. The man could barely put together a coherent sentence, but he was a great RB. For the record, a quick search shows that Blount's score isn't all that bad compared to some other top RBs; Chris Johnson took it twice and scored 10/25, Arian Foster took it twice and scored 19/25, Peyton Hillis 17.
2nd...he might have run thru a lot of tackles and looked like Edwin Moses on the field last week but how often is he going to hurdle guys like that? And his stats are not studly. When he was the starter he avg roughly 20/80/.5TD per week and offers nothing in the receiving dept. He had 164 against Seattle week 16 and the Seadogs are wretched on the road over the last 3-4 years, and Freeman threw 5 touchdowns which kind of takes the pressure of the running game.
I guess it depends on what you call a stud. 20 carries/80 yards/.5 TD a week adds up to 320 carries, 1280 yards, and 8 TDs. While I wouldn't call that a stud, I would be real happy with those numbers from my #2 RB. I also believe that there is room for improvement. Blount wasn't great in short-yardage situations this year, and that (IMO) is in large part for him trying to wait for the hole to open. In short-yardage/goal-line situations, the RB often needs to slam into the line and get that 1-2 yards. Blount's size and frame will make that possible; it's just a habit he will have to learn in those situations. If nothing changes, Blount is a Rudi Johnson-type RB. He'll put up (FF) RB2 numbers with occasional big weeks and occasional poor weeks. If he becomes a little more involved in the passing game, he could be a Corey Dillon-like RB, and if he gets a little more successful at the goal-line, he could be a Michael-Turner like RB. I wouldn't be unhappy with any of those scenarios, if he's my #2 RB.
3rd...Tampa Bay is improving and while Blount is a nice story they likely are not going to put all their eggs in one basket with him, no franchise will right now. He has a long way to go to prove he can handle being the guy and not losing his temper. It's a nice story but look for Cadillac to be gone and the Bucs to find another back in the draft or thru FA to bring in and help. Huggins and Blount were undrafted to my knowledge and the Bucs have nothing invested in them so don't assume you are looking at the feature back in Tampa for the next 5 years for either of them. Even if the two of them are a combo of some sort, Blount is zero impact in the passing game and therefore you have a 1 dimensional back. Don't even bring up Turner because they are not the same backs. Very few 1 dimensional backs are worthy of a 1st or 2nd round pick.
This remains to be seen. This off-season will tell a lot. Assuming that the NFL and NFLPA comes to an agreement on a CBA, that is. If Blount is serious this off-season, attends workouts, studies the playbook, attends OTAs, mini-camps, etc, I don't see why TB would draft another RB. They have Huggins, and they could retain Williams if they wanted to. It doesn't matter that you don't think Blount is the answer, because he has shown tremendous ability and hasn't gotten into any trouble this year since he's been in TB. Even if he is only a 2-down back, as mentioned before, his 20/80/.5 game averages make for a nice RB2, and if he improves on the TD total, he could be a borderline #1RB.
