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Showing posts from February, 2019

Prospect Profile: Trayveon Williams

TRAYVEON WILLIAMS -- RB, TEXAS A&M Todd Kirkland, Associated Press Physical Measurables & Athletic Profile Trayveon Williams did well for himself to measure in at the Combine at just over 5'8 and 206 pounds -- he'll never be a big back, but getting over that 3.00 pounds per inch threshold is important for his potential workload in the NFL. Of the 90 players in our database with at least one RB2-quality or better season on their resume, only 21 of them have been sub-210 pound backs with less than 3.00 pounds per inch on their frames. Williams is relatively light, but his dense, compact frame makes him more comparable to a Ray Rice or a Devonta Freeman than he is to a Bilal Powell. Williams is an energetic runner on tape and I expected him to test as one of the better athletes in this year's RB class. That wasn't the case. His 4.51 40-time was fine, but his performance in the jumping drills resulted in a 38th-percentile Burst Score, and while

Prospect Profile: Miles Sanders

MILES SANDERS -- RB, PENN STATE Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com Physical Measurables & Athletic Profile Miles Sanders profiles as one of the few three-down backs in the 2019 class. At 211 pounds and just under 5'11, his body-type is pretty much exactly that of the average RB drafted since 2007 (70.8 inches and 213.9 pounds). That's not to say he's the ideal  size (the Gurleys and Barkleys and Bells are mostly 6 foot, 225-pound guys), but his body is not at all a concern for his potential to handle a lead back workload in the NFL (RBs with pounds per inch ratios between 3.00 and 3.05 carry the ball an average of 21.8 times more per 16 games than the average drafted RB -- Sanders is just below that mark at 2.99, the same ratio as guys like Matt Forte and Joe Mixon). Athletically, Sanders tested very well at the Combine, showing at least 75th-percentile ability in straight-line speed, explosiveness, and agility. I expected him to test well in the a

Prospect Profile: Devin Singletary

DEVIN SINGLETARY -- RB, FLORIDA ATLANTIC Source of photo unknown Physical Measurables & Athletic Profile Everybody used to love Devin Singletary. Film grinders drooled over his phone booth jukes and tough, refuse-to-go-down running style, while the spreadsheet warriors had to fan themselves to keep from passing out upon plugging his career numbers at FAU into their production models. Admittedly, it was hard to not like the guy. He's fun to watch, he was very productive in college, and he's got a corny nickname (they call him Motor). It pained me that even before we had athletic testing numbers, intellectual honesty dictated that I be a bit of a party pooper when it came to Singletary. Devin Singletary did well for himself at the Combine to come in standing under 5'8 and weighing over 200 pounds. That's pretty small for a pro RB, of course, but his carrying more than 3.00 pounds per inch on his frame is important for his ability to handle a large

Prospect Profile: Benny Snell Jr.

BENNY SNELL JR. -- RB, KENTUCKY Andy Lyons/Getty Images Physical Measurables & Athletic Profile Benny Snell is the type of RB that would've gone top-10 in the NFL Draft 35 years ago. A 5'10, 220 pound, three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust thumper that ripped through SEC defenses for three years like Snell is just the kind of runner that really gets those old school football guys going. Even today, the backs with the highest-volume workloads are guys that look like Benny Snell: of players drafted since 2007, 47.8% of RBs receiving 15 or more carries per game for their careers weigh at least 220 pounds while carrying at least 3.10 pounds per inch on their frames, and on average, RBs weighing between 220 and 230 pounds carry the ball 19 more times per 16 games than the average RB. Benny Snell's physical profile is one of a high-volume runner in the NFL.  Snell's athletic profile is not impressive. According to playerprofiler.com , Snell's best athlet

Prospect Profile: Devine Ozigbo

DEVINE OZIGBO -- RB, NEBRASKA AP Photo/Nati Harnik Physical Measurables & Athletic Profile Devine Ozigbo is one of only a couple class of 2019 RBs with a legitimate all-purpose skillset and prototype NFL size to match it. Measuring in at his pro day at almost 6' and 222 pounds, Ozigbo is a strongly-built runner with thick, powerful legs. He fits just about perfectly into the physical mold of an NFL workhorse, the 6', 220+ pound runner who carries the ball 15+ times a game; of the 23 players drafted since 2007 who've averaged that kind of workload in their career, 11 of them weigh over 220 pounds and another 8 weigh at least 215. Ozigbo is what a bellcow NFL RB looks like.  Ozigbo's not being invited to the NFL Combine will likely hurt his draft stock, but he did impress at his pro day. An adjusted 40 time of 4.59 doesn't show elite speed, but it's certainly fast enough to play at a high level in the NFL, especially when considered next

Prospect Profile: David Montgomery

DAVID MONTGOMERY -- RB, IOWA STATE David Dermer/USA TODAY Sports Physical Measurables & Athletic Profile While there aren't a lot of legitimate RB talents in this draft who fit the Todd Gurley/David Johnson/Ezekiel Elliott body-type mold of 6', 225 lbs., David Montgomery is about as close at it gets, a slightly stockier archetype but a guy who is still built to handle a full, workhorse share of his team's backfield touches. Like Alfred Morris, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Frank Gore, Montgomery is a strong-looking, compactly-built runner whose build should allow him to slot right in as the main ballcarrier in an NFL offense. Of the 23 RBs drafted in the last 10 years who've averaged at least 15 carries per game for their careers, 19 of them weighed at least 215 pounds, and all but five of them carried at least 3.00 pounds per inch on their frames -- at 5'10, 222, Montgomery is built like an NFL workhorse.  Athletically, Montgomery is fairly ave

Prospect Profile: Darrell Henderson

DARRELL HENDERSON -- RB, MEMPHIS  Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune Physical Measurables & Athletic Profile Before the Combine, I wrote that Darrell Henderson would need to add 5-10 pounds to his 5'9, 200 pound frame in order to profile as a lead runner in the NFL, and then he did just that, coming in at 208 pounds and just over 5'8. That denser build is huge for his potential role: instead of looking like Ronnie Hillman or Austin Ekeler, he resembles pro workhorses like Ray Rice and Devonta Freeman. In addition to opening Henderson up to better comps, his Combine size makes him statistically more likely to receive a sizable workload in the NFL: players in his pounds per inch range (3.03-3.05) carry the ball an average of 35 more times per 16 games than players in the pounds per inch range he was previously thought to be in (2.89-2.91).  Athletically, Henderson was a bit of a disappointment to me at the Combine. His performance on the ben