Here’s the second story of our position-by-position NFL draft series. Today, we’ll look at the top running backs.
In the modern pass-happy NFL, the position of running back has become devalued in the draft.
Only two running backs were selected in the first round of the 2021 draft, and the last running back selected in the top 10 was Saquon Barkley at No. 2 in 2018. It’s likely that a running back will not be selected in the first round of this year’s draft, set for April 28-30 in Las Vegas.
Michigan State’s Kenneth Walker III is considered one of the top running backs in the draft. Last season’s winner of the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top college running back, Walker had 1,636 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2021, but there’s still many questions as he prepares for the next level.
“He doesn’t come with a lot of receptions,” said SiriusXM NFL radio analyst Jim Miller, a former NFL quarterback. “I don’t think he’s proven that he’s a three-down back and that you’re going to rely on him to catch the ball out of the backfield with the amount of receptions some of these other backs come to the table with.”
Iowa State’s Breece Hall and Texas A&M’s Isaiah Spiller are also top running back prospects, with Hall finishing his college career with 3,941 rushing yards and 50 TDs and six TD receptions on 82 catches.
Spiller rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of the past two seasons and caught at least 20 passes in each of his three seasons with the Aggies.
Former Georgia running back Zamir White and teammate James Cook should also hear their names called at some point during the three-day draft. White led the national champion Bulldogs with 856 yards and is a downhill, one-cut runner who believes he’s elusive enough to make some tacklers miss.
White said he patterns his game after former Georgia running back Nick Chubb and Leonard Fournette.
Cook is more of a glider capable of making big plays. The younger brother of Pro Bowl running back Dalvin Cook of the Minnesota Vikings, Cook had big plays in Georgia’s final two games of the 2021 season: the Orange Bowl win over Michigan and the national championship win over Alabama.
“He’s a third-down back who can also play on the early downs,” SiriusXM NFL Radio’s Pat Kirwan said. “He’s no slouch.”
Running back Brian Robinson was a late bloomer for Alabama, becoming the starter last season. He finished tied for 10th in program history for career rushing touchdowns with 29 and rushed for 2,704 yards in his career to finish 11th all time in Alabama history.
“I think Brian Robinson, like Mac Jones was last year, is a great example of a guy who kept his head down and kept working,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said at the school’s Pro Day in March. “He showed great resiliency and perseverance to continue to work on trying to improve, whether it was his speed, his knowledge of the game, his hands, whatever it was to make himself a better player to where he had a great year. This year he was very productive.”
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
AJC’S 2022 POSITION-BY-POSITION SERIES
WIDE RECEIVERS – Falcons need to upgrade weapons | Top 10 WRs
RUNNING BACKS – Position has become devalued in draft | Top 10 RBs
TIGHT ENDS – Friday
OFFENSIVE LINE – Saturday
QUARTERBACKS – Sunday
DEFENSIVE LINE – Monday
LINEBACKERS – Tuesday
CORNERBACKS – Wednesday, April 20
SAFETIES – Thursday, April 21
SPECIAL TEAMS – Friday, April 22
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