Mike Freeman's 10-Point Stance: Is This Draft Prospect NFL's Next 'Beast Mode'?
1. "Marshawn Gordon"
If there was one thing I heard repeatedly from scouts I trust while covering the NFL Scouting Combine, it was this: The player who isn't a quarterback who can transform an offense, almost overnight, is Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon.
I know. Weird, right?
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A running back in a throwing league may be the key to this draft? Sounds crazy, but that's what I was told over and over.
It sounded like a smokescreen to me—more combine B.S. But the reasoning I was hearing makes total sense, and it comes down to a simple truism about the NFL: It's a copycat league.
Two teams recently have been making the rest take notice: Dallas and Seattle. Especially Seattle. What I can tell you is teams that don't necessarily need to rebuild are looking for the next Marshawn Lynch.
No, not that Marshawn Lynch. This Marshawn Lynch.
Teams are also looking for the next DeMarco Murray. You get the point.
Just a short time ago, and by short time I mean practically yesterday, the running back position was declared deader than Richard Nixon. Lynch changed that. Sure, the Seahawks have been a mixture of excellent quarterback play and almost historic defensive play, but it is Lynch who was the key.
Again, it's a copycat league. The NFL also noticed how Murray made Tony Romo better.
Scouts who I spoke to at the combine believe that Gordon can be a clone of Lynch. One scout jokingly called Gordon "Marshawn Gordon."
Comparisons like these are always dangerous. Someone is always the next someone, and most of the time that someone is really the next someone else. Lynch is special, and that means he is, well, special. There are not many like him.
What teams do look for is a player to have a chance. Gordon rushed for 2,587 yards last year. He finished just 41 yards short of Barry Sanders, who set a record in 1988 when he rushed for 2,628 yards. Teams slobber over this kind of production.
(I also spoke to teams about how Gordon isn't necessarily the best pass blocker, and one general manager literally laughed when I asked the question. Meaning, teams can live with that if Gordon gives them 125 yards a game and a score—which he is fully capable of doing on the next level.)
This is not to say that Gordon will have a Lynch running style. Few people do. I'm saying teams view Gordon as a guy who can give depth to an offense like Lynch. Or Murray. Or Justin Forsett.
Gordon is tough, athletic, fast and big. He was timed at 4.52 in his combine 40 and finished in the top 15 in every significant combine category at his position. All of that is well and good, but that production is what has drawn teams and will likely make Gordon a first-round pick. No running back has been taken in the first round in two years. Before those two years, a back was taken in the first round every year since the 1970 merger.
This year, we will see backs taken high, because other teams want to try and duplicate the Seahawks' success on the ground.
Some will look to Marshawn Gordon.
2. Gurley more of an unknown commodity
If Todd Gurley hadn't shred his ACL, he'd be ranked ahead of Gordon. And to some teams, he still is, but I'm being told by scouts that the ACL tear is scaring people more than is generally known.
Now, some of this is surely misdirection. Some of it, however, is not. Torn ACLs scare the hell out of teams, and torn ACLs on running backs absolutely terrify them. No matter how common they are now, no matter how easily they get cleaned up, no matter how often backs come back from them, I can tell you that Gurley's injury scares some teams.
3. Last thing on RBs
Another name that was constantly mentioned to me at the combine was Miami's Duke Johnson. He's 5'9" and weighs 207 pounds, and some teams wonder if his frame can take an NFL beating. Not the personnel men I speak to. Said one: "He might be the kind of guy that five years from now, teams look at and go, 'How in the hell did we pass on that guy?'"
4. Winston the next Deion?
Jameis Winston is being circumspect about the possibility of being a two-sport star in the pros. Smart move on his part. If there is one person who can be the next Deion Sanders, it's Winston. He's an immensely talented baseball player, and there's no question MLB teams wouldn't take issue with him playing both sports. NFL teams? No way. They'd hate it.
I have a feeling Winston will try to test those waters. A strong feeling.
5. L.A. Football
Most NFL sources I speak to expect the Chargers to win the Hunger Games-like battle between various NFL organizations to move to Los Angeles. I don't even think it's close, actually. If the Chargers seriously want to move to L.A., that team is the front-runner. Period.
6. Very Brownsian
The new Browns logo is, well, wait…hold on…that's all? A brighter shade of orange? That's what the Browns' study of the situation suggested? How much did that cost? Because I would have done it for free.
The main thing about the Browns' logo revamp is that it shows a weakness in the team's mindset. I used to believe this management team was a good one. Boy, was I wrong.
A team shouldn't care so much about its external image until it gets its internal act together.
Don't worry about lighter shades of orange when your general manager is texting coordinators what plays to call. Don't worry about logos when your top draft pick can't play a lick and your other first-rounder is in rehab. Just worry about getting the football right.
7. Only in America
Unbelievable. Actually, not that unbelievable. Marshawn Lynch is a smart guy, far more intelligent than he's often portrayed, or even how he portrays himself. If he sells a T-shirt with that moniker on it, I'll buy it. So will many others.
8. What do people expect Michael Sam to do?
So, Michael Sam will appear on Dancing with the Stars. Good for him. The NFL, mostly because of straight up bigotry, has shunned him. Sam played the game a long time. He was a good citizen, stayed out of the media, did everything the NFL wanted, and still they shunned him. So what's he supposed to do? Just sit at home and do nothing?
Again, good for him.
9. Deflategate investigation wrapping up?
That's what I'm hearing. Ted Wells will be done soon.
Only a handful of people know what Wells has been discovering in the case of the alleged deflated footballs. But we'll also find out soon.
10. Adrian Peterson's gall
As Adrian Peterson continues to express his anger at the Vikings—or his agent does—he needs to remember one thing. Just one.
Peterson is a child abuser. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor reckless assault. He did this to a 4-year-old child. Please remember that, Adrian. Please.
Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report.
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