Though the draft isn't here yet, it's still good to know which teams need to upgrade their ground game and which backs need to hope for a decent miracle on Draft Day.
Here are six backs who can make it happen for any team...
Darren McFadden, Arkansas: Twice so close. Twice the runner up. Deja vu could happen on draft day.
Strengths: Acceleration and Durability
Not since LT No. 2 has a running back gotten so much hype and for all the right reasons. Darren McFadden is a naturally aggressive runner and has enough break neck speed to make things happen on the field for any team. Denver could be foaming at the mouth at the possibility of having D-Mac in their backfield. Shanahan's greatest achievement is not winning the Super Bowl twice, but producing strong, great running backs. Expect the Broncos to trade up for a shot at McFadden, but even if they don't get him, they could land his partner in crime, Felix Jones.
Weakness: Tackle Friendly
Simply put, with all the speed and agility that McFadden has, he can be stopped and stopped hard. He is not as elusive as some scouts would have liked, but he is still a damn good guy to have on your team. He can make things happen no matter where he is on the field. If he can be a little quicker on his cuts and jukes, he can make things happen a lot sooner for the offense.
Spotlight Teams: Miami, Atlanta, Oakland, Denver, Houston, NY Jets, Buffalo, Seattle
Felix Jones, Arkansas: The Robin to Arkansas' Batman. Sidekick ready to go solo.
Strengths: Durability and Elusiveness
What McFadden lacks in elusiveness, Jones more than makes up for. Despite McFadden getting all the hype, Mr. Jones has made teams pay for ignoring him and not giving enough respect to the Wild Hog offense. While teams focused on his partner, he was sprinting towards the end zone. A possible late first rounder, Jones would fit in well with Gary Kubiak's Texans offense.
Weakness: Invisibility
Though he made a lot of noise on the field this season, he was still considered an enigma because he was being looked at as a third and short kind of back. But because Jones wasn't used as much as McFadden last season, he may not get picked as high as he hopes.
Spotlight Teams: Houston, Kansas City, Denver, Detroit, Chicago, Arizona
Mike Hart, Michigan: No longer silent, but still just as deadly.
Strengths: Elusiveness and Second Gear
At full strength, Mike Hart is truly the excellence of execution in the Michigan offense. He practically made sure that the Wolverines didn't lose another game, and despite the way their season opened, Hart and his fellow seniors made sure that went out with a bang. What better way than running up, over, and around the defending national champions? Has a great second gear and makes a great receiving running back.
Weakness
12 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Anonymous about 1 year ago
How is it that Oakland who just committed itself to resigning Justin Fargas, and Marshawn Lynch,
who the Bills' new offensive coordinator announced would be used as an every-down back in 2008, have a ticket to the McFadden sweepstakes while Dallas does not even though the Cowboys can dangle the carrot
of two first-round picks, a selection later in the draft, and a player in front of Parcells who wants to get out
of the first spot?
More remarkably, how did Rashard Mendenhall and Jonathan Stewart miss the cut on this short list
while Mike Hart, Mike Forte, and Tony Temple are considered players that will be taken in the
first-round?
--Baffled in New York
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Ron Johnson about 1 year ago
Dear Baffled,
Beginning to wonder where your mindset truly is. Fargas is not a guaranteed ground threat. Otherwise, the Raiders would have had better rushing numbers last season than they had. Secondly, Marshawn Lynch could always use a little backup. However, Dallas, has a sure thing in Marion Barber, and could use more help on the line than in the backfield. Parcells needs that first pick to land McFadden simply because he has to rebuild an entire organization.
Stewart may be a good runner, but with Dixon at qb, no one had a chance to actually see that. As for as mendenhall goes, I only did six that I felt needed some recognition. Plus, these two are underclassmen, and I wanted to give the seniors their due. If you have an issue with giving respect to the upperclassmen, then you write about Mendenhall and Stewart. and I bet I'm not the only one who didn't put them in the columns about backs in the draft. Everyone changes their top numbers once they have the information.
Finally, if you ever write another Dear Abby comment to me, I'm going to throw up on you.
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Hunter Stewart about 1 year ago
Where are Jonathan Stewart and Rashard Mendenhall the backs that are actually going to go in the first round?
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Ben Harris about 1 year ago
Forset and Forte over Jonathan Stewart. Not to mention Rashard Mendelhall. I have to disagree with you on this one dog.
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Joe Willett about 1 year ago
rashard mendelhall is being called by many the 2nd best running back in the draft behind mcphadden, he definetly deserves to be on this list
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Wade Peery about 1 year ago
I can't believe anyone would ever call a running back like Darren McFadden "tackle-friendly". That's one of the most ludacris statements I've ever read. If anything, he's the exact opposite. I mean the guy was two-time Heisman Trophy runner up. Clearly, he's anything but tackle friendly. One of the most prolific rushers in Arkansas and SEC history. Ridiculous statement.
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Sam Kim about 1 year ago
I can understand why McFadden is "tackle-friendly." Remove the SEC glasses for a second, ignore the stat sheet, and simply watch his game tape. There are backs who look for contact and backs who shy away from contact. Despite his gamebreaking ability, McFadden is the latter kind.
He has great speed, great acceleration and an excellent cutback ability - fit perfectly with that Arkansas offense. With his buddy Felix Jones, the two of them used misdirection and their innate ability as north-south runners to put up some big numbers.
But if you watch his highlights, McFadden doesn't break tackles. He doesn't bull opponents over and keep running. He's not a power back. Ehen he makes contact with a defender, McFadden doesn't churn his legs for extra yards.
There's a reason for this and no one will like it: McFadden doesn't have great lower body strength. Hear me out: you ever seen a picture of him just standing around? Two things will stand out at you: his legs are very long and his legs are very skinny. Means he gets excellent speed, but it also means it's difficult to put much power into it. His center of balance is relatively high off the ground. Compare him to Ray Rice, the power back from Rutgers. Small guy, but with short, thick legs, and a low center of gravity that allows him to push the pile. Rice is the anti-McFadden - he looks for contact, he excels at breaking tackles, but he lacks speed and elusiveness.
At Arkansas, D-Mac wasn't asked much for power dives up the middle - that was Peyton Hillis' job. The focus was to get him into open space to the outside, which was where he excelled. Mike Mayock made waved recently when he ranked McFadden the #2 RB, behind Rashard Mendenhall, but his video analysis at NFL.com is excellent.
Honestly, I feel that McFadden is more than a little overhyped. Compare his running style of Adrian Peterson, who represents the complete package - AP is fast, elusive, but also has a mean streak and can power through tacklers as well as juke them out. McFadden played in offense that supported his somewhat one-dimensional run-style. But the guy's gotta learn to lower his shoulder and bull his way through sometimes. Otherwise, he'll end up just being a tall scatback.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
^It's "ludicrous". Ludacris is a rapper...
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Rahard mendenhall should replace tony temple on this list, and mcfadden is great but sam is right...he is still the best back in the draft class
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Richard Bowler about 1 year ago
I do agree that Mendenhall and Stewart should be included + a few others but I do like the inclusion of Forte and Forsett. I mean Slaton, Choice and Johnson at the very least should be in the conversation.
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Roger Gowens about 1 year ago
Not a bad article, but Mcfadden and Felix Jones were JUNIORS and FJ is about 5'11 205, and has never been a "third and short" back. I didn't get the TE comment either, maybe you were thinking of Peyton Hillis?
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Cory Cannon about 1 year ago
RB 's are VERY strong in this years draft !!!
There will be backs taken in the 3rd and 4th round that might make a impact right away.
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