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Maulers1973

Dark Horse Running Backs for 2017......

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The Blount signing likely wipes out Smallwood as a candidate to emerge, but I'll still pay attention thru camp to see how the depth chart shapes up.

I disagree. his chances to emerge has been lowered, but you need to keep in mind, his skillset is completely different than Blounts is.

 

They may both be RB's but for the most part, they are not in competition with each other. Blount wont be catching many passes and Smallwood wont be taking too many inside runs.

 

I still believe that Smallwood will see the field a fair bit. If he lights it up, his playing time will increase.

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I disagree. his chances to emerge has been lowered, but you need to keep in mind, his skillset is completely different than Blounts is.

 

They may both be RB's but for the most part, they are not in competition with each other. Blount wont be catching many passes and Smallwood wont be taking too many inside runs.

 

I still believe that Smallwood will see the field a fair bit. If he lights it up, his playing time will increase.

 

Yeah, I don't know. If nothing else Blount will be the short yardage and goal line back. We know, barring injury, that Sproles is the 3rd down/pass catching back. So, it becomes increasingly difficult to see Smallwood getting much of a work load in there. It feels like a full scale RBBC, and I don't see how Smallwood could carve out enough carries/touches to even qualify as a RB2.

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Yeah, I don't know. If nothing else Blount will be the short yardage and goal line back. We know, barring injury, that Sproles is the 3rd down/pass catching back. So, it becomes increasingly difficult to see Smallwood getting much of a work load in there. It feels like a full scale RBBC, and I don't see how Smallwood could carve out enough carries/touches to even qualify as a RB2.

Sproles is 33 and will turn 34 before the season begins. he has the same skillset as smallwood.

 

My expectation is that Smallwood will be the pass catching back.

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Don't forget Blount is 30.

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Don't forget Blount is 30.

Yes, he is on the cusp.

 

perhaps this may be the big reason to expect a committee approach.

 

All I can say is I wouldnt be taking Smallwood off the list of potential dark horse breakout type RB candidates.

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Sproles is 33 and will turn 34 before the season begins. he has the same skillset as smallwood.

 

My expectation is that Smallwood will be the pass catching back.

Smallwood needs to work on his pass protection if he wants to be on the field on 3rd down. He was hardly ever on the field last season on 3rd down. Only 12.8% of his rushes came on 3rd down and he had one catch on 3rd down last year.

 

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Smallwood needs to work on his pass protection if he wants to be on the field on 3rd down. He was hardly ever on the field last season on 3rd down. Only 12.8% of his rushes came on 3rd down and he had one catch on 3rd down last year.

 

Plus he got a couple of chances de to injury and kind of sucked. I have him in a dynasty league so I keep close tabs on him.

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Smallwood needs to work on his pass protection if he wants to be on the field on 3rd down. He was hardly ever on the field last season on 3rd down. Only 12.8% of his rushes came on 3rd down and he had one catch on 3rd down last year.

 

it's been a couple of years since I really WATCHED Sproles, but I seem to recall his pass pro wasnt great either. I'm pretty sure that's a factor of his size. As he and Smallwood are both smallish RB's this will likely be an issue for both of these guys.

 

That being said, the general rule is that the more experienced the RB, the better his Blocking and Blitz pickup will be. so it wouldnt surprise me if you told me Sproles is at least passable in pass pro. Maybe the last time I watched him he had a bad game, but I'm just saying the last time I spent any time watching him, he wasnt holding off defenders for very long (if at all)

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How many carries will Gillislee get? Is 200+ out of the question?

 

In NE Blount had 299 in 2016 but only 152 in 2013, 125 in 2014, and 164 in 2015.

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In 2015 he only played in twelve games , so if you divide that out over a sixteen game season he would have had 220 rushes.

 

And in 2014 he played with the Steelers before going back to the Patriots.

 

I think this is a great question, and it's not an easy one to answer.

 

If you truly believe that Gillislee is going to indeed take over and be the rb1 Blount was I would say 200 plus would be a given.

 

I have no reason to think he won't be, but it's the Patriots and they aren't always kind to us ff owners when it comes to the usage of their Rbs.

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Don't discount Blounts success due to great situation in NE. He is old and banged up. I see him as a goalline back until he fades into retirements

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The Blount signing likely wipes out Smallwood as a candidate to emerge, but I'll still pay attention thru camp to see how the depth chart shapes up.

 

Blount is the classic sign a guy until we can draft a guy move. Philly wants to dump Matthews, doesn't trust Smallwood and will ride Sproles/Blount this year before looking to the 2018 draft. Smallwood will be given chances but he's a dynasty flier at best.

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I am loading up on Joe Williams. He is the real deal fellers, and is hungry. He has only Hyde to contend with.....which isn't that scary.

 

Not in a premium situation in SF, but he is my dark-horse pick for this year for FF purposes, as it relates to ADP.

 

In fact, I will throw a bold prediction out there that he outproduces Fournette in 2nd half of season. My 2017 version of 2015 David Johnson.

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I am loading up on Joe Williams. He is the real deal fellers, and is hungry. He has only Hyde to contend with.....which isn't that scary.

 

Not in a premium situation in SF, but he is my dark-horse pick for this year for FF purposes, as it relates to ADP.

 

In fact, I will throw a bold prediction out there that he outproduces Fournette in 2nd half of season. My 2017 version of 2015 David Johnson.

 

Yeah, I like him, but don't get your Williams RB's mixed up on draft day. For crying out loud we got a Williams in Buffalo, GB, SF, and probably some where else! lol

 

I'm still in wait and see mode with Powell.

 

I have moved off Mcafferey. I love his talent, but not his situation.

 

I am cooling on Mixon now too as I don't trust that offensive line at all. Same problem with Cook. If AP couldn't find running lanes then Cook won't either.

 

I'm on the Hunt train in KC and the Perine train in DC.

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I haven't seen Hunt play, but I wasn't very impressed with what I saw of Ware last season. Seems like he could be worth the investment.

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I like Cook in a ppr league, and he's now moving up higher on my list with the news about L Murray.

 

I also agree about Hunt.

 

Ware did indee slow up on his ff points as the season went on, and I think Hunt will be a much better three down Rb.

 

I also like the situation that Perkins is in with the Gmen.

 

I'm starting to move him up my ppr rankings.

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I like Cook in a ppr league, and he's now moving up higher on my list with the news about L Murray.

 

I also agree about Hunt.

 

Ware did indee slow up on his ff points as the season went on, and I think Hunt will be a much better three down Rb.

 

I also like the situation that Perkins is in with the Gmen.

 

I'm starting to move him up my ppr rankings.

A healthy AP averaged 1.8 YPC last year. The line ranked 32nd towards the run. What have the Vikes done to address the line this offseason? If the answer is very little, all Vikes RBs are DND. It's all fun and games until that first game starts and you see the halftime line for Cook scroll across the tv...."Cook...12/18.....".

 

That's a bucket of cold ice water that you can easily avoid.

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Like I said in ppr.

 

He's going to be used in the passing game a lot atleast I think so.

 

I think he will out target another rookie named Mccaffery.

 

And looking at the Vikings Oline roster they have made changes, now that could be a change for the better or not.

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Paul Perkins

 

He reminds me of Christine Michael. Almost too fast for his own good. In open space he'll make people miss. Can't block to save his life though. That isn't one of those talking points where I say a guy can't block because that's the thing to say about a young runningback if you want to sound like you know what you're talking about. I watched him play a few times, and he looks like an old lady trying to swat a fly with her purse when he tries to block. He might be the worst blocking runningback I've ever seen in the NFL.

 

He doesn't have much competition for touches, and he was just announced as the starter. The other runningbacks on the roster are Vereen, Darkwa, and Shaun Doughn. The situation looks pretty sweet except for the fact that the Giants never commit to running the ball let alone commit to giving one guy touches. Now that they added Brandon Marshall and drafted that tightend that can catch to Beckham and Shepard, they may never get out of the that 11 personnel. That should create space for Perkins to catch some passes. I don't think he runs with enough strength to sustain 18 carries a game. Not that he would ever have to since the Giants hate running the ball.

 

One thing you mentioned gives me pause on Perkins, he cannot block anything. One thing to note about Wayne Gallman, as I followed his career being a Clemson fan, he was a devastating blocker at the college level. He truly gave you an advantage on the QB designed runs as an extra blocker. Watch the Watson TD run from the national title game, Gallman takes out two defenders to get Watson to the pylon. He was equally adept at pass blocking in college. As a runner Gallman is nothing special, but the Giants offense isn't built around the RB, it's built around the passing game (Beckham, Marshall, Evan Engram aren't there to provide run support) and if Perkins doesn't block it's going to limit his ability to be on the field. So while he's clearly a better runner than Gallman, if Gallman can block at the NFL level and is serviceable running the ball, Perkins may not see the field as much as his running talent suggests he should.

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A healthy AP averaged 1.8 YPC last year. The line ranked 32nd towards the run. What have the Vikes done to address the line this offseason? If the answer is very little, all Vikes RBs are DND. It's all fun and games until that first game starts and you see the halftime line for Cook scroll across the tv...."Cook...12/18.....".

 

That's a bucket of cold ice water that you can easily avoid.

 

 

Believe or not the FSU o-line was pretty bad last year as well. Cook doesn't need much of a seam to get through. I agree the vikes OL is bad, but I think that even more of a reason Cook will be the primary back. Murray won't be able to get out of the backfield. Cook has the skillset to make the most of a running game with a bad OL.

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I think there is truly a diffrence playing Rb in college and playing Rb in the NFL and running behind a bad Oline.

 

It's more exposed in the NFL.

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One thing you mentioned gives me pause on Perkins, he cannot block anything. One thing to note about Wayne Gallman, as I followed his career being a Clemson fan, he was a devastating blocker at the college level. He truly gave you an advantage on the QB designed runs as an extra blocker. Watch the Watson TD run from the national title game, Gallman takes out two defenders to get Watson to the pylon. He was equally adept at pass blocking in college. As a runner Gallman is nothing special, but the Giants offense isn't built around the RB, it's built around the passing game (Beckham, Marshall, Evan Engram aren't there to provide run support) and if Perkins doesn't block it's going to limit his ability to be on the field. So while he's clearly a better runner than Gallman, if Gallman can block at the NFL level and is serviceable running the ball, Perkins may not see the field as much as his running talent suggests he should.

I thought Gallman was a great back in College. He's a sleeper I hadn't considered.

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I thought Gallman was a great back in College. He's a sleeper I hadn't considered.

He was a great college back, but he's not a burner. He runs with physicality, but he's not a huge power back either. He's a great competitor and will do anything you ask him to, but as far as NFL running backs go, his talent is likely average at best. Not saying he can't be a solid NFL RB, but he's more the "get what the play is blocked to get" type. Not a home run threat. But I do like him as a potential sleeper because I think his blocking may get him on the field early as Perkins has shown no ability at all to perform in that area.

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