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Courtesy of NFL Spot
This year’s Running Back class is very strong, and it’s only going to improve at the Combine. With the likes of Adrian Peterson of Oklahoma and Marshawn Lynch of California deciding to participate in events, we should have a nice battle for the first Running Back of the board. But, these two are already so high up on most people boards (specifically mine, both top ten prospects) that they can’t rise too much more. So, I think a guy who is going to boost his stock the most will be Ramonce Taylor formerly of Texas. Ramonce did well while at Texas, but then he got kicked off the team. Ramonce showed up at the Texas vs. the Nation All-Star Game though and had a great week of practice. He showed up in excellent shape and showed great athletic ability and elusiveness. I expect Ramonce to show up once again in great shape and put up excellent numbers. A few others I expect to help themselves are Lorenzo Booker of Florida State, Adrian Peterson of Oklahoma, Marshawn Lynch of California, Kenny Irons of Auburn, and Chris Henry of Arizona. Lorenzo Booker is a very quick and elusive player who is going to shine at the combine. I expect him to be the fastest Running Back there and to just tear up the place. Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch are both going to put up excellent numbers in every testing and look good in the on the field drills. I expect Lynch to do slightly better though because he is a better receiver then AP. Both should solidify themselves as top ten picks. Kenny Irons I think will look good as well. Kenny is a very elusive back with good quickness and it should be on display at Indy. Though Chris Henry doesn’t have much to show for his college career, he is an expected to be a workout freak. Henry is a very big and strong running back with surprising quickness. If he wants to get drafted, he’ll have to put on the show most are expecting. Now, with your people that help themselves there are always those that hurt themselves. I believe Kenneth Darby of Alabama will hurt himself the most. Darby isn’t the fastest, biggest, or strongest guy and none of that mixes well when it comes to testing at the Combine. A few others names I expect to fall are Ronnie McGill of North Carolina, Dwayne Wright of Fresno State, and Danny Ware of Georgia. All of these guys are strong and should put up good numbers on the bench, but they all lack speed, specifically McGill and Wright. Wright is an excellent player on the field and a bruising Running Back, but the Combine is going to hurt him a lot unless he has drastically improved his forty. McGill and Ware are in the same boat. Hopefully teams will be able to look past Wright’s combine numbers because he is an excellent on field performer and has good potential. The group of Running Backs is very good and the best player not going is Justin Vincent of LSU in my opinion. Missing on Vincent is fine seeing as he wouldn’t have impressed anybody at the combine anyways. It should be a very good group that will turn a lot of heads. Adrian Peterson will likely walk out as the number one Running Back, but Marshawn Lynch is certainly going to give him a run for his money. |
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