Running Back

[foozball]

This class is pretty weak at the RB position, and 2009 will be loaded. We can pick one in the middle rounds this year, and take one next year in the 1st round.

Cory Boyd
Benjarvus Green Ellis

Both are somewhat similar to Ahman Green. Similar size 6' 220lbs give or take and similar speed in the 4.5-4.55 area. Boyd has some serious receiving skills and can catch it out of the backfield with the best of them. He really does remind me of Ahman. Benjarvus is a little tougher runner and isnt a big play threat, but he'd be a solid pickup in the 5-6th rounds.

[1337texansfan]

-Darren McFadden
-Jonathon Stewart
-Allen Patrick
-Felix Jones
-Ray Rice
-Ryan Torain
-Mike Hart
-Steve Slaton

yeah that's a pretty weak RB draft pool there..........

[foozball]

there arent a whole lotta fast backs...and half the guys the guy up there mentioned are juniors. patrick, hart, torain...not 1st rounders. mcfadden and stewart are the only 1st round locks...thats how weak this class is. and plus, these guys arent "slow." they just arent burners. there are very few burners in this class anyways.

[DeclanJr]

I'm with Andre, I want a guy with some speed. Adrian Peterson is doing great this year and has the size/speed combination that makes you drool, but he was a high draft pick. This is something we shouldn't end up having. I have heard sports commentators say that this year's RB class isn't the strongest also. Why not pick a serviceable guy up in the mid to late rounds and really go after a solid running back after next year?

I think our secondary and O-Line needs are just to glaring and that is where we should go in the early rounds.

[jvaldez1984]

if we carry three backs next year like this year it should be...

Green
Taylor
Walker

[DeclanJr]

if we carry three backs next year like this year it should be...

Green
Taylor
Walker

So, you don't think we'll draft one? And you think Green can stay healthy?

[1337texansfan]

there arent a whole lotta fast backs...and half the guys the guy up there mentioned are juniors. patrick, hart, torain...not 1st rounders. mcfadden and stewart are the only 1st round locks...thats how weak this class is. and plus, these guys arent "slow." they just arent burners. there are very few burners in this class anyways.


ray rice is not a 1st rounder?

[foozball]

i dont know that he is. he might not even declare. he's 5'9 195lbs and he runs in the 4.5 area.

here's my reasoning for Cory Boyd. he has size at 6'1 215lbs and he has good hands in the receiving game. he's not going to be a feature back unless he's in the right system, and i don't think we should be looking for a starting RB with green anyways.

next year we'd be with green, boyd, and taylor/gado. then in 2009, when green is in the 3rd year of his 4 year contract, we can draft a guy who has some speed like jamaal charles, felix jones, james davis, brandon ore, ray rice (if he stays), marlon lucky...a bunch of guys.

thats assuming green is on his last legs, which he probably will be. then we'd be with a 1st round RB and Boyd as a the backup and. we could cut green or something, i dunno.

in any case, we aren't going to pick a 1st round RB in 2008. the FS class is just as thin, and has even less depth. Reggie Smith is the 1st round pick in 2008 if he declares, which he probably will because of the lack of talent in this class.

[Ole Miss Texan]

In the 1st round for offense I'd like to see either a RB or a LT.
In the 1st round for defense I'd like to see a FS or a CB. (possibly an OLB)

These, I feel, are our most glaring needs and the potential of having quality players at these positions in the 1st wherever we pick is there.

LT- We are all hoping Spencer comes back 100% and is our franchise LT. A quality LT in both run and pass blocking would really help our team.

RB- Green is only a stop gap but I'm thrilled to have him. A twist of an ankle here or there shows you our non existent depth at RB. Dayne and Gado are both guys I like, but even I will admit its not pretty at all.

Since this thread is about Running Backs I'll expand. I really am not familiar with many of the RB's that may declare...as far as watching them during games. Jonathan Stewart has really impressed me and early indication is he'll go mid first +. Ray Rice is another guy I really want to watch more. Steve Slaton is a popular choice it seems and think he could be an option. The RB from Georgia I saw last weekend (Brown?) I was really impressed with. Apparently he's a 2nd day guy but I thought he was a solid runner with great moves.

I've seen limited amounts of the Nebraska Running backs, and Felix Jones..I want to pay more attention to them too. I see a lot of guys that are interesting and think we'll have plenty of options...especially if we trade down this year!

CB- our #2 spot doesn't look pretty. I really want to give Bennet a chance to earn that spot and think the kid could be it one day. He's not going to come in and dominate this year, but he may down the road...this is why I'm sketchy at cb in the 1st at this point.

FS- yes yes yes. If there is FS available that is darn near BPA I hope we take him. This would help out our cb's sooo much and make Faggins/Bennet look better. A lot of the blown assignements/coverage blamed on faggins is really cc's or hutchins fault.

DL- please not this year although we could be looking for a pass rushing DE.

LB- Willis and Ryans would have been awesome but Okoye is GREAT. If there are not any players in the other positions that grade out to our pick..I would consider a studly OLB. I think we're a lot better at LB depth than in the past but could use a LB thats good in coverage, blitzing, etc.



At the end of the day, we still have a lot of holes to fill, and RB to me is a big one. Will there be a decent guy in the third? maybe...but ray rice, jonathan stewart, and steve slaton are my top RB's as of now- and I will be watching them a lot

[foozball]

anybody watching Boyd on espn? 12 for 50yd and 2 recp for 21 so far

[ReliantTexan]

i dont know that he is. he might not even declare. he's 5'9 195lbs and he runs in the 4.5 area.


.Ever heard of Maurice Jones Drew? MJD is 5'7 204. It would be a problem if he were 6'1 and only weighed 195,but not at 5'9 IMO. And just like Maurice he's stocky.

I heard Rice ran a 4.44 And when I watched him run he looks very fast. If he makes it past the 2nd I will be shocked.

[ReliantTexan]

there arent a whole lotta fast backs...and half the guys the guy up there mentioned are juniors. patrick, hart, torain...not 1st rounders. mcfadden and stewart are the only 1st round locks...thats how weak this class is. and plus, these guys arent "slow." they just arent burners. there are very few burners in this class anyways. Are you saying that Felix Jones,Steve Slaton,and Ray Rice aren't burners? One of the coaches at WV said that Slaton is the fastest player in pads that he's ever seen. This class beat's last year's and next year's by a landslide. Most of these guys are first round talent but because this draft is so deep they won't get in. If any of them were in last year's draft they would have been 1st rounders.

[foozball]

oh they are, but not all of them will declare. ray rice is not a burner. he has above average speed, but he's no burner. mcfadden is a monster. slaton is a burner, and probably the only one worth taking in the 1st round. i never said there werent any burners, i said there are very few in this draft. we'd be better off waiting until 2009 to take a feature back.

felix jones will stay IMO. he's a 2nd rounder if he does come out
jamaal charles
james davis
ray rice (not sure what he's gonna do)
brandon ore
marlon lucky (he's gonna rise...#1 rated RB coming out of HS)
chris wells *
javarris james*
cj spiller *

pair one up with Cory Boyd and we've got a pretty good pair of RB's.

[foozball]

Ever heard of Maurice Jones Drew? MJD is 5'7 204. It would be a problem if he were 6'1 and only weighed 195,but not at 5'9 IMO. And just like Maurice he's stocky.

I heard Rice ran a 4.44 And when I watched him run he looks very fast. If he makes it past the 2nd I will be shocked.

theres a big difference between 195 and 204 when you're that stocky. rice has good vision and he's shifty and elusive, but he doesnt run with the kind of power that jones drew does.

[ReliantTexan]

oh they are, but not all of them will declare. ray rice is not a burner. he has above average speed, but he's no burner. mcfadden is a monster. slaton is a burner, and probably the only one worth taking in the 1st round. i never said there werent any burners, i said there are very few in this draft. we'd be better off waiting until 2009 to take a feature back.

felix jones will stay IMO. he's a 2nd rounder if he does come out
jamaal charles
james davis
ray rice (not sure what he's gonna do)
brandon ore
marlon lucky (he's gonna rise...#1 rated RB coming out of HS)
chris wells *
javarris james*
cj spiller *

pair one up with Cory Boyd and we've got a pretty good pair of RB's.But I don't know if we can wait that long. Our inability to run held us back last year and it looks the same this year. If Jonathan Stewart or Steve Slaton are there when we pick I would take either of them in a heartbeat.

[foozball]

but see, slaton isnt even an everydown back. he's got speed, and he can line up in the slot, but he cant run in between the tackles and he wont get the tough yards. we'd be better off taking reggie smith if both slaton and smith are available. it wouldnt be the best use of our 1st round pick.

and maurice jones drew is 5'7 207lbs, not 5'9 204lbs...now that is a big difference between 5'9 195lbs...not to mention he runs 4.39

[foozball]

not to mention you are seriously underrating cory boyd. kid can play and he's got everydown skills and size. watch him play sometime.

[foozball]

and look at the cap ramifications. do you spend 1st round money on a guy who isnt an everydown back...even when you've got ahman green under contract? and then we'll be scrambling for help in the secondary again because this class is weak in DB's. the depth at RB is far greater than it is at DB.

[ReliantTexan]

and look at the cap ramifications. do you spend 1st round money on a guy who isnt an everydown back...even when you've got ahman green under contract? and then we'll be scrambling for help in the secondary again because this class is weak in DB's. the depth at RB is far greater than it is at DB.If Slaton is higher on their boards,then yes. I believe we should go with BPA. And look at it this way if we take Smith over Slaton then what, are we going to count on Ahman staying healthy or Chris Taylor coming back(and we don't even know if he's anygood in the first place). And then that leaves us right where we started from. With Ron Dayne as our starter.

[foozball]

umm...no...because we can take a RB later in the draft. we cant take a FS later...because there arent any. kubiak has found RB's late in the draft before, he can find one again. CORY BOYD! 6'1 215lbs, 4.55, hands, explosiveness, power...not to mention he plays in the SEC...productive too

[ReliantTexan]

umm...no...because we can take a RB later in the draft. we cant take a FS later...because there arent any. kubiak has found RB's late in the draft before, he can find one again. CORY BOYD! 6'1 215lbs, 4.55, hands, explosiveness, power...not to mention he plays in the SEC...productive tooWe'll have 30 million to spend this offseason. Why not go after Asante Samuels. I wouldn't mind Smith. But if we take him It should be because he's the BPA. And don't make it like finding a late round gem is automatic. I don't know about you but I'm not going to take a chance on it.

[foozball]

because asante samuels isnt a safety, and it's not guaranteed he'd wanna come here either. we have to cover our bases and not assume we can get asante just because we have the money. its not like slaton is gonna start right out of the gate anyways.

[ReliantTexan]

because asante samuels isnt a safety, and it's not guaranteed he'd wanna come here either. we have to cover our bases and not assume we can get asante just because we have the money. its not like slaton is gonna start right out of the gate anyways.And it's not guaranteed that we will even be able to get Boyd in the next draft. So you're saying that we should pass on Slaton or Stewart for Smith because we might be able to get Boyd? It doesn't matter that he's not a safety. the #2 cornerback is as big a need if not bigger than safety. Either way it would help the secondary tremendously. But like you said he still might not want to come here.

Again I don't think Smith would be a bad pick but we shouldn't settle for him when there are better players.

[foozball]

we've got a better chance to get boyd than we do asante. i really dont see the logic in taking a RB who almost every scout thinks is not a primary back when you're afraid of ahman green's injuries. wouldnt you want someone who can be that primary back? cory boyd can do it all. again, watch the guy play.

[foozball]

and what if ahman green is healthy? you're basing your pick because ahman green is hurt right now. if he wasnt hurt, would you still be pushing so hard for slaton? anyways, our run game has been crap, but our secondary has been even worse IMO.

[mister_doodi]

Jamaal Charles fumbles again in the red zone at the 5. That's probably the nail in the coffin for his hopes for being drafted in the first haft of the draft.

[foozball]

i just want the best combo of players that gives us the best chance to win. reggie smith and cory boyd would be better than slaton and whatever FS is left on the board. slaton doesnt come without risk either you know, and FS is a position where a rookie can come in right away. RB is a little different, especially coming from a system like WVU's when you're an undersized RB who has to rely on speed and quickness in a relatively weak defensive conference coming into a league where everyone is fast and strong. i just think smith and boyd would have a bigger impact on winning games.

boyd is a powerful runner with explosiveness who hits the hole very hard. he's got prototypical size and he plays in the toughest defensive conference in america. if he's given a fair shot, i think he's got the chance to really succeed in the NFL. i also think he'll run better than the 4.55 many people think he'll run, which will probably move him into the 3rd round.

[foozball]

haha i love it when a lot of people say kubs gets good rbs in later rds....please point out the guy ON OUR ROSTER that kubs got in ANY DRAFT.....point is we need an immediate impact runnning back...not a frickin project guy....they havent seemed to work for us at all

who said he picked one for the texans? i said he's found RB's late before, he can do it again. boyd probably will be a 3rd rounder anyways, so its not like he doesnt have any talent. he may not be a big name guy, but he's a good one.

[Durant35]

I still say go with Johnathan Stewart in Round 1. No more project RBs. We need help at RB right now. Someone who can step in and start Day 1.

I agree

[DeclanJr]

I think the guy is a freshman, but the running back for OSU looked great yesterday against the Aggies.

I do not even want to consider drafting A&M's running back.

[foozball]

when did he ever find a later rb??? he was an offensive coordinator not a hc or gm...he never made those decisions before.....so again no he doesnt get good rbs...the broncos organization has before....not kubiak...each late rd rb they have gotten so far is no offense worthless

ok fine, if you wanna get technical about things, but he has worked with late round RB's before and he's had success with them before.

stewart is #2 on my big board, so i wouldnt have a problem with taking him, but our secondary is worthless and we better get quintin demps in the 3rd round.

why doesnt anybody else like cory boyd?

[foozball]

but what if ahman is healthy for a full year next year? then stewart will be on the bench, or ahman is sitting on the bench wasting cap space. and we'd still be without a FS. i know RB is more important, but if andre, jacoby, and ahman are all healthy, along with charles spencer, i think FS is our #1 need. boyd has a good combo of speed and power, and he really reminds me of ahman with his skillset. he'd be a good fit here, and we wouldn't have to use a 1st rounder on him.

[chjoak]

I think the guy is a freshman, but the running back for OSU looked great yesterday against the Aggies.

I do not even want to consider drafting A&M's running back.

Are you referring to Lane? I would love for the Texans to draft him as a fullback. Who cares if he is 275 lbs, he has great hands, agility and can block. He would be an amazing fullback in Kubiak's offense.

[Ole Miss Texan]

Are you referring to Lane? I would love for the Texans to draft him as a fullback. Who cares if he is 275 lbs, he has great hands, agility and can block. He would be an amazing fullback in Kubiak's offense.

someone was talking about some scouts thinking he could possibly be a TE in the nfl.

at first my mindset is, thats frickin crazy! stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life!

then the more I thought about it was, holy cow- that would be kinda interesting! other than the fact he would be kinda short.... he's got quick feet and great hands, and is a good blocker. I could see him staying on the line blocking a lot and rolling out cathing the ball some.

somethin to think about. and yes we need a RB, but just as much is a LT that won't get penalties, let the defender sack/hurry schaub, or not create any holes for thr rb's.

[misterpc]

I still say go with Johnathan Stewart in Round 1. No more project RBs. We need help at RB right now. Someone who can step in and start Day 1.

gotta dissagree here. In the first round we should be focusing on DB and OL. The draft is very deep at running back and we should be able to pick up a solid back in the middle rounds, especially considering that is one of Kubiak's specialties. Ahman Green will still be productive next year, we wont need a new feature back until 2009. We need secondary and O-line help immediatly.

[misterpc]

i dont k now college players but i know rb is way more of a need right now....we havent gotten 100 yds once this season on the ground....thats pathetic....we can get someone in fa for secondary comepared to a real good rb

You are blaming the RBs but our poor running game has just as much if not more to do with the OL.

[foozball]

thats why you pick cory boyd in the 3rd...cuz he's not a subpar RB. plenty of RB's are picked later than the 1st, why cant we pick one?

[DeclanJr]

You're right...but in 2008 we will need a legitimate starting-caliber RB to split carries with Ahman Green. Also, if Ahman (God forbid) goes down for the season or misses a good chunk of games in 2008 with an injury we're going to need a 1st Round guy like Stewart to handle the load for us. We can't leave ourselves with a few sub-par RBs to carry the load for us.

Allday, what do you think about the kid from Illinois. They are talking about him on the radio this morning. 5'10" 215lbs and just runs like a gazelle or something like that. You know anything about him? Rashard Mendenhall
19 carries 160 yds and 2 tds against Wisconsin this weekend.

[edo783]

Rashard Mendenhall 19 carries 160 yds and 2 tds against Wisconsin this weekend.

He looked good and has some speed.

[outofhnd]

1 game does not an NFL career make.

You go with Mike Hart. The dude has vision and a downhill Style you look for in the zone blocking.

[Headhunter]

Sorry I posted this in wrong forum earlier, but anyone know anything about this Danny Woodhead kid. He is 5' 9" 200 4.4 speed. He is very quick from what I saw of him on TV. Looks a lot like brian westbrook, hits the hole very hard. He just broke all time NCAA record for rushing yards, but he plays at a DII school. Nebraska admitted that they regretted not giving him a scholarship and only offering him to walk on. Guy could be a late round steal.

[foozball]

mendenhall is just a junior, and will probably stay for his senior year. 5'11 210lbs 4.45-4.5 speed. with all the young talent around him, he's probably primed to stay another year and boost his stock even more and compete for a big 10 title with juice williams going into his junior year.