RB Watch List | Page 3 | 49ers Webzone Forum

jreff22 · 2017-09-04T14:49:46-07:00

Depending on the play of Hyde and his contract demands...and how Williams fixes whatever he's having issues with, chances are good we go back to RB again next year. Derrius Guice | RB | LSU | Junior Guice was more impressive than Leonard Fournette in 2016. It was obvious. Even in 2015, when Fournette was 100 percent healthy, Guice, then a freshman, had his fair share of eye-popping runs when he averaged 8.5 yards per carry on 51 rushes. At 5-foot-11 and 222 pounds, Guice packs plenty of power yet has sudden agility, elite vision, and deceptive breakaway speed to round out his complete game. Saquon Barkley | RB | Penn State | Junior Guice and Barkley will have a tremendous battle to take the crown as the nation's top running back in 2017. Barkley has averaged 5.7 yards per carry on his 454 rushes in his two season at Penn State, and he's scored 25 touchdowns on the ground. He's 5-foot-11 and 223 pounds and runs with a balance, low center of gravity, and the ability to make a cut on a dime. In the open field, he's dangerously elusive with keen vision, and he possesses good long speed. Barkley has "NFL feature back" written all over him. Royce Freeman | RB | Oregon | Senior With Oregon's down 2016 and myriad running backs piecing together fine seasons, Freeman was overlooked last year. After totaling 3,100 total rushing yards in his first two seasons for the Ducks, his workload was scaled back, and he played in 11 games, rushing for 945 yards on 168 carries with nine touchdowns. Freeman has a style reminiscent of former Oregon star Jonathan Stewart. He has a big but compact frame and consistently shows off impressive change-of-direction skills and vision. Ronald Jones | RB | USC | Junior No running back kicks it from first gear to second gear faster than Jones, and his top gear is scintillating. At 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds, Jones has a skinnier build, but he's flourished between the tackles in his first two years at USC. Last year he had 1,082 yards at 6.1 yards per carry with 12 rushing touchdowns. Nick Chubb | RB | Georgia | Senior Chubb has had an amazing and interesting career at Georgia. He looked Herschel Walker-esque during his freshman season, rushing for 1,547 yards and 14 touchdowns at a 7.1 yards-per-carry clip. He picked up right where he left off in 2015 but a knee injury derailed a sophomore campaign in which he averaged 8.1 yards per. Last year, he ran at 5.0 yards per carry but improved his power at the point of contact. Many were stunned when he decided to return for his senior year. There's an NFL feature-back amount of talent within this 5-foot-11, 228-pound running back. Bo Scarbrough | RB | Alabama | Junior When healthy, Scarbrough looked liked a supercharged version of Derrick Henry. In the College Football Playoff semifinal against Washington, he ran for 180 yards on 19 carries with two scores and appeared nearly impossible to bring to the turf. At 6-foot-2 and upwards of 230 pounds, Scarbrough is a tank with rocket boosters. Sony Michel | RB | Georgia | Senior Michel has seemingly been at Georgia forever, mainly because he proved to be special right away in Athens. A former five-star recruit, Michel has 17 rushing touchdowns and a 5.5 yards-per-carry average on his 434 rushes in college. He wins with burst and change-of-direction ability. Now he's upwards of 222 pounds. Michel and Chubb are the best running back tandem in college football heading into the 2017 campaign. Myles Gaskin | RB | Washington | Junior As Washington emerged as the premier team in the Pac 12 a season ago, Gaskin helped an underrated ground game, quietly piecing together his second consecutive 1,300-yard campaign. The 5-foot-10, 195-pound back runs hard between the tackles and has some wiggle in space. He has 24 rushing touchdowns in two seasons with the Huskies. Akrum Wadley | RB | Iowa | Senior It's easy for Wadley to be overshadowed as a running back in the Big 10, with Saquon Barkley leading the way and a few other talented ball-carriers at other programs. But Wadley possesses the gifts to flash Barkley-like runs. In his final three games of 2016, he toted the rock 46 times for 302 yards (6.5 YPC) with a pair of scores. Don't sleep on the 5-foot-11, 195-pounder. Kalen Ballage | RB | Arizona State | Senior Ballage wasn't nearly as decorated as a high school recruit and hasn't had the same success as Leonard Fournette in college, but the 6-foot-3, 230-pound locomotive has comparable power and speed to that of the No. 4 overall pick in the 2017 draft. His career stats aren't tremendous, but he did show versatility in 2016, as he totaled 469 yards on 44 receptions to go with his 536 yards on 125 carries. Mike Weber | RB | Ohio State | RS Sophomore As a redshirt freshman in 2016, the speedy Weber eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark at 6.0 yards per carry with nine touchdowns. His final 16 carries only went for 50 yards, yet he demonstrated big-play ability throughout the rest of the season. He and Parris Campbell will shoulder the load for the Buckeyes this season. Damien Harris | RB | Alabama | Junior After just 46 carries as a freshman in 2015, Harris had 1,037 yards on 7.1 yards per carry with two scores a season ago. At 5-foot-11 and 214 pounds, he's not a massive as Derrick Henry or Bo Scarbrough. However, Harris brings the electricity down the field with impressive quickness and good long speed. Lavon Coleman | RB | Washington | Senior Myles Gaskin is the headliner in the Huskies backfield, but his running back mate will garner attention from NFL scouts too. Coleman ran for 852 yards on just 114 carries with seven rushing touchdowns in 2016. He's a boulder at 5-foot-11 and 228 pounds.

Dec 7, 2017 at 10:24 PM

#31

LionHeartofGold
Veteran
Posts: 781

Originally posted by Heroism:
The top of the RB class is amazing. I love Guice and Barkley is an animal.

But I know Shanahans don't use early picks on RB. No point in getting my hopes up.

Shanny would be stupid to pass on Barkley if still available. You don't pass on BPA in the draft.

Dec 7, 2017 at 10:26 PM

#32

LionHeartofGold
Veteran
Posts: 781

Originally posted by 49ersFanCJinPA:
Originally posted by adrianlesnar:
I don't care who's on the board when we pick. If it was me, I'm taking Barkley 10 out 10 times

Agreed

Barkley would be BPA. I think most if not all teams draft that way in top 10. Rest assured that if Barkley is still there, we take him.

Dec 7, 2017 at 10:52 PM

#33

braap49er
Veteran
Posts: 7,846

Originally posted by LionHeartofGold:
Originally posted by 49ersFanCJinPA:
Originally posted by adrianlesnar:
I don't care who's on the board when we pick. If it was me, I'm taking Barkley 10 out 10 times

Agreed

Barkley would be BPA. I think most if not all teams draft that way in top 10. Rest assured that if Barkley is still there, we take him.

Solomon was BPA?

Dec 8, 2017 at 2:34 AM

#34

SmokeCrabtrees
Veteran
Posts: 15,580

Kiper said he believes Love will go 2nd after Barkley.

Dec 9, 2017 at 12:56 AM

#35

adrianlesnar
Veteran
Posts: 6,474

Anyone got anything on Martez Carter?

Dec 9, 2017 at 5:04 AM

#36

Butter
Veteran
Posts: 2,484

Originally posted by LionHeartofGold:
Originally posted by Heroism:
The top of the RB class is amazing. I love Guice and Barkley is an animal.

But I know Shanahans don't use early picks on RB. No point in getting my hopes up.

Shanny would be stupid to pass on Barkley if still available. You don't pass on BPA in the draft.

Which is better, Barkley behind the Niners inconsistent interior oline or a mid round rb behind Quinton Nelson?

Dec 9, 2017 at 7:30 AM

#37

49erBigMac
Veteran
Posts: 8,042

Originally posted by Butter:
Which is better, Barkley behind the Niners inconsistent interior oline or a mid round rb behind Quinton Nelson?

Neither, in a zone scheme you need every player to create the spaces and then the RB to buy in and make the right reads before making something happen on the 2nd level.

The question should be, what makes us a better team, the answer is maximising talent and matching it with our scheme. Barkley is a complete stud, you don't pass on them

Dec 9, 2017 at 12:45 PM

#38

saniner
Veteran
Posts: 7,724

Originally posted by adrianlesnar:
Anyone got anything on Martez Carter?

YES PLEASE! If there's anyone like Tarik Cohen in this draft it's Carter. I'd love to get this guy later in the draft for sure.

Dec 9, 2017 at 5:57 PM

#39

jimrat
Veteran
Posts: 23,989

Originally posted by saniner:
Originally posted by adrianlesnar:
Anyone got anything on Martez Carter?

YES PLEASE! If there's anyone like Tarik Cohen in this draft it's Carter. I'd love to get this guy later in the draft for sure.

You can add Chase Edmonds in the Tarik Cohen mold

Dec 9, 2017 at 6:01 PM

#40

Heroism
Veteran
Posts: 26,500

There's a Martez Carter thread around here somewhere. I'm curious to see if his 40 matches his game speed. He's crazy fast on the field. Kind of reminds me of Tyreek Hill at OSU.

Dec 9, 2017 at 6:04 PM

#41

adrianlesnar
Veteran
Posts: 6,474

Originally posted by Heroism:
There's a Martez Carter thread around here somewhere. I'm curious to see if his 40 matches his game speed. He's crazy fast on the field. Kind of reminds me of Tyreek Hill at OSU.

I was thinking a Hill/Cohen hybrid but didn't want to overstate my praise as I havnt seen much of him.

Dec 9, 2017 at 6:11 PM

#42

Heroism
Veteran
Posts: 26,500

No joke, the first time I saw this play I stopped the video to check if the footage had been sped up or something.

Lol. The acceleration is stupid. Tyreek Hill-esque.

[ Edited by Heroism on Dec 9, 2017 at 6:11 PM ]

Dec 9, 2017 at 6:23 PM

#43

NYniner85
Veteran
Posts: 118,999

Originally posted by Heroism:
No joke, the first time I saw this play I stopped the video to check if the footage had been sped up or something. Lol. The acceleration is stupid. Tyreek Hill-esque.

Love it

Dec 9, 2017 at 6:33 PM

#44

eastcoast49ersfan
Veteran
Posts: 4,112

Originally posted by Heroism:
No joke, the first time I saw this play I stopped the video to check if the footage had been sped up or something. Lol. The acceleration is stupid. Tyreek Hill-esque.

Nice acceleration, but he looks like he has 4.4 speed (nowhere near Hill or John Ross and probably similar to Barkley). There's a big difference between making NC Central players look slow and making NFL/Pac 12 players look slow. This guy is bigger than Tarik Cohen and has similar acceleration so I'm interested, but probably only in the 5th round or later.

Dec 9, 2017 at 6:34 PM

#45

adrianlesnar
Veteran
Posts: 6,474

Originally posted by eastcoast49ersfan:
Nice acceleration, but he looks like he has 4.4 speed (nowhere near Hill or John Ross and probably similar to Barkley). There's a big difference between making NC Central players look slow and making NFL/Pac 12 players look slow. This guy is bigger than Tarik Cohen and has similar acceleration so I'm interested, but probably only in the 5th round or later.

Ya, were talking a day 3 pick for sure.