2024 RB Talk

[BetterCallSaul]

12 hours ago, NYRaider said:

 

Is Latavius Murray a good NFL comp for him?

Ehhh prime Murray was fast as hell. Allen isn’t THAT fast. 

[MSURacerDT55]

On 3/8/2024 at 11:43 AM, BetterCallSaul said:

I love him. For what he is, teams these days don't tend to utilize backs like that anymore (pure power). However, I would be shocked if he isn't a 1,000 yard back very early in his career. He's an absolute freight train and has very good acceleration. He will be rough to stop. I think homerun speed is overblown in the NFL because I can count on 1 hand the amount of runs where the RB just dusts the defense in the league. I used to care about it, but after failing on so many homerun hitters, I'm over it. Give me the 4 yards in a cloud of dust backs and/or guys who can catch the ball out of the backfield.

I agree with this take, I think his skill set translate more to the NFL with that scheme. It takes a lot of patience and vision to be successful, he does that really well and has really good feet and balance. 
 

In the right scheme he could have a Johnathan Taylor type of rookie season.

[Tugboat]

20 hours ago, tyler735 said:

Tough to find a perfect comparison for Allen. Legarrette Blount is about the closest I can think of.

Yeah.  Comparisons are often kinda janky anyway, but i can kind of see that.  Sometimes.

 

14 hours ago, goldfishwars said:

I mean, at least Blount knew he was a big dude. No idea what to make of Allen, just a weird prospect.

But yeah.  This is the thing with Allen.  Every now and then he looks like one thing, but other times, he looks like something completely different.

 

But the one thing he definitely is not, is a super quick, darting, zone runner homerun guy.

 

I think it's true of most of the "incomplete" RBs in this class, but it feels like he's a guy who is just particularly "situation" or "scheme" sensitive.

[Ozzy]

11 hours ago, tyler735 said:

Yeah he’s a tough one. There’s moments like this clip below where you see he’s capable of being an absolute tank, but it just doesn’t show up as often as you’d like to see for a guy his size.

 

True but someone will get a total steal with him, especially if it is in the 3rd to 4th round.  For a guy 240 my guess he is could run a 4.4 possibly, would be real curious what his time is.  Fumbling is a big issue for him no question and that hurts his stock as does his pass catching or lack of it, but physically he is an elite player.

 

Jonathan Taylor on Wisconsin, well he was on better Wisconsin teams no question and basically all three seasons he played on Wisconsin he got 300+ carries and played 13-14 games.  Freshman year he had 299.

 

Braelon Allen has never even came close to carrying the ball 300 times, the team was not nearly as successful in terms of meaningful wins and he has never played 13 or 14 games in a year.  Also had worse offensive lines during his time not to mention this past year where they totally switched the offense and did not really feature Allen like typically.  Had 230 carries the year previous, this past year only had 181 so that shows why the lack of production and there is a lack of run game focus obviously in a Phil Longo offense.  They threw the ball 496 times, the year before threw it 326 times and before that 300 times.  

 

Say he gets drafted by the Ravens in the 3rd round, if he can stay healthy he could be a monster in that offense.

[tyler735]

I'm hopping on the Dylan Laube bandwagon. I don't think he goes particularly high given his age. Most likely in the 4th/5th round, but I think he could definitely be a steal for a team. He's the best pass catcher among RB's in this class, and I don't think it's particularly close. He looked great at the senior bowl in drills beating LB's/CB's on all sorts of routes both out of the backfield and lined up as a receiver. He has plenty of burst to get into the 2nd level, and is shifty enough to make defenders regularly miss in tight spaces. Also has solid contact balance. Appears to be a skilled route runner for a RB and tracks the ball very well. Should have an impact right away as a pass catcher as a rookie wherever he ends up. He posted several 100+ yard receiving games in college, including a 295 receiving yard performance this past season.  

At the combine he tested well with the 2nd best 10 yard split among RB's, 3rd fastest 3-cone, fastest 20 yard shuttle, a 37" vert, a 4.54 40 and 23 reps on the bench. He also was clocked as the fastest RB during the Senior Bowl throughout the week. 

I'm not sure that he will be a feature RB in the NFL. He's not super small by any means, but is a little undersized. I also wouldn't be shocked if he became the next Austin Ekeler type RB. At the very least, he should be a "lightning" type weapon (if he shares a backfield with a bigger RB), that can be used out of the backfield and in the slot to create mismatches for whoever drafts him. Honestly wouldn't be surprised if the Saints draft him on day 3 as a RB to groom as a Kamara replacement. 

 

Edited March 19 by tyler735

[Tugboat]

On 3/19/2024 at 11:53 AM, tyler735 said:

I'm hopping on the Dylan Laube bandwagon. I don't think he goes particularly high given his age. Most likely in the 4th/5th round, but I think he could definitely be a steal for a team. He's the best pass catcher among RB's in this class, and I don't think it's particularly close. He looked great at the senior bowl in drills beating LB's/CB's on all sorts of routes both out of the backfield and lined up as a receiver. He has plenty of burst to get into the 2nd level, and is shifty enough to make defenders regularly miss in tight spaces. Also has solid contact balance. Appears to be a skilled route runner for a RB and tracks the ball very well. Should have an impact right away as a pass catcher as a rookie wherever he ends up. He posted several 100+ yard receiving games in college, including a 295 receiving yard performance this past season.  

At the combine he tested well with the 2nd best 10 yard split among RB's, 3rd fastest 3-cone, fastest 20 yard shuttle, a 37" vert, a 4.54 40 and 23 reps on the bench. He also was clocked as the fastest RB during the Senior Bowl throughout the week. 

I'm not sure that he will be a feature RB in the NFL. He's not super small by any means, but is a little undersized. I also wouldn't be shocked if he became the next Austin Ekeler type RB. At the very least, he should be a "lightning" type weapon (if he shares a backfield with a bigger RB), that can be used out of the backfield and in the slot to create mismatches for whoever drafts him. Honestly wouldn't be surprised if the Saints draft him on day 3 as a RB to groom as a Kamara replacement. 

 

 

It's tough to pin down the value on a "specialist" like this.  I don't think he's a feature back either.  He's kind of that classic, traditional "3rd down/change of pace" type RB.  To do "the thing" that everyone does with comparisons...i think he's basically a James White.  I think that's probably his "role" as a Pro.  Which, if you get him in the right system like the Patriots used to run when he was there, you could get up to that sort of "tandem-ish" level of snaps and touches.  Offenses are getting continually more friendly to this sort of back, but i still don't think he's got a diversified enough skillset to be anything more than a tandem guy in a real split backfield...and even then, it's tough these days for a guy like this, because teams really don't like to "tip" which sort of plays they're going to running by pairing him up with a complementary opposite style power back.

[tyler735]

36 minutes ago, Tugboat said:

 

It's tough to pin down the value on a "specialist" like this.  I don't think he's a feature back either.  He's kind of that classic, traditional "3rd down/change of pace" type RB.  To do "the thing" that everyone does with comparisons...i think he's basically a James White.  I think that's probably his "role" as a Pro.  Which, if you get him in the right system like the Patriots used to run when he was there, you could get up to that sort of "tandem-ish" level of snaps and touches.  Offenses are getting continually more friendly to this sort of back, but i still don't think he's got a diversified enough skillset to be anything more than a tandem guy in a real split backfield...and even then, it's tough these days for a guy like this, because teams really don't like to "tip" which sort of plays they're going to running by pairing him up with a complementary opposite style power back.

I like his overall skill set a little more. I think he is a better threat running the ball than a guy like James White, but similar as a pass catcher. So I don’t think there’s an issue with “tipping” plays with him as he would likely just split carries in a backfield with more of a power back, which is pretty common in today’s NFL. 

[Hunter2_1]

I don’t think Laube even gets drafted 🤐

I believe Allen will fall but actually will be a bit of a steal if he’s in the right offense. Can foresee him carving out a role where he’s used to grind down defenses, preferably with a lead in the second half situation. Ravens? Lions?

[Tugboat]

15 hours ago, Hunter2_1 said:

I don’t think Laube even gets drafted 🤐

I believe Allen will fall but actually will be a bit of a steal if he’s in the right offense. Can foresee him carving out a role where he’s used to grind down defenses, preferably with a lead in the second half situation. Ravens? Lions?

I'd be absolutely shocked if nobody even bothered to take a flyer on Laube in the draft.  That WR in RB clothes sort of role is just too trendy these days, to not see somebody taking a shot on him.

 

Allen is a weird one, in that you'd think he should be that kind of back.  But he doesn't consistently play like it.  He doesn't seem to have that "killer" mentality like Henry or Playoff Lenny or whatever.  Every now and then it's like he gets a bee in his bonnet and just runs directly through someone and he has the physical toolset to do so with aplomb...but it seems to come and go with him.  In terms of the attitude or mentality.  Which is imo, a pretty big part of being that "pulverize them and grind them into dust in the second half" type back.  That intent to impose themselves on the game and take over with relentless physicality.

 

But maybe if he lands in the right spot, the coaching can bring that out of him more consistently.  Which would make him a pretty darn fun player to watch.

[tyler735]

16 hours ago, Hunter2_1 said:

I don’t think Laube even gets drafted 🤐

I would honestly be shocked. Also with the amount of day 3 picks the Saints have, I would be equally shocked if they didn’t use one of them on Laube. They already have an official visit with him and sounds like he’s picking up some steam with multiple teams interested in meeting with him on official visits.

 

[tyler735]

Marshawn Lloyd seems to be flying under the radar a bit. He’s a guy I could see being a better pro than college player. Injury history and some fumbling concerns could scare some teams off, but the guy is compact with very good size, excellent burst and change of direction ability, and seems to consistently bounce off several tacklers with his contact balance.

I think I’m getting to the point where I’m a lot higher on this RB class than most. It’s obviously not as good as last years class (few RB classes are), but on day 2/day 3, I am expecting to see a handful of RB’s be quality players for their teams with even more being solid #2 RB’s with enticing versatile skillsets.

[Daniel]

12 minutes ago, tyler735 said:

Marshawn Lloyd seems to be flying under the radar a bit. He’s a guy I could see being a better pro than college player. Injury history and some fumbling concerns could scare some teams off, but the guy is compact with very good size, excellent burst and change of direction ability, and seems to consistently bounce off several tacklers with his contact balance.

I think I’m getting to the point where I’m a lot higher on this RB class than most. It’s obviously not as good as last years class (few RB classes are), but on day 2/day 3, I am expecting to see a handful of RB’s be quality players for their teams with even more being solid #2 RB’s with enticing versatile skillsets.

I think it's a great RB class.  I think an ideal RB class is stacked with Day 2 talent, because you want to be able to spend your premium first round picks on premium positions like WR, Edge, OT, and CB.  Having lots of second, third, and fourth round RBs is exactly what you want.  And this class has that in spades.

Trey Benson, Jaylen Wright, Jonathan Brooks, Blake Corum, Bucky Irving, and Marshawn Lloyd have all had people putting them as the top RB in the class, and there's plenty to like about Ray Davis, Will Shipley, Braelon Allen, Tyrone Tracy, Audric Estime, and Isaac Guerendo, along with a bunch of small school guys.

Is there a blue chip RB?  No, but there's so many good ones you can get a contributor deep, deep in the class.  Hell, I'm even high on the ability of guys like Miyan Williams and Jase McClellan, who are very likely to be UDFAs.

[MSURacerDT55]

On 3/21/2024 at 4:48 AM, Hunter2_1 said:

I believe Allen will fall but actually will be a bit of a steal if he’s in the right offense. Can foresee him carving out a role where he’s used to grind down defenses, preferably with a lead in the second half situation. Ravens? Lions?

Browns? I feel his game is more suited for the pros. I can see why some would be frustrated with him because for his size, he is a dancing bear but people want to see more violence out of him and less twinkle toes. I like him a lot and feel like a guy like Duce Staley can mold him into a more consistent back. 

[Hunter2_1]

3 hours ago, MSURacerDT55 said:

Browns? I feel his game is more suited for the pros. I can see why some would be frustrated with him because for his size, he is a dancing bear but people want to see more violence out of him and less twinkle toes. I like him a lot and feel like a guy like Duce Staley can mold him into a more consistent back. 

Get him in a room with Chubb for a while. *evil laugh 

[Danger]

1. Benson

2. Wright
3. Brooks

4. Lloyd
5. Corum
6. Shipley

7. Ray Davis
8. Allen
9. Gurrendo
10. Irving
11. Vidal