We are back again this week with another great NFL Draft Twitter Mailbag. This week the focus turns back to offense and some lesser-known wide receiver prospects who aren’t getting a lot of attention. I also take a look back at an article I wrote earlier in the year about this year’s running back class and who could go in the first round. Remember if you have a question you would like to see in next week’s mailbag send them to me @ThreefortheWin.
@VincentFrankNFL: How many running backs would you give a first-round grade to?
This is something I wrote about before the season started which you can find here but now is a great chance to update the status of the running backs and the possibility that one or multiple running backs who could emerge as first-round picks.
Baylor running back Lache Seastrunk started the season as my top running back and someone who could emerge as a first-round pick. His explosiveness, speed and power helped make him a true home-run threat every time he touches the football. Seastrunk has been exceptional this season and has helped lead Baylor to a 5-0 mark, but he has fallen down this list. While he has had some big games including four straight 100-yard games with eight touchdowns during that stretch, the same problems remain from before the year. His vision remains questionable as too often even when he has a hole up the middle he tries to bounce it outside. He excels with Baylor’s spread out offense but when the defense comes inside to stop him, he doesn’t have the ability to beat a stacked box. Seastrunk hasn’t proven himself in any way as a receiver with zero receptions this season and it remains a question mark heading into the draft. He is having a great season statistically but hasn’t shown enough improvement to keep himself atop the running back rankings. I would put him third on my 2014 running back rankings.
When I originally watched him before the 2013 I loved the physical gifts he brought to the table and though if he could stay healthy he would unleash a rather of fury on college football this season. Health has been a problem for him this season as he has battled numerous injuries and been limited to just 36 carries this season. He has found some success in limited work with 214 rushing yards for an impressive 5.9 yards per carry but it has come in limited snaps. You have seen some of the power and physical style of running that you loved to begin the year, but you just aren’t seeing any explosiveness or burst that many NFL running backs have. Wilder Jr. definitely has power and is one of the toughest running backs in the country to bring down, but health and explosiveness is a big problem for me. Not only is he not a first-round talent in my eyes, I don’t think he is worth taking in the first three rounds.
The one running back who I still give a first-round grade to months later is Bishop Sankey and my goodness has he looked good this season. There is not a more natural running back in college football than Sankey, he gives you everything you look for and can start for an NFL team the second he is drafted by the team. He has excellent vision and patience, he knows how to sit in the backfield and wait for his blockers to move around and open up a hole before he takes off. Even before he gets the handoff he is reading the field and looking at how the upcoming play will develop. Once he gets through the hole he uses a nice balance of power and speed to beat the defense for the big touchdown. Unlike Seastrunk who tries to run everything to the outside, Sankey knows when it’s the right time to take it to the outside or run it right in between the tackles. Sankey works very well as a receiver with soft hands once he gets the ball in his hands he shows the same vision and patience that has made him such a great running back. He can carry a workload with no problem and has been the workhorse for the Huskies since last season. Sankey is the only running back who I consider a first-round talent at this point of the season but I am definitely keeping an eye out on Melvin Gordon
@ryanwittman0: Which LSU wide receiver would you rather have?
I started focusing on LSU and prospects on the offensive side of the ball last week and started out with quarterback Zach Mettenberger. But the more I watched the more LSU’s wide receivers stood out and made this a great question for the mailbag.
Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham are both having fantastic seasons so far in 2013 and have played a helping hand in boosting Mettenberger’s draft stock. Both players have shown NFL-caliber talent and are putting up the numbers to back those beliefs up. Beckham leads the team in yards with 805 receiving yards while Landry holds the advantage with 53 receptions and eight touchdowns. Beckham contributes in even more ways though on special teams with 711 total yards on returns with 616 of them coming on kickoffs. Both players offer a different skill-set but if I were building an NFL team I would rather have Landry.
While I do like Beckham, Landry offers so many more options to an offense. He doesn’t have great size at 6’1 195 pounds but he can do everything for your offense. If you need a return man he has the speed and vision to take the kickoff and swiftly move around to pick up the big yards. But a key component of his game is run blocking, he has no problem engaging with a cornerback and just shoving him along to create opportunities for his running back. That extra asset where a coach can trust Landry on the outside to open up lanes on toss plays and screens to the outside is hard to find from a young wide receiver but you get exactly that with Landry. Landry is obviously a talented receiver with excellent quickness and ability to line up anywhere on the field. Landry is still a work in progress and needs to continue to improve his route running, hands and consistency. But he already can contribute to an NFL team and once he has developed he will be a big time starting wide receiver.
@dstebbs: If Arizona wide receiver Austin Hill was healthy and had another year, where would you say he fits into current wide receiver class?
It was devastating news in April when Arizona found out they would be without their star wide receiver but the NFL Draft community was also hurting. Hill was coming off a sophomore season where he obliterated his competition every week and finished the season with 81 receptions for 1,364 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was going to be eligible for the 2014 NFL Draft but has spent the 2013 season rehabbing to get back and be healthy for the 2015 NFL Draft.
The 2014 wide receiver class is loaded with great talent with names like Sammy Watkins, Marqise Lee and Mike Evans. As great as the talent is at the top, this is also one of the deepest classes in recent memory at wide receiver. But if not for the injury Hill would have been right in the discussion amongst the top-five wide receivers.
The knee injury was devastating for Hill’s draft value, as he could have easily made a push for the first round with a strong junior season. The good news that is there for Hill is that the ACL injury came early and when he returns to the field either in the NFL or as a senior for Arizona he will absolutely be at 100 percent. When he does return to the field he will need to develop his route skills and improve securing the football, but the natural talent is there to be one of the best wide receivers in the draft.