Senior Bowl Recap – RB Style | Fantasy College Blitz

Senior Bowl Recap – RB Style

January 26th, 2009 by Drew Smith

Last night was cool and rainy in Mobile, Alabama, site of the 60^th Senior Bowl. While I paid close attention to all the position players in the game it is the running backs that got most of my attention. There were seven pure running backs that played in the game and I will give a recap of how they did along with my thoughts watching them run.

North

Jeremiah Johnson – Oregon (3-22-0): Johnson (left, courtesy of Jason Roberts) was used exclusively as a 3rd down back as he got his rushes on draw plays and added 2-26-1 receiving. While most people agree that Johnson’s future in the NFL will most likely be as the change-of-pace type back it was still interesting to me that the Bengals coaching staff put him in that role without seeing what he can do as a main back. As far as his performance, he did exactly what you would want from your 3rd down back by catching the ball out the backfield and showing good running in space.

Kory Sheets - Purdue (7-32-0): Sheets showed his versatility by carrying the ball 7 times, adding 4 catches and returning kicks. He had some nice holes to run through but what impressed me was his ability to run away from defenders in space despite not having 4.3 forty speed. All anyone needs to see is his beautiful 61-yard kickoff return to see that his on-the-field speed is plenty fast for the NFL. Dare I make the comparison to long-time NFL back Brian Mitchell? On Saturday he surely looked like him.

Cedric Peerman – Virginia (5-34-0): Peerman looked solid on all five of his attempts bouncing off the first defender each time to average almost 7 yards-per-carry. The game performance capped off a great week of practice that has certainly caught the attention of NFL personal. The biggest knock on Peerman that unfortunately he will have to answer to his entire career are his small hands which leads to the question of weather he can hang onto the football. Over-shadowing his strong rushes in the game was the fumble on his fourth carry in which the south recovered. The hands concerns are surely going to hurt his draft status but from what I saw someone will use a late pick on him and give him a shot.

South

James Davis – Clemson (9-32-0): Davis never got it going getting stuff on all his carries except for an 11yard run through a hole as big as the Mobile River. He either hesitated trying to make a big play or just ran into the pile. Davis got two goal-line carries and after failing to get into the endzone was relieved by Andre Brown who promptly punched it in for touchdown. Overall I was quite disappointed in what I saw from Davis this week so he will need to have a strong showing in the upcoming workouts to get drafted in the first half of the draft.

Andre Brown – NC State (10-31-1): Just looking at the numbers and it appears that Brown didn’t far much better than Davis but watching him left a completely different impression. He hit the hole with authority and showed good body position when contact was made to continue forward even being tackled. Brown also caught a screen pass and got upfield in a hurry running through defenders attempting to grab him as he ran by. I have to say, I was impressed with Brown this week displaying the running style NFL teams like so assuming his knees check out he could have worked his way into that 2nd -tier group of backs.

Rashard Jennings – Liberty (9-41-0): Jennings was another back that I came away from Mobile quite impressed with as he showed the ability to bounce outside and fend off a defensive back’s attempt to tackle him high. Also on a quarterback scramble he laid a devastating block on a defender chasing QB John Parker Wilson. Jennings is a big, strong downfield runner who hits the holes quickly and was one of the big winners of the Senior Bowl.

Antone Smith – FSU (2-9-0): Smith was a late addition to the South squad and didn’t see too much action other than on some 3^rd and longs. We will have to wait to see how he fares in some of the other workouts before having a better idea of what kind of back he projects as. Smith was a major disappointment in college but has a lot of talent that should show up in the next couple of months.

Continue to look out for more draft coverage from Fantasy College Blitz as we head towards that magically day in which all fans get renewed hope that their team has drafted players that will help get them to the promise land…the NFL Draft.

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Tags: NFL Draft, Senior Bowl

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