Everyone wants to land the hot young rookie running back, which last year turned out to be Doug Martin. This year there are several candidates with Montee Ball and LeVeon Bell the early favorites -- the most likely rookie runners to start right away.
But the first running back drafted, Giovani Bernard, is another possibility. Cincinnati has BenJarvus Green-Ellis lined up to start, but Bernard is nearly certain to get a large volume of work in passing situations, perhaps even lining up wide on occasion. And the team says that he has the potential to play full-time.
“Having evaluated him and watched every game he played this year and had a chance to work him out, and having spent a lot of time with him,” running backs coach Hue Jackson said of Bernard, “he has that skill set where I think he could play and be an every down player.”
Most likely, Green-Ellis and Bernard will share work early on, but the team has a lot of young and talented pass-catchers, and may shift to more of a pass-first offense. If so, it might be hard to get Bernard off the field in favor of the slow-footed Green-Ellis.
--Andy Richardson