I keep hearing the suggestion that Todd Gurley is the best running back prospect since Adrian Peterson. That is a cool and intriguing thought. But when I go back and watch his college work from last year, I don’t see it.
To me, Gurley looks pretty similar to a lot of the other running backs who’ve been selected in the first and second rounds in recent years. A little better in terms of on-field production, but he played only half of his final year and is coming off a torn ACL.
Eddie Lacy and Trent Richardson looked awfully strong coming out of Alabama.
For pure size and speed, Gurley definitely is just average in comparison with what we’ve seen recently from the top running back prospects.
I will concede that upon checking their college numbers, both of the running back selected in the first round grade out extremely well in terms of yards per carry. Both Melvin Gordon and Gurley are over 7.4 yards per attempt.
Since Adrian Peterson was drafted, only three other running backs have averaged 7 yards per carry in their final year of college ball, and all were inflated by spread-type schemes – Felix Jones, Carlos Hyde and LaMichael James.
Yards per carry ain’t everything, of course. It’s not necessarily even all that meaningful. Peterson averaged only 5.4 in his final year at Oklahoma, which would be below-average on this list. LeVeon Bell averaged only 4.7 his final year at Michigan State, and he’s about the best back in the NFL now. Ray Rice was at 5.3 at Rutgers, and he was one of the better runners on this list.
RUNNING BACKS SINCE ADRIAN PETERSON | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Pick | Player | Att | Yards | Avg |
2008 | 22 | Felix Jones | 133 | 1,162 | 8.74 |
2015 | 15 | Melvin Gordon | 343 | 2,587 | 7.54 |
2015 | 10 | Todd Gurley | 123 | 911 | 7.41 |
2014 | 57 | Carlos Hyde | 208 | 1,521 | 7.31 |
2012 | 61 | LaMichael James | 247 | 1,805 | 7.31 |
2014 | 55 | Jeremy Hill | 203 | 1,401 | 6.90 |
2013 | 37 | Giovani Bernard | 184 | 1,228 | 6.67 |
2010 | 12 | Ryan Mathews | 276 | 1,808 | 6.55 |
2013 | 61 | Eddie Lacy | 204 | 1,322 | 6.48 |
2008 | 23 | Rashard Mendenhall | 262 | 1,681 | 6.42 |
2008 | 13 | Jonathan Stewart | 280 | 1,722 | 6.15 |
2010 | 30 | Jahvid Best | 141 | 867 | 6.15 |
2011 | 57 | Mikel Leshoure | 281 | 1,697 | 6.04 |
2008 | 24 | Chris Johnson | 236 | 1,423 | 6.03 |
2012 | 3 | Trent Richardson | 283 | 1,679 | 5.93 |
2012 | 32 | David Wilson | 290 | 1,709 | 5.89 |
2008 | 44 | Matt Forte | 361 | 2,127 | 5.89 |
2009 | 31 | Beanie Wells | 207 | 1,197 | 5.78 |
2014 | 54 | Bishop Sankey | 327 | 1,870 | 5.72 |
2009 | 27 | Donald Brown | 367 | 2,083 | 5.68 |
2008 | 4 | Darren McFadden | 325 | 1,830 | 5.63 |
2010 | 9 | C.J. Spiller | 216 | 1,212 | 5.61 |
2009 | 12 | Knowshon Moreno | 250 | 1,400 | 5.60 |
2011 | 28 | Mark Ingram | 158 | 875 | 5.54 |
2010 | 51 | Toby Gerhart | 343 | 1,871 | 5.45 |
2011 | 62 | Daniel Thomas | 298 | 1,585 | 5.32 |
2012 | 50 | Isaiah Pead | 237 | 1,259 | 5.31 |
2008 | 55 | Ray Rice | 380 | 2,012 | 5.29 |
2010 | 58 | Ben Tate | 263 | 1,362 | 5.18 |
2013 | 58 | Montee Ball | 356 | 1,830 | 5.14 |
2011 | 56 | Shane Vereen | 231 | 1,167 | 5.05 |
2012 | 31 | Doug Martin | 263 | 1,299 | 4.94 |
2009 | 53 | LeSean McCoy | 308 | 1,488 | 4.83 |
2010 | 59 | Montario Hardesty | 282 | 1,345 | 4.77 |
2013 | 62 | Christine Michael | 88 | 417 | 4.74 |
2013 | 48 | LeVeon Bell | 382 | 1,793 | 4.69 |
2011 | 38 | Ryan Williams | 110 | 477 | 4.34 |
—Ian Allan