First of all, Marshawn's not walking back through that door. Rawls was great when healthy, and there are other really good options out there to complement him, no doubt. But if we somehow took
Derrick Henry at 55 and you're salty, that's on YOU. Henry was the best high school running back EVER. Shattered every record that mattered. And since then he's only gotten bigger and faster, CRUSHING SEC competition when he was handed the ball (go ahead and give his Oline all the credit, I dare you), ascending to win the Heisman and going for 160 yds and 3 td against the best defense in the country in the National Championship.
When he does run he reminds me of a cross between Shawn Alexander and Eddie George... Alexander, in terms of his vision and commitment to "just go" down seams and has Alexander's stiff arm. Physically at 6'3 245, he looks like Eddie George (another former Heisman) to me, perhaps a little more top heavy than George, yet still faster than he ever was. Yes, he has the "runs too high" issue too, but in terms of durability and consistency, that was never a problem for George, who when he retired barely ever missed a snap in his 10 year career.
No, Henry isn't a quick twitch/change of direction player like Christine Michael or Thomas Rawls and he doesn't have to be, even in our offense. Our offensive identity changed last year, teams had to respect our pass and we would spread teams out, and voila, holes opened that were never there for Marshawn. To have a guy this big run downhill on a defense, I think he would do well in certain schemes including singleback sets. (Of course none of this matters much if our Oline is still trash, I get it
)
Northwest Seahawk":13r894ja said:
Billings is a guy you can plug and play at the 1T for probably the next five to ten years and be above average at that position. I'd take Billings over Bullard we really don't need a 3T not in the first and Billings is the more physical presence . I really hope they don't pass on Billings for Ifedi who I like but may or may not be a long term answer on that O-line. Billings is one of the best players in the First round imo as far as a player you can count on to come in and have an immediate impact at his position.
Spot on.
For those who will state that
Billings isn't a great athlete for his position, thats just gross ignorance of the player. He's the same build as Mebane, but MORE athletic. He was a record setting power lifter in high school, and has surprisingly good quickness for someone built like a tank at 315lbs. To suggest that his arms are short, 33 inches is not short for a DT, and not short for a player that stands 6'1 tall... Mebane's arms were "only" 33 inches long
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/historical/416670, how did that affect him? Besides, BIllings' game inside is about power, quickness, moves and relentlessness, all of which Billings showed at VERY high level at Baylor. He just trucks foos, and swims around these college lineman like he's treading water. Baylor teammate Shawn Oakman is a physical freak, standing 6'8" 285lbs of pure muscle, checks all your boxes for "athleticism" sure, but wasn't 1/2 the player Billings was- Billing being the guy that was doubled yet still produced more than Oakman. He collapses the pocket, something that won't always show up in the stat sheet. He's an aggressive player that last year led his team in tackles for a loss and sacks. Yes he can play the run, probably as good as anyone in this draft, based off of numbers, competition, and eye test. Where this "he can't play the run sufficiently," comes from, who knows.
We all have our favorites in this draft, and McShamble's draft spiked my interest when he had us taking 3 of my favorite players within the 3 rounds. Chances of even 1 of those picks happening is probably slim, and JS will most likely try to trade out of pick 26 for additional selections. Predraft conjecture is all hype machine, and regardless, in PCJS we should just trust. I love you guys and to me this is the most I've been interested in the draft in years
Soooo many quality players at positions of need...