Quote:I am anti-RB in the first round, yes. I don't think Gurley would be a terrible first round pick, however. He could be special. He is in a RB tier of his own this class.

 

I also don't particularly like Gordon either, at least not to the level of a lot of people. He is just part of the mix of tier 2 RB in this class, and probably not even the 2nd or 3rd best one to me. I'd rather have Ajayi, Abdullah, and David Johnson straight up...I think. I worry about Gordon's durability, I don't think he has great vision or anticipation, he showed little to nothing in the passing and blocking game, and he is even quoted during the Icombine as saying he doesn't think his explosion is on par with his comp, Jamaal Charles. 

 

<p style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:12px;">"Jamaal Charles is his own man, a phenomenal player in the NFL," Gordon said. "We are similar but he's got that little burst. I don't think I have that."

<p style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:12px;"> 

<p style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:12px;">I guess he is kinda like the Shane Ray of the offensive side of the draft to me this year. He is ok and will be a fine NFL player, but if you are drafting Gordon in the first round (or Ray in the top 10) I think you are going to be disappointed with what you get.

1.  Perhaps I am a traditionalist, but as a general rule, I am NOT opposed to taking a RB in the first round if his talent so warrants the selection. We agree that Gurley, when healthy, is a special RB worthy of a first round pick, but his torn ACL gives me pause.

 

2.  We disagree on Gordon, however, especially on the issue of explosiveness.  Him saying he doesn't have the explosiveness of Jamaal Charles isn't the same thing as saying he lacks explosiveness altogether.  I think he was trying to be humble.  One of the things that impressed me about him is his abundance of breakaway runs.  He reminded me of Tavian Banks in terms of big play ability.  I haven't seen that kind of big play ability out of a Big 10 RB since then.  The one concern I have for him is pass protection.

 

3.  The one thing that gives me pause about drafting RB early is the depth at the position in this draft.  But if Caldwell's goal is to get Bortles as much help as possible, paramount in that search has to be RB.  I could easily see a scenario where, if we get too cute, we could miss out on some top notch talent at the position.  Just off the top of my head, I could easily see Dallas, New England, Denver, Cleveland, San Diego, and Oakland possibly going RB before we pick in the 2nd round.

 

If the team was going to pay big money early in free agency to go after Murray, then to me it stands to reason RB could be a high priority now.  In that case, we can't afford to risk missing out on a runner.  I guess ideally, if there were a scenario where we traded down and got an extra first round pick out of the deal (i.e. New Orleans 13 and 31 or far less likely Clevelands 12 & 19), that second first round pick would be spent on a RB.

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