Top 50 RB's 2012 runing back class

[Solon16]

2012 Top Runningback Draft Prospects (Updated 1/20/2012)
Rank	Player	Pos	Position Rank	School	Class	Ht.	Wt.	Projected Round	40 Time
5	*Trent Richardson	RB	1	Alabama	Jr	5-11	224	1	4.52
31	*Lamar Miller	RB	2	Miami (Fla.)	rSo	5-11	212	1-2	4.42
39	*David Wilson	RB	3	Virginia Tech	Jr	5-10	205	2	4.42
57	Chris Polk	RB	4	Washington	Sr	5-11	222	2	4.48
69	Doug Martin	RB	5	Boise State	rSr	5-09	210	2-3	4.48
78	*LaMichael James	RB	6	Oregon	rJr	5-09	195	2-3	4.42
90	*Bernard Pierce	RB	7	Temple	Jr	6-0	218	3	4.59
96	Isaiah Pead	RB	8	Cincinnati	Sr	5-10	200	3	4.42
100	Cyrus Gray	RB	9	Texas A&M	Sr	5-10	200	3	4.47
109	*Ronnie Hillman	RB	10	San Diego State	rSo	5-10	190	3-4	4.49
116	Dan Herron	RB	11	Ohio State	rSr	5-10	208	3-4	4.52
124	*Robert Turbin	RB	12	Utah State	rJr	5-09	216	4	4.57
138	Vick Ballard	RB	13	Mississippi State	Sr	5-11	220	4	4.58
151	Tauren Poole	RB	14	Tennessee	Sr	5-10	206	4-5	4.56
152	Terrance Ganaway	RB	15	Baylor	rSr	5-11	240	4-5	4.62
163	Bobby Rainey	RB	16	Western Kentucky	rSr	5-07	208	5	4.49
176	Davin Meggett	RB	17	Maryland	Sr	5-08	220	5	4.56
181	Brandon Bolden	RB	18	Mississippi	Sr	5-11	221	5-6	4.52
194	Chris Rainey	RB	19	Florida	rSr	5-08	175	5-6	4.36
204	Marc Tyler	RB	20	Southern California	rSr	5-11	230	6	4.59
219	Adonis Thomas	RB	21	Toledo	rSr	5-10	185	6-7	4.45
225	*Edwin Baker	RB	22	Michigan State	Jr	5-09	210	6-7	4.49
247	Foswhitt Whittaker	RB	23	Texas	rSr	5-10	202	7	4.49
276	*Bryce Brown	RB	24	Kansas State	rSo	6-0	220	7-FA	4.52
318	Lennon Creer	RB	25	Louisiana Tech	rSr	6-0	222	7-FA	4.57
319	*Darrell Scott	RB	26	South Florida	rJr	6-1	240	7-FA	4.48
323	Lance Dunbar	RB	27	North Texas	Sr	5-08	205	7-FA	4.60
341	*Jewel Hampton	RB	28	Southern Illinois	rJr	5-09	210		4.57
351	Bryce Beall	RB	29	Houston	Sr	5-10	215		4.60
354	Keola Antolin	RB	30	Arizona	Sr	5-08	195		4.56
368	Antwon Bailey	RB	31	Syracuse	Sr	5-06	202		4.50
380	Jonas Gray	RB	32	Notre Dame	Sr	5-10	230		4.58
383	Alfred Morris	RB	33	Florida Atlantic	rSr	5-10	221		4.74
397	Mike Harris	RB	34	Murray State	Sr	5-10	198		4.64
417	Jason Ford	RB	35	Illinois	Sr	5-10	235		4.63
425	D.J. McNorton	RB	36	North Dakota State	rSr	5-10	206		4.68
435	*Mike Ball	RB	37	Nevada	rJr	5-10	215		4.54
445	Jermaine Thomas	RB	38	Florida State	Sr	5-11	192		4.53
471	Victor Anderson	RB	39	Louisville	rSr	5-09	188		4.48
476	Duane Bennett	RB	40	Minnesota	rSr	5-09	205		4.59
493	Michael Shaw	RB	41	Michigan	Sr	6-0	195		4.53
503	*Alvester Alexander	RB	42	Wyoming	Jr	5-11	208		N/A
515	Enrique Davis	RB	43	Mississippi	Sr	5-11	226		4.63
526	Rodney Stewart	RB	44	Colorado	Sr	5-06	176		4.56
538	Travaris Cadet	RB	45	Appalachian State	Sr	6-0	210		4.54
550	Stephfon Green	RB	46	Penn State	rSr	5-10	195		4.39
568	Ronnie Weaver	RB	47	UCF	rSr	5-11	210		4.70
578	Robert Elliott	RB	48	Mississippi State	rSr	6-1	210		4.56
587	Ty Jones	RB	49	Florida State	Sr	5-10	212		4.58
606	Ryan McCants	RB	50	Oregon State	rSr	6-1	225		4.59
615	Daryl Richardson	RB	51	Abilene Christian	Sr	5-11	198		4.46
626	JJ Di Luigi	RB	52	Brigham Young	rSr	5-09	187		4.49
651	Marcus Hyde	RB	53	William & Mary	Sr	5-10	205		4.59
670	Jonathan Hernandez	RB	54	Massachusetts	rSr	5-11	195		4.57
694	Paris Cotton	RB	55	Central Michigan	Sr	5-09	180		4.51
701	Roddy Jones	RB	56	Georgia Tech	rSr	5-09	202		4.57
715	Nate Eachus	RB	57	Colgate	Sr	5-10	212		4.53

[YtownBacker]

I do like Polk and I think he might be able to be had with a top 3rd rounder.

[ramrod]

Originally Posted by YtownBacker

I do like Polk and I think he might be able to be had with a top 3rd rounder.

I like Polk as well, the only thing is he just doesnt have the speed that we need. IMO. We need someone that can catch and fly.

[Solon16]

If we don'tget trent I'd like Wilson or James...Ganaway is intrguing as hell if there in 5th

[jnuh]

I am all for James. He is my favorite back in the draft and I would much rather him in the third round then Richardson with our top 10 pick. Richardson at 4 isn't enough value in my opinion.

I also really like Polk and Pead.

[Solon16]

Originally Posted by jnuh

I am all for James. He is my favorite back in the draft and I would much rather him in the third round then Richardson with our top 10 pick. Richardson at 4 isn't enough value in my opinion.

I also really like Polk and Pead.

I tend to agree with you... but i also think T R will be a beast and wouldn't mind if he were a beast for the Browns.

[Sez.EJ]

Most of the guys in the top 8 are good. I like the idea of a guy with a bit more speed. But our division still needs a guy who can be physical and can get the tough yards in november, december, and hopefully in Januaries. What I really know, is that if Hillis is not resigned, they better make the pick count cuz Hardesty has hardly proven he can be a starter, and Obiwanwhathisname... is; what his is.. 3rd string. Brandon Jackson will be back which is good, but he's not an every down back by anyone's definition.

pretty good free agent class this year..there are more.. Pretty stacked up class we could go to.. Out of the bunch.. Forte, Hillis, Bush, and Tolbert are the guys I think would fit best here.. Ray Rice of course, but he's not going anywhere, nor is Arian Foster.

Free agents;
Hillis of course.. we can keep him here would be the best IMO
Ryan Grant.. VERY injury prone
Isaac Redmon.. He's just ok.
Michael Bush.. This kid I really like, I wish he caught the ball better
Ray Rice.. notgonnahappen..
Arianfoster notgonna happen
Matt Forte.. I would love to see him here
Marshawn Lynch..not crazy about him. I want a guy who can catch..he's not it
Michael Tolbert.. I like this kid.. big power guy who can catch too.. He's be a great signing for a guy who's drooling to start.
Kahlil Bell..looked pretty good filling in for Forte.. but I'm not sold.
Ced Benson.. Cinci will resign him.. again.. I want a guy who is more of a recieving threat too
Benjarvis Green-Ellis.. He's decent.. in a pinch.. a good signing
Tim Hightower... no thanks..
There are another 15 guys out there..but not really worth mentioning

[Solon16]

Ronnie Brown should be all healed up....I'd like to see him here. he will be an FA too I believe

[Legendary]

If we recruit RG3 and I would like us to go for Kendall Wright for 2nd pick and Terrance Ganaway with 4th/5th pick and try to sign up Ray Rice or someone on Free Agent as well. and use third choice for Offensive lineman.

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by Solon16

I tend to agree with you... but i also think T R will be a beast and wouldn't mind if he were a beast for the Browns.

Thanks for the list.

It's nice to know with the RB position you can always find the following guys in the land of the undrafted:
LeGarrette Blount
Arian Foster
Willie Parker
Ryan Grant

How about these sensations out of nowhere? Freddie Jackson? Michael Turner? Peyton Hillis? Ben Jarvus Green Ellis? Ahmad Bradshaw? Pierre Thomas?

Meanwhile are any of these 1st round kids ever healthy? DeAngelo Williams? Felix Jones? Darren McFadden? Jonathan Stewart? Jahvid Best?

If Byner was a 10th round pick - that makes him undrafted in today's world. Good enough for Pro Bowls and Superbowl workhorse. Ganaway has a better 40 time and weighs 25 more pounds than Byner did at the projected value of round 6. If he wore a Bama uniform and played for Saban - would he still just be a 6th round projection?

Terrell Davis was a 6th round pick as was Jamal Anderson back in the day. With it being largely considerd a passing era - mid round kids like Darren Sprole and Pierre Thomas are every bit as important as a Reggie Bush at #2 overall or William Green at #16 overall and whereever TJ Duckett went in round 1.

Some mid-round kids I could like are Terrance Ganaway, LeMichael James (Darren Sproles JR), Davin Meggett (Dave Meggett's kid), Isaiah Pead, and others. If we retain Hillis somehow, some way - this is one less place to spin our wheels. I'm hoping our front office remembers the preseason Amrond Smith has and the gears they don't need to coach. If he has the best wheels on the team - we have to be talking in the 4.2s remembering what Skrine runs. I wish we gave this kid more experience and looks than 1 third down play the defense knew better than our offense. What did we have to lose beside better positioning for Andrew Luck when Hillis and Hardesty were hurt? I LIKE Ogy because he brought a spark. However, I never understood the logic of it being okay to allow a WR to drop 5 passes in 1 game and not give a kid like Armond Smith a chance.

I remembered telling a buddy during preseason I LIKED the way this kid was at full speed at the line of scrimmage already. He had compact leverage, surprising power and unmatched speed entering every collision to the tune of 2-3 yards after contact seemingly wevery time he got the ball. Maybe we don't deserve his upside. It's hard for me to consider 1st round RBs when I know a guy like BB takes kids exactly like this and makes opponents remember their names. Danny Evelyn Woodhead and Ben and Jerry's Ellis Green. See what I'm sayin? See how I'm sayin it? See why I'm sayin it? Do I need another cup of coffee?

[Solon16]

I agree that 1st round running backs do NOT have the value as they once did. I also agree that you can find RB's in 2nd rd and beyond...as I have wanted many( Rice, McCoy, Charles, MJD etc) I agree that it is a passing league and that the running back by commitee will not go away anytime soon, But I also know that without a great running game we won't be able to win games in the 4th quarter(if we ever have a lead ) That the very best way to keep good opponents offenses off the field is to run the football and the clock. The Browns are also a crappy weather team that more times than not in Nov,Dec...have shitty throwing conditions!

Do I think value is there at #4 for Trent Richardson...no...but as a team desperate for offensive playmakers...he will be the best available at 4, IF Luck,RG3 and Blackmon are gone...some may disagree...perfect to trade down for a team wanting a LT and still pick him up and get a #1 next year. But I agree with RB in first round premise you purport Mr. t

[Flugel]

Keep in mind, with a record number of juniors coming out in this draft - it makes for a very deep draft and nicer group of undrafted players available.

We should be able to cash in on quite a few areas even if it has to defer to the undrafted group.