2013: The Year of the White RB?

[ToughJ.Riggins]

2013, the Year of the White RB!

I'm not going to be blind enough to say that NFLdraftscout is completely fair. And as I've said, the graduating H.S class rankings they come out with every year look very much like Rivals, (so their site appears to be lazy and biased enough to copy Rivals lists), but I have noticed that our white RBs often move up the rankings during their careers in college. In 2013, we have 3 white RBs in the top 40 rankings (amazingly this may be the best year since the 1980s for white RBs in an NFL draft). Sam McGuffie is ranked 22nd (he really should be in the top 15 IMO and he would only move up as he plays more this year due to his elite talent)! Rex Burkhead is ranked 35th (Rex should really be ranked in the top 25 IMO and would only move up). And lastly Brandon Wegher is ranked 37th! Wegher should really be ranked in the top 25 as well, (probably right around where his teammate Adam Robinson is ranked).

I think that Wegher has the most upside of Iowa's 3 talented tailbacks listed in the top 50 for 2013 however. Wegher's 4 YPC, as a true freshman, would probably have been about 5 YPC if not for his cracked rib and having his longest 70 yard TD called back on a bogus holding penalty. I have looked at Wegher on film from his H.S days, and also his best games last year for Iowa, and he looks like he has more tools than both Adam Robinson and Jewel Hampton to become a superstar!) The only thing we have to worry about for these three guys is that Wegher has loads of competition at Iowa. Adam Robinson is ranked 20th for 2013 and Jewel Hampton, who had a good freshman year for Iowa before hurting his knee last year, is ranked 45th. I wouldn't be surprised if Iowa uses all three of these guys this year, until two of them really pull ahead of the competition. It may actually be better for Wegher with all the white RBs for the 2013 NFL draft (hard for me to conceive the purely racist NFL drafting 3 white pure tailbacks in one year), and his two Iowa teammates losing their FBS eligibility in 2013, for Wegher to get a high ankle sprain at the beginning of this season and get red-shirted so he will be set to leave Iowa to try his luck at the NFL draft for 2014.

Lastly, I will just comment that I am happy to say that I think Toby Gerhart has opened some eyes to people about questioning the coal blackness of the tailback position in the NFL! I think we are going to see more white RBs in the future in FBS football. And yes, even a few guys with chances to get enough playing time to get 1,000 yards every year in the NFL!

And oh, I almost forgot to mention that we have two white RBs in the top 50 for 2012 (Joe Martinek and Derek Lawson) and one of them (Martinek) plays in a BCS conference and will have a good chance to bust 1,000 yards this year and he has a great all round skill set! Typical/ all too common though, that Lawson and Martinek are listed right next to each other in the rankings as the "token lumped together white guys"Â￾ (at 44th: Lawson and 45th: Martinek). I see this trend happening a lot.

2012 RB Rankings...Could be Another Good Year if the World Doesn't End LOL!
Edited by: ToughJ.Riggins

 

[whiteathlete33]

Well only 3 running backs in the top 40 is poor but compared to other years it sure is a good year. McGuffie should have a very nice season and move up the rankings at least into the top 10.

 

[TwentyTwo]

Nice write up TJR! I had this in the back of mind...what the future holds down the road for these talented tailbacks.

In this caste driven media/dwf & swf(sober)world...it's so easy for them to look at bigger backs like Gerhart, Hillis, Hester orLeonard and draw comparisons to Alstott or Riggins....THEY won't be able to do that to tailbacks like McGuffie, Wegher or Burkhead. These guysweigh between 200-210...Why not compare them to "Cadillac Williams; Kevin Faulk or Clinton Portis?? I'm sure there will be a few caste-clowns trying to convert them to the slot... if you are a white "tailback" you may get a limited role like Scott Lockwood, Gil Fenerty or Blake Ezordidin the late 80's/early 90's....BUT I think this is a new caste-breaking era since joining this CF website; got to have that faith these players get alegit chance...

Jake Sharp has to endure this crap now...he doesn't fit the 225+ power-back blue-print they are only willing to accept..with hopes of converting them to Fullback. Will senior to be Chase Renyolds be shunned because of his? and head for the CFL the next season??

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

TwentyTwo, some good points about the NFL snubbing smaller white scatbacks even more. Maybe this will change with guys like Sam McGuffie.

Amazing thing is that Sam McGuffie has the fastest projected 40 time listed out of the ENTIRE TOP 50 RBs for 2013! Just check my link if you don't believe me (as they have his time projected at 4.38). McGuffie ran a legit 4.32 electronic 40 at a H.S combine during his college recruitment, but you have to remember the NFL track in Indianapolis seems to bring about slightly slower times. With McGuffie I will tell you his freakish speed is legit and it very well may be true that he is the fastest RB (over 40 yards) out of the entire top 50 for 2013. I think he could surpass Matt Jones 4.37 (white combine record, I believe, of the last decade) and run something like a repeat of his 4.32 or even a 4.28. He could make the top performer list which NFLdraftscout shows for the previous 10 combines if he continues to run college track and improve his speed.

When it comes to Rex Burkhead I think his projected 40 of 4.46 is actually faster than he would run if invited to the NFL combine. His PB 40 time is 4.46, but he was consistently running in the high 4.5s/low 4.6s his senior year of H.S- and remember that even if he improves, the NFL combine track seems to be slow so I'd project a high 4.5 or low 4.6 (oh well he has a similar running style/ size/ and triangle numbers to Emmitt Smith anyway- and look how Emmitt's career turned out in a system tailored to his skill set...mind you I'm not putting Burkhead on Smith's level yet obviously). Brandon Wegher's projected 40 time is listed at 4.52- and I think that is slightly slower than he will run. Wegher is maybe slightly faster than your typical NFL tailback, but his gift is desire, power and short area quickness anyway. I would expect a high 4.4 from Wegher.

I have said on this forum before that I think there are a higher percentage of sub Saharan blacks who have the tools to run FREAKISHLY FAST due to stronger hamstrings contributing to better leg lift and a tendency for longer limbs. Whites seem to have stronger quads than blacks and have a very powerful more horsepower like stride. Still you have to remember that the U.S is about 75% white and there are other potential Sam McGuffies.

I expect Sam to only be about 0.1 seconds from Chris Johnson's combine record of the current era if he's invited to Indy. Remember that a 0.1 second differential over 40 yards is only 0.9 yards (or basically in reach of typical guys fingers for a tackle attempt without diving). And also remember that the record for even 30 yard runs in a season for the NFL is as follows: Chris Johnson (10? I'm pretty sure), DeAngelo Williams (8), Jim Brown (7).

So the second best 30 yard run season "of all time" only had DeAngelo Williams break a 30 yard run every two games. The combine should really be testing something like a 25 yard dash if they really wanted to test football speed and more emphasis should be placed on the agility drills like the shuttle (X-Y agility drill) and 3-cone (blend of X-Y and X-Z agility drill) where whites do very well (seems we do better than blacks when considering our rate of participation). Blacks tend to have a small advantage in the Broad Jump, (which is more indicative of pure X-Z agility), but there are still white freaks here like Sam McGuffie!

TwentyTwo, I appreciate the compliment and interest in my thread, I enjoy your posts as well.

Edited by: ToughJ.Riggins

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

By the way TwentyTwo- have you watched Nile Knapp's highlights from the H.S forum? I'd like to hear your take on his talent. He reminds me of old clips of Gale Sayers with the way he runs! Freakish X-Z agility!

 

[TwentyTwo]

Thanks TJR! Yes I have seen the Nile Knapp highlights...for him to end up at a place likeLindenwood(no disrepect to the tiny NAIA power) is the very reason why a website like this one must exist! Knapp has some nasty moves; he does have that freakish X-Z agility you speak of; Sayers, Barry Sanders, Bush come to mind!

Fantastic analysis...the 25 yard dash would be a nice addition at the combine! Didn't Chris Johnson run a 4.24 at the combine?? McGuffie runs about a 10.7 in the 100?? He better be invited when the time comes!

Tebow, Blair White and Jacob Hester did very well in the 3-cone drills...

Interesting to see Burkhead put some weight on in the off season.

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

Burkhead has an Emmitt Smith or Terrell Davis type running style anyway so I don't think the added weight will hurt him much. Burkhead seems to make a quick read then make a sharp cut while bursting toward the seam he sees. Burkhead has good X-Z agility too, but I wouldn't call it freakish. If you wanted to compare Burkhead to a white player, I'd say he's like a bigger Wes Welker playing taiback. Burkhead doesn't have elite track speed, but I think his 10 yard clip is better than average for an NFL tailback (and he still probably would run a 4.6 or so over 40 yards at the NFL combine- which is fine considering his other skills). Also remember that Burkhead has run a 3.91 short shuttle before so he's got to have freakish short area quickness in the X-Y plain.

Could Rex Burkhead be a poor man's Emmitt Smith? Actually who's to say he couldn't do everything Smith did- if he played for a 90s Cowboy like team, keeps improving and stays healthy? Hopefully we'll find out.

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

I just saw that RB DeDe Dorsey- who is currently on the Lions roster attended Lindenwood. Maybe if Knapp breaks the NAIA record for rushing yards- and some of the white RBs in the NFL in the next few years do very well- maybe somehow he'll get a chance coming from the lower levels the way Danny Woodhead has. Even if he can't transfer, here's hoping- however unlikely, this happens.