DCOrange

The scheme made a huge difference for him. They literally went from using spread formations the least to using it the most over the past two years. Burrow has always been good making reads, but the old OC insisted on narrowing the field and making that skill essentially worthless. Then Brady came in, spread the field out, and let Burrow use that skill to pick defenses apart with ease. In terms of his individual development, his pocket presence improved a lot this year; he's still vulnerable to blindside pressure, but he's as good as I've ever seen from a college QB in terms of making the inside rush or rusher to his right miss while staying within the pocket. It's Tom Brady-esq magic. He also cleaned up his footwork a ton. His dropbacks still aren't super smooth, but he's improved a ton in terms of his lower body and upper body being in sync on his throws. Watching his film from previous years, it was one of those things where you could tell he had a natural feel for how much to put on his throws to place them where he wanted, but his lower body sometimes betrayed him. That wasn't really an issue at all this season, and it resulted in him establishing himself as probably the most accurate college passer of all-time.

I'll probably stay away, but I would definitely go over if I had to bet on the Bengals.

Just over the past 4 years, Mahomes is the only QB I had rated higher than Burrow. I have the same grade on Burrow as I did Lamar Jackson. I think a pretty good case could be made for Jameis and Mariota as well but I wasn't grading QBs back then.

That is precisely who PFF has listed as his NFL comparison

I don't think anyone really has a good read on him. We can't even get consensus on what position he is. Some view him as a WR prospect while others view him as a RB. I'm always a bit wary of guys that don't have a natural position. I think he probably has to play as a RB in the NFL; just easier to survive as a RB with raw skills versus being a WR, but it's a pretty massive projection in his case. His natural abilities are pretty evident though; there's some serious potential if he learns how to play football.

On the flip side, he's PFF's #1 RB, so based on how Bills fans feel about them, I assume we all need to start hating Moss as a prospect.

Singletary had 22 carries in situations where we had 0-3 yards to go for a first down/TD. He converted on 15 (68%). Some other notable comparisons: Derrick Henry: 62.7% Melvin Gordon: 65.7% Christian McCaffrey: 64.1% Nick Chubb: 50% Ezekiel Elliott: 74.1%

For this team, the main things I'm looking for in a RB in no particular order are: Can play on 3rd downs AKA can be a receiving weapon and hopefully can block decently, but the receiving part is more important Can create big plays Comfortable running out of the shotgun AJ Dillon, who seems to be very popular here, doesn't meet any of those criteria IMO. He might be the worst projection in the class in terms of being a receiving weapon out of the backfield. There are only two RBs in the class (Eno Benjamin and Josh Kelly) with a lower breakaway % than Dillon. And pretty much every carry Dillon has ever received has been under center; he needs that running start to get going and that limits the ways you can use him. He just doesn't fit what we should be looking for unless you're purely looking for a goal line back, in which case he's worth nothing more than like a 6th-7th round pick due to how niche that role is. Some of the guys that fit those criteria are (listed in roughly the order I'd expect them to be selected): DeAndre Swift (3/3) Jonathan Taylor (2/3) JK Dobbins (3/3) Edwards-Helaire (3/3) Zach Moss (3/3) Cam Akers (2/3) - doesn't have the big plays statistically speaking, but could argue that was due to his OLine) Eno Benjamin (2/3) Darrynton Evans (2.5/3) Lamical Perine (2/3) Ke'Shawn Vaughn (2/3) Anthony McFarland Jr. (2/3) Darius Anderson (2/3) I would imagine the first 4 are legitimate considerations at #54 (if they're available, though I suspect at least 1 of them will be). Moss, Benjamin, and Evans seem like options for Round 3 or 4. The last three seem like later Day 3 options/possibly UDFA in the case of Anderson. I'm generally not in favor of taking RBs early, but I'd be fine with taking one of the top 4 guys at 54 if they're available and would be happy to add any of the other guys later on if we pass at 54.

I don’t like him as a prospect, but he’s undoubtedly fast when he gets up to top speed. He’s just pretty much purely a straight line guy that needs a bit of a runway to get going.

Of this group, Akers is a league above the rest IMO. Dillon is pretty much off my draft board personally. I like but don’t love Perine and Moss. Not on your list, but a couple other guys I’m interested in are Ke’shawn Vaughn and Deejay Dallas

And yet Denver offered it when they have Lindsay there already. My guess would be there were talks. We probably implied we’d offer more with less guarantees or something. Agent gave that info to Klis. Beane told Schefter we never made an offer (probably was never an official contract sent to them but likely a verbal offer). Or it’s still possible the agent simply made it up to try to soften the blow that Gordon signed an underwhelming deal. I definitely don’t think it’s impossible that we offered around that much money to a guy we’ve been linked to for a year now.

Someone in that mold is exactly what I’m looking for in a vet RB. He’s not the complementary runner we need for Singletary but we can address that in the draft. Thompson can be our 3rd down guy.

If we're trying to stack the line and run it in from 4 yards out on 3rd down we probably deserve to lose anyways. Allen is probably more likely to run it in than either of them are too. I personally wouldn't be looking for a short yardage specialist if it were me. If we bring someone in that happens to be good at that in addition to other more valuable aspects, then sure.

Parrino was reporting interest as well and he at least has a face

Looks like: Wawrow: 1 ProFootball411: 0

Wawrow said we aren't pursuing him at all. Seems to think he ends up in KC or Denver but was sure to say he is not an option for us.

Yeah, if the money is anything crazy, I would prefer to just go with the cheaper option of a guy like Dion (though I think he in particular will have multiple suitors that might make more sense). If it's a moderate 1-2 year deal though, I'd be pretty tempted by a guy like Gordon just because he can be the 3rd down guy while also being a productive runner in his own right. Really all depends on the price IMO.

I'm definitely not banging the table for a free agent RB. But to answer your question, I think it's mainly two things (at least from my perspective): We know McBeane generally prefers having a veteran in the room/prefers filling in needs in free agency, so I think it's just assumed we'll pick one up. Transitioning from college to the NFL isn't easy as far as being a 3rd down back goes. That, to me, is what we should be trying to fix in free agency. Gordon would help in that regard. So would someone like Dion Lewis, Chris Thompson, Buck Allen, Devontae Booker, Bilal Powell etc.

I would imagine he just signs a 1 year deal in the hopes that he gets paid next offseason. Something like 1 year $6-8 million.

If the money is the same between him and Gordon (and assuming it's a 1-2 year deal which is what I expect both of them to eventually sign), I would prefer we sign Gurley.

Probably no less than that ProFootball411 one. I think Parrino is the only one that's actually reputable.

For one year, it really doesn't matter. We probably just about done with signings anyways. I'd rather give him $9 million this year than the other idea of $5 million this year and a big increase next year.

If there were ever a team that was set up to succeed no matter who the QB was, it was the Rams. Instead, they gave Goff the richest contract a QB had ever received and sacrificed their OL and are now contemplating sacrificing their WRs and RBs as well so that they can continue paying Goff. Being stuck in the middle of the QB world is the worst spot to be in because you end up paying for an elite QB without actually having one.

Or, and I'm just spit balling here, it could be due to them having Beasley (the worst of the 3) rated as the #36 WR in the league.

Based on what I thought pre-draft: Burrow Tua Allen Love Herbert I think I'd probably order them the same way if we're talking present-day Allen.