Draft prospect to keep an eye on IMO for the Bills: RB, Roschon Johnson, Texas

[GunnerBill]

12 minutes ago, glazeduck said:

 

 

Charbonnet is an interesting e v a l. He's got a phenomenal build, and for it tested pretty well. I got to see him live last year and he certainly looks the part. 

 

The thing I keep coming back to is Chip Kelly RBs. Yes, it's helmet scouting, but Chip RBs haven't faired well in the NFL and Charbonnet transferred from Michigan for a reason. For the draft price it will take to get him (agree on the late 2/early 3 grade) I would probably pass on him/rather we spend the pick elsewhere and take a guy like Evans or Kendre Miller later in the draft, but can definitely see a scenario where he becomes a bellcow back in this league. Can also see him being a massive bust...

 

I like Evans. Higher on him than most I think. 

[dave mcbride]

5 minutes ago, glazeduck said:

 

 

Charbonnet is an interesting e v a l. He's got a phenomenal build, and for it tested pretty well. I got to see him live last year and he certainly looks the part. 

 

The thing I keep coming back to is Chip Kelly RBs. Yes, it's helmet scouting, but Chip RBs haven't faired well in the NFL and Charbonnet transferred from Michigan for a reason. For the draft price it will take to get him (agree on the late 2/early 3 grade) I would probably pass on him/rather we spend the pick elsewhere and take a guy like Evans or Kendre Miller later in the draft, but can definitely see a scenario where he becomes a bellcow back in this league. Can also see him being a massive bust...

He's from LA and I think he simply wasn't getting playing time at Michigan. He and Hassan Haskins pretty much shared time equally in 2019 but Haskins got more in the 2020 covid season. Charbonnet then transferred, and it was a smart move. 

As for the Oregon RBs, LaMichael James (a bust in the NFL) wasn't his recruit, although he racked up huge numbers at Oregon under Kelly. Kenjon Barner had one season under Kelly and was drafted in the sixth round. That's really all we have to go on. Anyway, sometimes you gotta look at the player rather than the coach. People thought Aaron Rodgers was a product of Jon Tedford (a guy who had tons of productions with the QBs he coached who then failed in the pros), and he dropped to #23 overall despite his shockingly good arm talent. 

 

As for Charbonnet, I'm a bit of  UCLA homer (I went there for grad school), so maybe I'm biased. But he looked like a freaking great back when I watched him. But who knows -- maybe the system did him a ton of favors.  

[glazeduck]

21 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

He's from LA and I think he simply wasn't getting playing time at Michigan. He and Hassan Haskins pretty much shared time equally in 2019 but Haskins got more in the 2020 covid season. Charbonnet then transferred, and it was a smart move. 

As for the Oregon RBs, LaMichael James (a bust in the NFL) wasn't his recruit, although he racked up huge numbers at Oregon under Kelly. Kenjon Barner had one season under Kelly and was drafted in the sixth round. That's really all we have to go on. Anyway, sometimes you gotta look at the player rather than the coach. People thought Aaron Rodgers was a product of Jon Tedford (a guy who had tons of productions with the QBs he coached who then failed in the pros), and he dropped to #23 overall despite his shockingly good arm talent. 

 

As for Charbonnet, I'm a bit of  UCLA homer (I went there for grad school), so maybe I'm biased. But he looked like a freaking great back when I watched him. But who knows -- maybe the system did him a ton of favors.  

Take a look at my profile name dude, I'm very familiar with Chip Kelly and his RBs. You're leaving out Royce Freeman (massive bust), DeAnthony Thomas and 2 seasons of Josh Kelley at UCLA. The larger point is his scheme opens massive lanes for RBs that don't always require NFL-level eyes or agility. 

23 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I like Evans. Higher on him than most I think. 

Do you read/listen to Rotoviz stuff? Dave Caban has done a lot of work on explosive plays and added explosive receptions to his model and it makes Evans look reeeeally enticing for his projected draft capital...

 

Hopefully his phych evals and personality checks cleared cuz there's a potential beast in there...

Edited April 25, 2023 by glazeduck

[dave mcbride]

8 minutes ago, glazeduck said:

Take a look at my profile name dude, I'm very familiar with Chip Kelly and his RBs. You're leaving out Royce Freeman -- massive bust and Josh Kelley for 2 seasons at UCLA. The larger point is his scheme opens massive lanes for RBs that don't always require NFL-level eyes or agility. 

Do you read/listen to Rotoviz stuff? Dave Caban has done a lot of work on explosive plays and added explosive receptions to his model and it makes Evans look reeeeally enticing for his projected draft capital...

 

Hopefully his phych evals and personality checks cleared cuz there's a potential beast in there...

Kelly left in early 2013 and Freeman's first season at Oregon was 2014. I don't see the connection. Are you simply talking about the system he was plugged into at Oregon? Also, as for him being a massive bust, he was a 3rd round pick who had a couple of 500-yard seasons before going into decline. I'd say less "massive bust" rather than "mild disappointment" -- his career is pretty typical for NFL players taken after the first couple of rounds, although I suppose relative to his college production it looks pretty meager. 

 

I do take your point about scheming; Charbonnet seemed set up to produce in that system. Regardless, he looked good to me. 

Edited April 25, 2023 by dave mcbride

[CaptnCoke11]

Carbonet might be the best back in the class 

[glazeduck]

1 hour ago, dave mcbride said:

Kelly left in early 2013 and Freeman's first season at Oregon was 2014. I don't see the connection. Are you simply talking about the system he was plugged into at Oregon? Also, as for him being a massive bust, he was a 3rd round pick who had a couple of 500-yard seasons before going into decline. I'd say less "massive bust" rather than "mild disappointment" -- his career is pretty typical for NFL players taken after the first couple of rounds, although I suppose relative to his college production it looks pretty meager. 

 

I do take your point about scheming; Charbonnet seemed set up to produce in that system. Regardless, he looked good to me. 

Chip left before Royce but he recruited him and they ran the same offense, so I don't think it's unfair. As for Freeman specifically, the dude broke every single one of Reggie Bush's HS records, was an animal in college and looked every bit like he should've been at least a solid contributor in the pros. I guess what you call what he is vs. should've been is both a sea of grey and somewhat unimportant, but suffice it to say that he, along with every other back that's come out of that audience, did not perform well at the NFL level, regardless of expected outcomes. (And this is coming from a HUGE Royce fan, fwiw...)

[Mat68]

Day 3 I could see Buffalo drafting a back to add depth and play teams.  He is one I would target.  

[DCofNC]

There’s no point in drafting another RB, build the line and Blackwell could have been your starter.

 

RBs were dirt cheap in FA this year, you only bring two to the active roster anyway, so who’s going to be inactive?  Unless you get Bijan, there’s zero point and that’s still a stretch in the first.

Edited April 25, 2023 by DCofNC

[newcam2012]

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I like Evans. Higher on him than most I think. 

I really like Charbonnet.

 

I'm not crazy about the Bills drafting a RB with the exception of Bijan falling to the Bills at 27. (Not gonna happen) I feel the Bills are pretty solid at RB. I feel like you can find plug and play RB fairly easily as well as running back by committee. 

 

With the Bills having other more glaring holes a RB pick seems counterintuitive. Its different if the Bills board is screaming RB is BPA by a large margin when they are on the clock. 

[Dr. Who]

1 hour ago, glazeduck said:

Take a look at my profile name dude, I'm very familiar with Chip Kelly and his RBs. You're leaving out Royce Freeman (massive bust), DeAnthony Thomas and 2 seasons of Josh Kelley at UCLA. The larger point is his scheme opens massive lanes for RBs that don't always require NFL-level eyes or agility. 

Do you read/listen to Rotoviz stuff? Dave Caban has done a lot of work on explosive plays and added explosive receptions to his model and it makes Evans look reeeeally enticing for his projected draft capital...

 

Hopefully his phych evals and personality checks cleared cuz there's a potential beast in there...

Interesting. Just looked up Zach Evans profile. Adding him to the names to look out for.

[JerseyBills]

On 4/17/2023 at 5:08 PM, GunnerBill said:

He has some Karlos Williams about him. Upright style, bigger back, not super fast. Think we took Karlos round 5. That is about the right place for this guy too. 

 

He isn't a lead back but if you are a team with an undersized speed back as your #1 (we might be) then a bigger change of pace guy isn't the worst idea.

 

EDIT: he isn't gonna be Taiwan Jones on STs as a rookie though. I don't think people realise how good Jones was at his job.

This board criminally underrates ST

 

I personally love the emphasis McD puts on ST and it makes a big difference 

Edited April 25, 2023 by JerseyBills