NFL Draft Triple Take (RB), April 3, 2022

take on the Triple Take. Today's installment running backs. And if you've been following along at home, you know this by now, but in case you're just finding us, uh, you might want to know that for the second look at things positioned by position, we're not giving you our top five candidates. We're going riser, faller, and sleeper and uh some some interesting stuff at the running back position. Is really with all the positions, this to me is

a fascinating draft. Maybe doesn't have those uh headliners of those players a couple three that everybody's over the moon about, but I think a lot of talent to be had starting at the end of a role. We'll see who can get the best fits moving forward. Matt, I gotta

start with you again on running backs. I was I was giving you in Dale a lot of guff in one of our recent installments because you guys kept picking the same guys and yes, slotting them in the same places, but we were We had significant agreement in our third mock draft, and our rising running back is the same guy. Okay, and you'll like this too. I at the end of my write up for Damian Peters, my riser out of Florida, I gave an honorable mention to Michigan State's Kenneth Walker.

I'll pull back the curtain. I mean everyone I like honorable mention, recognition for the best, for the best running back in the draft. Well, I mean the exact quote was an honorable mention. Here goes to Michigan States Kenneth Walker, who looks more and more like a Nick Chubb Javante Williams clone. That was much nicer things than I said about him the first time around. And I'll pull back

the curtain. I mean, everyone knows the Steelers took a running back in the first round this pass draft, so running backs whenever we went through him the first time,

we're probably my last priority. I was thinking into other positions first, and I am more respect now for Walker now than then when I did my original top five I had Pierced who's my riser as my fifth back from what I remember, and I like him even more now, you know, I think what he does as a tackle breaker, the physicality watching him in protection that plays at the next level. He's a real handful. And I don't know what that Florida was thinking, but he didn't didn't have

hardly any wear and tear off his body. I think his best days are to come. Yeah. Three hundred and nine carries in four seasons. Yeah, which it was just really surprised to me. Maybe they've been at Smith on the bench. I don't know, but you know, he had sixteen touchdowns on a hundred nineteen touches last season, teen rushing, three receiving. He got a penalty for a personal foul. He continued to play without a helmet. It was what turned what turned out to be a touchdown run against

Florida State. He got his helmet ripped off on a cutback and then he put his shoulder down at the goal line without a helmet and went through two defenders. This guy is pretty tough. Reportedly he owns three pit bulls. I'm guessing that makes him pretty tough. He runs like he's pretty upset that he never got the ball enough at Florida and he's trying to take it out on somebody. And oh, by the way, there's this I found in

a story. He was asked why he played in Florida's bowl game against UCF even though he had already been invited to the Senior Bowl. And you know, a lot of guys opted out of the bowl games, not Damian Pierce quote because I'm a Gator bro. I mean, I had a hard time initially when guys started bailing out of bowl games. It bothered me a lot. And now I get it. It's a business. They gotta do what's best for them. But a guy who's you know, I'm

a Gator bro, I feel that I appreciate that. I know where he's coming from on that it's just another feather in his cap. So he's my riser, UH and Dale, Thankfully you've got somebody else to talk about. I do. And then it's it's another guy who's very familiar to UH, a name to a lot of people. But I didn't have him in my top five Initially. I bet he's a mere white from Georgia, and um, I I didn't think he was as fast as he is watching Georgia play, you know, he just kind of glides a little bit.

And then he went out to the combine and ran a four four forty like he's got home run speed. And then you look at the tape. I went back and looked at it again. I'm like, Okay, now I I see a little bit more of that. Um, you know, he was a captain for Georgia on that team with with twenty five other pros. Uh you know he was he was a captain. Yeah, you know, he just you know, he he just if you look at what the Georgia backs have done. You mentioned Nick Chubb, There's there's a

little bit of that there. He's got good size at six fourteen. I think there's a lot of eat on the bone yet for this guy. And I think that, uh, you know, he's gonna be somebody that could be a nice mid round hit. Speaking of forty times, Dale, you and I in agreement on the faller, and that's uh. Kiren Williams and Notre Dame one of my favorite guys to watch, you know, watching them play the games and and and looking at the highlights. But uh, boy, the

combined was not kind, not at all. Did a little better on notre names prota. But uh, he's a sub two hundred pound guy, five nine a buck ninety four, and we had, at least I had emphasized the first time we looked at running backs and it's becoming a big back league that you know. The trend is for these pounding, bruising guys that can also run. And I just, uh, if you're Kyren Williams, you better be super fast. And apparently he's not. Yeah, he's not that. Yeah you mentioned

the combine. Um, he was initially listed at like one nine or something like that. We came into combine a pounds and still ran a four six five Like you dropped that way on a fast track where everybody else is running four four's and he ran at four six five. That that did not bode well for him. Uh, he should have been under four or five if you know, to be what you know, he looks like, he looks like he plays it under four or five. He does. But that hundred nine pounds was troubling for me as well.

I mean that's that's a little light, um even at five nine um, you know, so I had him initially he is my number four running back. I don't think he goes that high. Yeah, I had him in the top five as well, and maybe in another year if everybody wasn't running at record speed and over and overlook it a little more. But yeah, it's it's a track meet now, and uh, he's not keeping up, Matt. Thankfully you have somebody different. Yeah, what last note on Williams?

What they say he is the ultimate leader and tough guy and all that stuff, but hey, you're small, right. My father was Isaiah Spiller, and uh, Texas A and mvs not. It's not The draft process has not gone great for the A and M guys the season. And when I watched him the first time, I knew he was a big name prospect. And he didn't blow my doors off in the first viewing. And he's cut a little higher than I like, and I don't see real

dynamic skills. And then he didn't test great and I kind of went and watched a little bit more tape and thought, yeah, that's just kind of who he is, you know. I mean, he ran behind a really good old line two years ago, and I think he's fine. He's just not I think his name recognition is a little bit higher than what he really is. Let's stay with you. You can lead us off on the sleeper conversation. Yeah, I mean, I think if you go to South Dakota State,

that counts as a sleeper. Um Pierre strong four three seven in the forty and he was over two hundred pounds. He's not just a little dude. He is a compact, smooth guy, has a lot of upside in the receiving game. I think he's gonna have a roll right away. And that's not something you say about South Dakota State dudes too often. Dale, Uh, You've got but the form sleeper. Yeah, I got the Zonovan bam Night. Um at a North Carolina State five eleven two oh nine ran in the

mid four fives. Was it was an immediate impact guy. He was one of the top running back recruits in the country when he came out. He picked NC State and he had over seven hundred rushing yards in each of his three seasons there. Caught the ball well. He in forty eight catches over the last two seasons, and Uh also averaged over thirty yards per kick return and had three kick returns for touchdowns. The last two seasons. So there's a lot there to like for a guy

who's probably gonna be a late round roundsh guy. Maybe get him in the fifth, sixth, even seventh round that he can come in and do a lot of different things for you. I went with a different guy as well, so we're three for three in terms of identifying different a lot of backs out there that and you know, this is the guy I really wanted to talk about when I was researching the position the first time. I couldn't get him anywhere near my top five, but fascinating story.

Abraham Smith of Baylor. Uh. In case people don't know who this guy is, He's a guy who in the season was playing linebacker for Baylor, and in one season he led the Big Twelve in rushing with one thousand, six hundred one yards. He started out as a running back, barely saw the field and got the ball. In two years, went to linebacker forty something, tackles in his sack, goes back to running back and dominates. I think it's a

great story. Six ft two and thir pounds. I've mentioned to you guys a couple of times the kind of man crush I had on the Baylor program this year just watching them play. They play a brand of football that agrees with me. I think it's they're becoming pretty consistent in terms of what they produced. And here's last, but not least, this is maybe the whole reason I

went here. Subconsciously, think of the advantage if you have Abrams Smith as you're running back in case there are fumbles or interceptions, he'll be a short tackler on their because so you know, we'll prevent those defensive scores, you know, a bit important. Yeah, you don't have to project him as a special teams guy running down and covering kicks, those kind of things which you'd like at your backup running backs. Yeah, and uh, I think you'll be able

to deliver. That's gonna do it for our second look at running backs. I want to remind everybody that you can catch these shows on all of the Steelers social media platforms. Thanks for finding us for this one, however, and wherever you found us, we will be cranking it up again sooner rather than later. So until then, for Matt Williamson and Dale Lali, I'm Mike Pursuita. You've been listening to the NFL Draft Triple Take, presented by u P m C