Unheralded runners tearing up the
turf
Posted: Thu Sept 3,
1998
 Sports Illustrated
NFL writer Paul Zimmerman checks in each Thursday with analysis
of trends and players to
watch.
The exhibition season tickles me because it turns coaches
and player personnel directors into rooters. They always
pull hard for their high draft choices and, dare we say it,
root against the guys who came in with no credentials at
all—the free agents
and castoffs—or, more accurately, root against them if
they're in a position to embarrass their
hotshots.
A top draft learns one position and that's usually
it—for instance, left guard.
We don't want to mess him up by giving him too much all at
once.
But the free agent? He's got to know all line positions, be
in a position to help out any place he's called, shine
shoes, clean lockers, anything. Face it, folks. The deck is
stacked.
All this is a rather windy preamble to a subject I dearly
love—the lesser lights out-performing the guys who
were supposed to be a lot better. And it comes into focus
at the position that's supposed to be a lock on draft
day—running back.
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Denver's Davis is the best runner to come out of college in the '90's.
(Bob Rosato)
| Traditionally, fewer mistakes are made scouting this
position than at any other. Walter Payton, Jim Brown, Eric
Dickerson, O.J. Simpson, Tony Dorsett, Barry Sanders,
Marcus Allen, Franco Harris ... most of the great runners
in history were No. 1 drafts.
But lately things have gone a bit awry. Players such as Tim
Biakabutuka, Ki-Jana Carter, Lawrence Phillips and Rashaan
Salaam have been first-round busts. Terrell Davis, the best
runner to come out of college in the '90's, was a
sixth-rounder.
What's going on here? Beats me, but in going through my
survey of the exhibition season rushing stats, an
interesting thing jumps out. On the rookie level, the four
No. 1 drafts have done almost zip while the lower rounders
and free agents have been
just fine. I'll give you two sets of numbers, first the top 10
rookie rushers, then the stats for the quartet of No.1
picks:
Top 10 Rookies
| Name | Acquired | TC | Yds. | Avg. |
| 1. Rabih Abdullah, Tampa Bay | FA | 50 | 280 | 5.6* |
| 2. Ahman Green, Seattle | 3rd rd. | 62 | 275** | 4.4 |
| 3. Jon Linton, Buffalo | 5th rd. | 48 | 218 | 4.5 |
| 4. Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala, Pittsburgh | 6th rd. | 39 | 189 | 4.8 |
| 5. Ken Oxendine, Atlanta | 7th rd. | 35 | 155 | 4.4 |
| 6. Michael Pittman, Arizona | 4th rd. | 47 | 153 | 3.3 |
| 7. Tavian Banks, Jacksonville | 4th rd. | 22 | 140 | 6.4 |
| 8. Michael Black, Seattle | FA | 43 | 139 | 3.2 |
| 9. John Avery, Miami | 1st rd. | 27 | 132 | 4.9 |
| 10. Tremayne Stephens, San Diego | FA | 22 | 128 | 5.8 |
|
*tops in the NFL
**second in the NFL
First-Round Draft Picks
| Name | TC | Yds. | Avg. |
| 1. John Avery, Miami | 27 | 132 | 4.9 |
| 2. Fred Taylor, Jacksonville | 39 | 114 | 2.9 |
| 3. Curtis Enis, Chicago | 13 | 62 | 4.8 |
| 4. Robert Edwards, New England | 21 | 58 | 2.7 |
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Copouts are available, of course. Enis held out and missed
two games. Avery and Edwards have nursed, respectively,
hamstring and groin injuries. Taylor has been OK, but he
looks like just another guy, whereas his teammate and
fellow rookie, Banks, has
been sensational. Banks has magic feet and a real knack for
making people miss. How come the scouts didn't see
that?
Avery, the only top draft to crack the top 10 on the first
chart, owes his numbers to one 71-yard run, which I've seen
described as everything from "breathtaking" to
"scintillating." It wasn't. He came through a big
hole outside left tackle and then all
he had to do was keep running. I've also read that he
sprinted away from all defenders, and that's a fable, too.
Zack Bronson, a backup 49ers safety, was in pursuit, and
for the last 30 yards or so Avery maintained a five-yard
lead, neither gaining nor
losing ground. Granted, the kid is fast, but there was
nothing in this play that got me
excited.
Enis had a chance to show his stuff for a little more than
a quarter in the Bears' final preseason contest and he did,
showing power and a real burst. I was wrong about this guy.
I had him figured as the bust of the draft, but he looks
like the real
thing. Edwards? Who knows? He's certainly not the guy to make
Patriots fans forget about Curtis Martin, which was the PR
coming out of Foxboro on draft day. Not yet,
anyway.
You could argue that the whole key to exhibition-game
performance rests on what unit a guy is playing on, against
what unit. Firsts going against seconds are supposed to do
well. Backups going against the varsity are supposed to get
stuffed unless, of
course, the No. 1's are annoyed at having to play so long and
take the rest of the night off. Which happens. Boy, does it
happen.
But in the case of these rookie runners they were all,
basically, thrown into the same situation. And the lower
guys put up the numbers and the top drafts didn't, for
whatever reason. Maybe the stars were protecting
themselves, secure in the knowledge
that they had it made. Maybe some of those free agents were
nursing injuries that would have kept the top guys out,
except they were too insecure to tell anyone about them and
they just toughed it
out.
And maybe, just maybe, it's getting tougher for scouts to
handicap running
backs.
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