Run to daylight

Looking for a back? There are plenty in the draft pool

Ask any three college scouting directors what the best way to find a running back in the NFL draft is and you'll get three pretty different answers. Great backs can come from small schools or big schools. They can be found late in the draft as well as in the first round. They're short players, big players ... basically, there's no best place to look. They can come from anywhere.

Look at last year's draft. San Diego wanted LaDanian Tomlinson and knew it had to be in the fifth spot to get him. Chicago needed a starter and figured the second round was the right time to pick one; the Bears took Anthony Thomas there and he turned out to be the offensive rookie of the year. The Colts were looking only for a backup for Edgerrin James and didn't even spend a draft pick on Dominic Rhodes; all Rhodes did was rush for more than 1,000 yards in place of the injured James.

The Jets also found Lamont Jordan in the second round to fill the role of insurance back, as the 49ers did with Kevan Barlow in the third. The Eagles drafted Correll Buckhalter in the fourth for the same reason and he may unseat starter Duce Staley before too long.

By my count, four or five teams need to come out of this draft with a starting back: Houston, Cleveland, Carolina, Tampa Bay and maybe Detroit. Another seven teams need to get a quality backup. That means about a dozen backs from the Class of 2002 will play prominent roles in their rookie seasons.

William Green is the best back in this draft, according to most people I've talked to. He rushed for more than 1,700 yards and 16 touchdowns for Boston College last season. He's big, versatile and productive and he will not get out of the first round. There has been some discrepancy about his 40-time -- some say he ran 4.4 at his personal workout, while others at the same workout claim he's more of a 4.6 guy. Last year at this time, Tomlinson had a list of critics who felt he wouldn't be able to run inside in a pro-style offense. Remember: Rumors about a prospect slipping to the second round are usually started by teams that want him to fall right to them.

T.J. Duckett apparently has moved himself into the second slot. He ran under 4.5 on most watches at 250 pounds. Factor in his 37-inch vertical and 25 reps on the bench press and we are potentially looking at another Jerome Bettis. The problem is these numbers don't correlate with what's on film. Duckett had a productive season with 1,420 yards, but not many evaluators saw the speed. One scouting director said, "It looks like he really trained well for his workouts but he's still a Ron Dayne-type back."

The third spot is a toss up between UCLA's DeShaun Foster and Miami's Clinton Portis. Both rushed for more than 1,000 yards last year, both have good hands and both have some issues to overcome. Portis is under 200 pounds and his durability is a question mark with some clubs. Foster has had some fumble problems.

But both have the cutback running style NFL clubs look for and both may get a chance to start. If either of these backs somehow falls to the second round, as Thomas did a year ago, Houston and Carolina would have a tough time passing them up.

A few backs are starting to distinguish themselves in the next tier of prospects. Ohio State's Jonathan Wells is the second-best big back behind Duckett. He can carry 250 pounds, got in the end zone 16 times last season (four more times than did Duckett on nine fewer carries) and has caught the ball well when asked to. Villanova's Brian Westbrook is a cross between Tiki Barber and Warrick Dunn. He has some injury history but he also had 1,600 yards and 22 touchdowns this past season. Detroit needs a third-down back and Tampa Bay just lost Dunn to the Falcons.

One veteran running back coach I know who has a knack for finding backs in the middle rounds really likes Oregon's Maurice Morris. This same coach recommended Adrian Murrell to me the year he came out. He also told me to forget about the injuries Curtis Martin had in college. So I'm listening again this time about Morris.

Finally, is there another Dominic Rhodes dark horse? I spent a lot of time with Rhodes last spring and believed he could play, but I couldn't convince anyone to draft him. Rhodes didn't mind the challenge of being an undrafted free agent; he knew he would make it if given the chance. One guy who seems similarly composed is Jonathan Reese, a 220-pounder from Columbia who recently ran a 4.5 for a few scouts. Like Rhodes, Reese believes that if he gets the opportunity, he'll run with it.

Pat Kirwan, who spent 12 years as a pro football coach, scout and personnel administrator, is an NFL analyst for CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNNSI.com.

 

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