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Detroit Lions NFL Combine and draft primer: Running backs

By Michael Kirkland

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 03: Running backs Leonard Fournette of LSU and Dalvin Cook of Florida State listen with a group of players during the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 3, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 03: Running backs Leonard Fournette of LSU and Dalvin Cook of Florida State listen with a group of players during the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 3, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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GLENDALE, AZ – DECEMBER 30: Running back Saquon Barkley #26 of the Penn State Nittany Lions rushes the football against the Washington Huskies during the second half of the Playstation Fiesta Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium on December 30, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. The Nittany Lions defeated the Huskies 35-28. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, AZ – DECEMBER 30: Running back Saquon Barkley #26 of the Penn State Nittany Lions rushes the football against the Washington Huskies during the second half of the Playstation Fiesta Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium on December 30, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. The Nittany Lions defeated the Huskies 35-28. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

 Saquon Barkley

Barkley, the Penn State product, is the Holy Grail of running backs. He is 5-11, 230 pounds, runs under a 4.50 second forty-yard dash, and just does everything well. Saquon is even being compared to *GASP* Barry Sanders. I don’t know if that analogy is quite fitting, but he’s a big, NFL-ready player. I have also seen him compared to LaDainian Tomlinson, which I think is a more fair comparison.

Often top prospects do not run at the combine, but Barkley is likely to wow every general manager in whatever he does do. Barkley is also a likely Top 5 pick. He does everything well, and is an ideal athlete for the position.

Barkley exhibits good power and moves, and is an adept receiver and blocker. Saquon makes people miss but is also able to run over defenders. All-around he is a complete player who could’ve been chosen very early last year, if he had left then. NFL scouts believe that he is one of the top prospects at this position over the last decade.

Combine talk

The only real thing working against him is the devaluation of the running back position, and that NFL teams are finding success with later picks. See: Kareem Hunt, Alvin Kamara, Jordan Howard, and other non-first round talent tearing up the NFL turf.

Most teams now consider spending a top five pick too steep of a price for a position where the player is commonly used up at 30 years old.

For Barkley, whenever he runs it will be dissected heavily considering his potential high draft stock. His forty (forty yard dash), the first ten yards of which are referred to as a ten yard split;  the first twenty yards are a twenty yard split. The last twenty yards are to show extra acceleration.

If Barkley were to fall out of the top ten, that would set the market for other runners.

Also, it is highly unlikely that the Lions have the draft capital to get him, even if he were to fall near the end of the top ten. I would expect someone to move up if he were to fall out of the top five, even.

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