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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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Michel with a carry
ATLANTA, GA – JANUARY 08: Sony Michel #1 of the Georgia Bulldogs runs the ball away from Mack Wilson #30 of the Alabama Crimson Tide during the second quarter in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 8, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

Sony Michel

Michel is one of the two Georgia backs available in this draft, and the least used.  His teammate, Bradley Chubb is also a top ten running back, albeit with an injury history. Michel is known for being an elusive runner, but not a thumper. He can catch and is a 3-down kind of player. Sony is a very similar player to 2017 rookie, Alvin Kamara of the New Orleans Saints. So, a team may need a short-yardage back if they select Michel, but he can do everything else well.

Michel isn’t a burner, runs near a 4.53 forty, but it’s in the first few steps , i.e., his 10 yard split, that matter, functionally. Also, has had a couple of shoulder injuries that will be important to doctors and teams.

Combine talk

The science of scouting allows for teams to dissect a player’s performance. For example, 2017 Kansas City Chiefs rookie, Kareem Hunt ran a 4.62 overall. That doesn’t sound that impressive.

Here’s where you have to look deeper than the whole 40 yards at once. Kareem took 1.59 seconds to run the first ten yards while taking 2.67 to reach twenty. Of note, his ten yard and twenty yard splits were as good as Leonard Fournette, who went fourth overall.

Fournette may have better deep speed, from 20-40 yards, than Hunt, but Kareem is just as functional. Again, most plays do not happen in 40 yard chunks, they happen in under ten yard measurements. Therefore, even though Fournette is the better athlete, he was not the more effective runner. In fact, Hunt lead the NFL in rushing as a rookie.

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