These came up a little in the Bijan thread and I thought I’d make a new one out of it. I think it’ll help everyone see just how deep this RB class really is.
So for me a comp is usually stylistic but can also be “what they’ll bring to the offense comps” (see Charbonnet below). And I’m not saying they’re going to be as good or as bad as the running back they’ve been comped to, just that they have similar skill sets/size/style.
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Bijan Robinson - Edgerrin James. This is the one that sort of kicked everything off and I was really proud of myself when I thought of it, only to find out the main draft expert over at PFF uses the same comp lol. So I probably stole it from him without realizing it. But it’s also one I really agree with. They’re the exact same size and both have a shifty strong running style, and Edge was one of the first elite pass-catching RBs too. As @CuriousHusker says Bijan is probably a little less disciplined, but that also makes him more creative. Edge might have been a little stronger but they’re both plenty strong.
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Jahmyr Gibbs - CJ Spiller but a better pass-catcher. Similarly sized guys, they’re both electric and explosive one-cut runners who annihilate angles. And like Spiller, Gibbs gathers himself to make sharp, lateral cuts, it’s almost like they’re moving too fast to slow down. I think he’d fit best in a zone scheme that asks him to make one cut and go, in fact I think he’d be a star.
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Zach Charbonnet - James Conner. This is less a stylistic comp and more of a “what he’ll do for an offense” comp, though certainly they have a lot in common. But like Conner you’ll rarely see Charbonnet break off any 20+ yard runs in the pros, but you’ll see plenty of 7-15 yard runs all the way down the field. Strong, tough and steady.
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Roschon Johnson - Adrian Peterson. I know it sounds crazy but just go watch his highlights and imagine him in those putrid purple unis. You don’t even have to break down his tape fully to see the similarities, the frenetic running style, the aggression, the size and length. They really look a lot alike.
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Tank Bigsby - Miles Sanders. They’re both a little angular and upright, they both cut and go and I wouldn’t call either one patient or smooth. What I mean by that is they both have hyper running styles, like they floor the accelerator when they get the ball. It’s a full of energy style.
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Sean Tucker - Tiki Barber. This is another stylistic comp, I don’t have Tucker rated anywhere near as highly as a prospect. But they’re the exact same size and it’s easy to see Tucker’s thin, sort of upright but smallish frame, not to mention his blazing speed and see Tiki Barber. At least it is for me.
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Zach Evans - Dalvin Cook. Like @Air2theThrown I really love Evans’s game. To me he’s kind of the prototypical running back. He’s got great vision and lean, he follows his blockers really well, he’s a good enough pass-catcher, and like Cook he’s more explosive than you think. He’s a little taller than Cook but their styles are very similar. The only reason I don’t regularly mock him to us is I’m worried he might be a turd, and as we all know Brad & Co have a no-turds policy.
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Israel Abanikanda - Tim Biakabatuka. Ever since @CuriousHusker mentioned this comp I can’t unsee it, they look like they could be twins on the field. I think Abanikanda’s a much better prospect, I think he’s stronger, has better vision, and might have a little bit more juice, but from a perspective of lookalikes it doesn’t get a lot closer than this.
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Devon Achane - Percy Harvin. As kick returns they’re very similar. Explosive guys who’ll house plenty of kickoffs/punts. Electric movement skills and really close in size too. Achane is a RB so he’s better at RB stuff between the tackles, though whether he’ll ever be good enough to do it with regularity is TBD. And Harvin was pretty good with handoffs as well. Achane is probably a little faster too but they’re both so fast it will hardly matter.
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Tyjae Spears - Thurman Thomas. Took me awhile to think of someone this size who was explosive but not necessarily straight-up fast, who could catch the ball, and who had fantastic RB instincts to boot. I finally settled on Thurman who might have a slightly smoother running style than Spears but who otherwise ticks a lot of the boxes. I LOVE Spears, though I’m worried his performance at the Senior Bowl has made him too expensive. Maybe he’ll run 4.5 to bring his hype back down a little.
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Kendre Miller - DeMarco Murray. Again similarly sized dudes with good contact balance and nothing flashy about their games, but who constantly seem to surprise DBs at the second level. Both players have outrunning bad angles all over their tape.
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Keaton Mitchell - Jason Huntley. Former Lion Jason Huntley who’s still hanging around in the league on the Pittsburgh practice squad (and he almost made the Eagles out of training camp). No, it’s not the most flattering comp but being a comp to Huntley doesn’t mean their careers will go the same way. But they’re both small, electric guys who played at small schools and often made the defense look silly.
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Chase Brown - Frank Gore. Watching them run you might think they’re the same guy. Brown is probably a little more explosive than Gore even, especially after Gore’s college injury, but Gore’s vision is a level above Brown’s as a prospect.
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Eric Gray - Curtis Martin. They’re the exact same size which is surprising, right? You think of Martin as being a bigger back and Gray as a smaller one, but nope. Same size. When I watched Gray I knew he reminded me of someone with the way he plants a hard foot in the ground as he moves forward without sacrificing much forward momentum at all, and I finally realized it was Martin. And they’re both good pass-catchers and tough to bring down, and while both have decent burst and good build-up speed, I wouldn’t call either explosive.
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Deuce Vaughn - Marcus Jones. The problem with most of the comps I see for Deuce - Sproles, Meggett, Jacquizz Rodgers - is none of them have Deuce’s juice. Vaughn is explosive, one of the more explosive guys in the class, and comping him to other small, shifty running backs just because they’re small felt disingenuous. Then I remembered Jones who entered the league as a DB but proved so explosive with the ball in his hands the Pats started using him on offense. Watch those plays - and the returns - then watch Deuce. They’re very similar. Of course Vaughn is much better at being a RB, but physically I think it’s a great comp.
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DeWayne McBride - Isaiah Crowell. Crowell is about ten pounds heavier than McBride is listed but I’m OK with that, they both butter their bread the same way. Tough, physical interior running with enough juice to surprise a defense. Similar leans to their running styles as well, and neither does much in the passing game. We’ll have to hope off-field issues won’t ruin McBride’s career like they did Crowell’s, but there’s no indication of anything like that so far.
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Mo Ibrahim - BenJarvus Green-Ellis. It’s surprising to me that Ibrahim is only listed at 210 pounds. He runs so hard and seems so impossible to bring down you just assume he’s bigger than that. He doesn’t look like a giant on tape but even then I expected something like 225. But there are other smaller, RBs who were tough to bring down, starting with Marshawn Lynch (215 at the combine). But Ibrahim’s not Lynch even if their styles were a match, he’s far too slow. And he’s too fast to be Elijah Holyfield, another similar runner. Green-Ellis is the perfect marriage of those two guys and when watching he and Ibrahim the similarities become clear.
Whew. That turned out to be a lot longer than I intended. But there’s just so many great running back prospects in this draft. So call me out, where did I screw up? Where am I way off base? I really think we’re in for a RB at some point this year so this is definitely a pertinent topic.