1.05 Tennessee Taz Devils — RB David Wilson

In the real world: Great athlete, has burst, 4.40 speed, can be a game-breaker, first-round-caliber talent and ability. Mike Mayock of NFL Network listed him as his #2 RB—a one-cut back he likens to LeSean McCoy. Greg Cosell also ranked him #2, and so did the team that selected him at the end of Round 1, the New York Giants. His job situation has loads of potential as well:
  • Wilson went to the Giants with the 32nd overall pick. By coincidence, the Giants' running attack ranked 32nd in the league.
  • The Giants jettisoned Brandon Jacobs earlier this year.
  • Ahmad Bradshaw, their current lead RB, has seen his yards-per-carry average decline in each year he's been in the NFL.
  • On top of that, Bradshaw has also had a history of foot injuries.
I have two concerns about Wilson, however:
  • He fumbled seven times out of 290 carries in 2011, losing four. That makes Wilson a dicey pick—consider two 2008 draftees: Jamaal Charles overcame his fumbling issues, but Steve Slaton did not.  Maybe the Giants' coaching staff can fix that.
  • Then there's the matter of performance in short-yardage and goal-line situations. This scouting report says: “Still very raw as an inside runner, running too indecisive and struggling to find running room at the (line of scrimmage) ... wavers and hesitates too much when the clear opening isn't there and ends up going east/west for a loss.” If you don't believe that, here's the statistical breakdown for 2011 on ESPN.com. Add up his first-and-goal, second-and-goal, third-and-short and fourth-and-short numbers, and you get 35 carries for 49 yards and 2 TDs. Trent Richardson, LaMichael James and Ronnie Hillman all did way better in those situations.
In fairness to Wilson, he only started at running back for one year (he had played behind Ryan Williams previously), whereas Richardson, James and Hillman had been starting for much longer.
In the TUFF world: I give Tennessee credit for moving up to make this pick. They came so close to returning to the TUFF playoffs for the first time in years last year, and the credit for their resurgence goes to Lonnie Daniel for the last two drafts (WR Demaryius Thomas, TE Jermaine Gresham and RB LeGarrette Blount two years ago; then WR A.J. Green and QB Jake Locker last year). But two of their top three RBs went from being potentially every-down backs to runners stuck in "timeshare" situations (Michael Bush going to Chicago, and Blount benched for Doug Martin in Tampa Bay). Even if Bush and Shonn Greene do get plenty of touches, they still have bye weeks like everybody else, and it's nice to be able to rely on Wilson instead of Blount on those bye weeks. Lonnie must have seen plenty of Wilson to like what he saw, being that Wilson's from Virginia Tech and Lonnie went to an ACC rival, Georgia Tech.
Pick traded: On May 5, the opening day of the TUFF Draft, Pittsburgh dealt this pick to Tennessee for Tennessee's own first-rounder (1.09) and Minnesota's (1.16). Tennessee had to move up because there was no way Wilson was going to fall to 1.09.

2 comments:

  1. Damn, I wanted a green checkmark for trading up to get him. ;-)

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    1. I considered it... it certainly too a lot of nerve to do trade up, I'll give you that. I'll do a big mea culpa if Wilson can cut out the fumbles and show that his 2011 performance on short-yardage and goal-line carries was the result of inexperience and/or subpar coaching. Those are the only things that stopped me from giving you that green check mark.

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