Quote:
Originally Posted by REDeYeS88
if you subtract the longest rush per game and re-calculate his YPC, this results in 8 out of 13 games result in averaging less than 3 YPC. i think this is a reasonable way of normalizing for undisciplined college defenses and trying to predict what happens against NFL schemes. yes, some of his yardage is a result of his explosiveness, but i'm not sure he has the vision to maximize yards on every rush.
as a comparison, here are the last college season results for some of the top NFL rookie RBs from last season:
Fournette: 1 game of < 3ypc, 2 games <3 ypc after subtracting the longest rush
Mixon: 0 games of <3 ypc, 5 games <3ypc after subtracting the longest rush
Cook: 0 games of <3 ypc, 1 game <3ypc after subtracting the longest rush
McCaffrey: 0 games of <3 ypc, 1 game <3ypc after subtracting the longest rush
The question is what O line he had in front. Fournette ran over everybody except 2 teams - Alabama and Arkansas - they both had enormous D lines stacked with prospects. But the fault there wasn't Fournette's, it was that his O line was overmatched.
People tend to think running bad against Bama indicates he can't handle NFL competition, but that's not a good interpretation. It just means the line in front of them isn't future NFL level. It's a bad indicator for those linemen as prospects, but doesn't say much about the backs behind them.