The Trent Richardson Thread

[John Galt?]

Totally agree. I wouldn't take a RB not named Barry Sanders or AD in the first round. Taking a player like Ryan Matthews in the first round is bad value IMO given the short careers of most RBs and the RBBC approach most teams use now.

First round value in today's NFL is QB, OT, DE, CB.

Ryan Matthews? How about CJ Spiller??

I would not limit First round value to just a few positions. Now Top 10 picks I'd say QB, OT, DT, DE, CB. Or once in 5 year guys at WR or RB like AP or Megatron. If you are at the bottom of the draft (which usually means you have those top positions filled) then LB, OL, and other positions become as valuable as the leftovers at QB, OT, DT, DE, CB. IOW, it is better to get the #1 LB or C or FS over the 5th or 6th best DE/DT/CB.

[kbl117]

Ive been saying this for a few years. Only draft a 1st round RB if hes a superstar, only draft one in rounds 2-3 if youre pretty sure hes gonna be a pro bowler.


Good RBs can be found off teh streets, and the shelf life for RBs is too short to invest that high in them

[Feel Real Good]

I think a running back picked between 15-32 can be good value because you get his prime years before he starts to wear down and you don't have to pay him that much in the back half of the 1st. If you already have a pretty near complete team, some fresh legs at running back can give you a big boost.

[Boid Fink]

...revisionist history is...well...

Gaines was clearly the choice for the BUcs the year he was drafted.  His performance was not as explosive as we needed however.

At the time, DE was top priority.  The Bucs drafted the clear cut best DE in that draft.

Nuff said.

Of course, with a crystal ball, a lot of us would be multi billionaires.  Unfortunately, you don't have one, and neither do they.  And neither do I.

JDouble is one of the handful of posters that will stick his neck out on a player.  I respect that, although I have definitely disagreed with his on many many things. 

So for this upcoming draft, who is going to be a bonafide superstar?  Any takers?  And I mean, YOU HAVE TO BE CORRECT. 

Since NOBODY knows, the hindsighting should cease and desist.

It is not like there is another Suh in the draft...we all KNEW he was going to be a quality professional athlete.  Didn't we?

[X Factor]

Gaines was the right choice, but was he BPA? I don't think so..  But I liked the pick at the time not going to lie...
Patrick Peterson is going to be a star, go ahead and mark me down for predicting that... lol   But he's a top 5 pick and we won't have a chance at him...

[Biggs3535]

So for this upcoming draft, who is going to be a bonafide superstar?  Any takers?  And I mean, YOU HAVE TO BE CORRECT. 

Since NOBODY knows, the hindsighting should cease and desist.

I'll say AJ Green, Mark Ingram, DaQuan Bowers, Patrick Peterson, & Prince Amukamara.

There were many people who weren't thrilled with the Adams selection at the time, no matter how much folks talk about "hindsight".

[michael89156]

Richardson an unforgettable talent, pro prospect







THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Trent Richardson is widely considered the best running back prospect since Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson.




By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune
Published: April 22, 2012 - 12:00 AM

TAMPA --
As dawn broke on his senior year at Pensacola's Escambia High School, the motivation for Trent Richardson to become an elite football player hung on a wall in his bedroom.

Put there by a brother earlier that summer, it was as a collection of pictures of great college running backs such as Ricky Williams, Earl Campbell and Reggie Bush. But it wasn't enough, Richardson said, to be like those backs. He wanted to be remembered like them, as well.

That was the goal he set the day those pictures went up.

Four years later, Richardson has clearly achieved the objective.

A powerful runner who led the charge for Alabama's 2012 BCS national championship, Richardson is among the most highly-touted NFL running back prospects in the past decade – and could be available when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on the clock Thursday with the No. 5 overall pick.

Certainly, Richardson crafted an unforgettable career at Alabama. He set single-season school records for rushing yardage (1,679), rushing touchdowns (21) and all-purpose yardage (2,083) as a junior last season – largely because he refuses to forget where he came from.

The youngest of six children raised almost exclusively by his mother, Katrina, in a Warrington housing project, Richardson said he is driven by his desire to escape his difficult upbringing.

"Where I was brought up, in Warrington, it was crazy out there,'' said Richardson, 20. "There were a lot of deaths going on there. There were a lot of drugs around me. That's where I grew up.''

Richardson grew up fast. It's not like he had much choice.

Before he completed his sophomore year at Escambia High, he was father to a baby girl he and girlfriend Sevina Fatu named Taliyah. Two years later, Fatu gave birth to Richardson's second daughter, Elevera.

Taliyah and Elevera, now 5 and 3, respectively, also motivate Richardson to be a player no one will ever forget.

"I don't want them to go through what I went through,'' Richardson said of his daughters, who live with Richardson's mother, who moved to Birmingham, Ala, while Richardson was in college.

"I saw my mom work two or three jobs at once and then have to come home and make meals and clean up after us. I don't want my kids to go through that. Their daddy, he's in a situation now where he can make life better for them. He can show them what hard work can get you and that you can never give up.

"That's what my momma showed me and what my brothers taught me, and that's really motivated me on the field, because when I play with my girls on my mind, I feel like nobody can stop me.''

Stopping Richardson was difficult long before Taliyah and Elevera were born. As a kid playing in the sandlot and on little league teams, he said, he never was caught from behind on a run.

Early in his prep career, ankle surgery couldn't stop him either. In fact, it only made him better. Taking to the beaches near Pensacola, Richardson rehabbed by running in the sand, which helped develop the unique blend of power and balance that has NFL scouts raving.

Not even the knee injury he suffered while prepping for the NFL's scouting combine earlier this year slowed him down. Despite not running the 40-yard dash at the combine, Richardson ranks as the top running back in the draft.

"Richardson might be the best player in this draft," former Panthers, Bills and Colts executive Bill Polian said during a conference call on Friday. "You could argue that. He has very few flaws. And even as nitpicky as we get at this time of year, there's very little to dislike about him or even very few nits to pick."

Richardson believes something else sets him apart. An adept pass protector and receiver out of the backfield, he caught 29 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns last season. He also returned three kicks for 66 yards. His versatility, Richardson said, is what teams covet.

"That's why I'm No. 1 on the board,'' Richardson said during an interview at the scouting combine. "And that's one thing I'll (keep) working on – catching the ball, running, blocking, knowing my defenses, all that kind of stuff.

"When it comes down to it, at this level and in this game today, you have to be a running back who can do everything if you want to be a running back who is taken in the first round.''

Everything, he said, includes his willingness to fight for the tough yards by running between the tackles. That's an aspect of the game in which he takes particular pride – and joy.

"I love contact,'' said Richardson, who is listed at 5-foot-11, 224 pounds. "When it comes down to, 'Are you going to hit me or am I going to hit you?' – nine times out of 10, I'm going to hit you. It's a mindset thing with me.''

Richardson applies that mindset to the classroom, as well. Every day, he said, he spends time researching opponents, looking for an edge that will allow him to excel in areas many backs struggle.

"I work in the classroom learning plays and learning the defensive line and what the linebackers and safeties are doing so I can pick up my blitzes, because I love to block, too,'' he said.

"Everybody knows I can run the ball. But I can do the dirty stuff, too, and I've never been caught from behind, and I don't fumble either. That's one thing I do not do.''

At least not often. Of the 708 times Richardson handled the ball during his three seasons at Alabama, he fumbled only seven times and only one of those was recovered by the opposition.

"When it comes to playing football, a lot of people just want to try to find negatives in your game,'' he said. "But there aren't too many negatives in my game. There just aren't.''

[Dolorous Jason]

"I work in the classroom learning plays and learning the defensive line and what the linebackers and safeties are doing so I can pick up my blitzes, because I love to block, too,'' he said.

"Everybody knows I can run the ball. But I can do the dirty stuff, too, and I've never been caught from behind, and I don't fumble either. That's one thing I do not do.''

That's what I love to hear...get this guy at all costs .

[Blaze688]

Wow.  Two children before he graduated high school.

Busy kid.

[BucBalla85]

"I work in the classroom learning plays and learning the defensive line and what the linebackers and safeties are doing so I can pick up my blitzes, because I love to block, too,'' he said.

"Everybody knows I can run the ball. But I can do the dirty stuff, too, and I've never been caught from behind, and I don't fumble either. That's one thing I do not do.''

That's what I love to hear...get this guy at all costs .

So now you admit we'd have to trade up to get him. I wouldn't do it.

[nubcake]

Wow.  Two children before he graduated high school.

Busy kid.

I don't agree with his personal decisions either in this regard, but he's at least shown the responsibility to take care of both of his kids rather than being forced into child support. So I see no applicable character concerns here.

[The Anti-Java]

Wow.  Two children before he graduated high school.

Busy kid.

I don't agree with his personal decisions either in this regard, but he's at least shown the responsibility to take care of both of his kids rather than being forced into child support. So I see no applicable character concerns here.

+1

[threadkiller]

Wow.  Two children before he graduated high school.

Busy kid.

We should probably limit our draft selections to those young men who signed chastity pledges upon entering high school.  Or were able to talk their girlfriends into abortions at least. 

I don't agree with his personal decisions either in this regard, but he's at least shown the responsibility to take care of both of his kids rather than being forced into child support. So I see no applicable character concerns here.

I agree with the sentiment, but "personal decisions"?  Having sex before marriage?  How many of us couldn't have ended up with a kid in high school?  I wasn't getting down as a sophomore, but I wasn't a stud football player either.  Also can't say that I was "safe" when I did break through, or that any of my peers were.  I went through school before the days of putting condoms on bananas in school, but still.  Totally agree with the theme of your post though.  If anything Trent gets higher marks for being a man about the situation he found himself in as a 16 year old boy. 

[Dolorous Jason]

Wow.  Two children before he graduated high school.

Busy kid.

We should probably limit our draft selections to those young men who signed chastity pledges upon entering high school.  Or were able to talk their girlfriends into abortions at least. 

LOL ! Now that was funny.

[Blaze688]

I don't dispute his sense of responsibility, and I never claimed that his children should be a draft deterrent.  You'd just think that after kid numero uno at age sixteen, birth control of any kind would be a priority.