There are three RB prospects expected to go in the first round this year. And they all come in and measured as expected at the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine.
LSU’s Leonard Fournette, Florida State’s Dalvin Cook and Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey all expect to go in Round 1. We’ve seen them all on tape but they all had measurements they listed. And prospects often don’t list their measurements accurately.
Sometimes, depending on the position, those measurements can take a prospect off a team’s board. Each prospect wants to at least be in the neighborhood of the measurements they listed. For the big three RBs of the class of 2017, there were no problems.
Leonard Fournette, the consensus No. 1 RB prospect, listed himself at 6’1″, 235 pounds. At the combine, he went in five pounds heavier at 6’0″, 240 pounds, which was. In interviews, he explained the five extra pounds as “water weight” from drinking extra water.
Cook was right on the money with his assumed weight at 5’10”, 210 pounds. Then there was Christian McCaffrey, who many were concerned about, who was right there at 5’10”, 202. So outside of an inch in height and an extra gallon of water, they’re as advertised.
Cook ended up impressing on the day with 22 reps at 225, showing he had some strength. McCaffrey had just 10 reps at 225 but he isn’t known for his strength anyway. Then there was Fournette, who didn’t participate but has nothing to prove as far as strength goes.
So we come away from this knowing each guy is what we thought they were. Tomorrow is the 40-yard dash so we’ll really see what’s going on with these RBs.