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NFL Draft 2019: 5 Most challenging positions to evaluate

By Shelbie Warr

MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 29: Deionte Thompson #14 of the Alabama Crimson Tide breaks the pass intended for Carson Meier #45 of the Oklahoma Sooners in the third quarter during the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 29: Deionte Thompson #14 of the Alabama Crimson Tide breaks the pass intended for Carson Meier #45 of the Oklahoma Sooners in the third quarter during the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
(Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

2. Running Back

Ah, the position that has truly become a dime a dozen in the NFL. There are a few teams who have found their guy that they have built their offense around a strong back and a decent group of receivers- looking at you LA Rams and Dallas Cowboys. Let’s all be real- those two teams are completely different without Todd Gurley, CJ Anderson and Ezekiel Elliott on the field. There is no question about that.

So, if running backs are a dime a dozen, that means that it should be easier for a rookie to make a splash right? Wrong. There are so many backs in the league right now, that it is going to be hard for anyone to break out and be the starter for anyone off the back. Not everyone is just that good and it is really hard to evaluate who is going to be that good.

Many teams have learned to operate with a decent enough running back or have found their guy- at least for a small amount of time as running backs tend to be the quickest changing positions. Scouting for longevity here is hard, unless your name is Adrian Peterson. The position takes hit after hit, especially in a league that has begun to lean heavily on “running the damn ball” as so many fans put it. The question here is who is going to last the longest in an NFL backfield. That isn’t even all of it in terms of evaluation difficulties for backs though.

The biggest issue in evaluation for me here is that you can’t see how skills will translate into the NFL based on what you see on tape. You can’t simply look at what a kid does at the college level and expect that same kind of stuff to happen at the NFL level. There are so many factors that can make a player seem like one of the best at the college level just to be an absolute bust in the NFL. For example, Darren McFadden out of Arkansas and Trent Richardson out of Alabama. Neither of these guys really were able to put together the same kind of stuff that they had in college.

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