Day 3 of the NFL Draft doesn't have the kind of excitement of the early rounds. It's a thrill to be drafted for most of the players, of course, but the perceived top prospects at some positions who fall to the fourth or fifth round were hoping to go earlier. But I see some intriguing players and landing spots here.
The likeliest impact from these picks in 2022 -- fourth- through seventh-rounders -- will be at the running back position. Looking at the past decade, I see only a couple of rookie quarterbacks (Dak Prescott and Gardner Minshew), tight ends (Chris Herndon and George Kittle) and even wide receivers (Tyreek Hill, Darius Slayton and Amon-Ra St. Brown last year) who were selected in the final four rounds and put up significant rookie numbers. Some other late-rounders emerged eventually (fifth-rounder Stefon Diggs ranked 47th among wide receivers as a rookie, then was a top-20 wideout by Year 3), but it took some time.
But at running back, I find 13 rookies drafted from the fourth round on who put up top-35 numbers as rookies. That doesn't even count Chuba Hubbard, who fell just short of that ranking in Carolina last year. Three of those players put up top 25 numbers in their first seasons, while several more just missed, including sixth-rounder Elijah Mitchell and fourth-rounder Michael Carter last year.
| DAY 3 RUNNING BACKS WITH TOP-35 ROOKIE SEASONS, 2012-2021 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rd | Year | Player | Att | Run | No | Rec | TD | FF | Rk |
| 6 | 2012 | Alfred Morris, Was. | 335 | 1613 | 11 | 77 | 13 | 258.0 | 7 |
| 5 | 2016 | Jordan Howard, Chi. | 252 | 1313 | 29 | 298 | 7 | 232.1 | 10 |
| 5 | 2013 | Zac Stacy, St.L. | 250 | 973 | 26 | 141 | 8 | 185.4 | 21 |
| 6 | 2021 | Elijah Mitchell, S.F. | 207 | 963 | 19 | 137 | 6 | 165.0 | 26 |
| 6 | 2013 | Andre Ellington, Ariz. | 118 | 652 | 39 | 371 | 4 | 165.3 | 26 |
| 4 | 2014 | Andre Williams, NYG | 217 | 721 | 18 | 130 | 7 | 145.1 | 27 |
| 4 | 2017 | Tarik Cohen, Chi. | 87 | 370 | 53 | 353 | 4 | 154.4 | 28 |
| 4 | 2021 | Michael Carter, NYJ | 147 | 639 | 36 | 325 | 4 | 156.4 | 29 |
| 4 | 2016 | Devontae Booker, Den. | 174 | 612 | 31 | 265 | 5 | 148.7 | 29 |
| 4 | 2015 | Javorius Allen, Balt. | 137 | 514 | 45 | 353 | 3 | 149.7 | 29 |
| 4 | 2015 | Jeremy Langford, Chi. | 148 | 537 | 22 | 279 | 7 | 147.6 | 30 |
| 5 | 2012 | Vick Ballard, Ind. | 211 | 814 | 17 | 152 | 3 | 131.6 | 33 |
| 4 | 2017 | Jamaal Williams, G.B. | 153 | 556 | 25 | 262 | 6 | 142.8 | 34 |
The most interesting selections at the position yesterday:
Isaiah Spiller, Chargers. Spiller was widely viewed as a Round 2-3 pick during the predraft process, so it's a little disappointing NFL teams didn't view him as favorably. He rushed for over 1,000 yards in each of his last two seasons at Texas A&M, and in all three years caught 20-29 passes and scored 26 total touchdowns. Nothing eye-popping about his numbers or his game, and he disappointed at the combine (limited by an injury, according to his agent). But with the Chargers he has a pretty clear path to being the immediate No. 2 to workhorse Austin Ekeler -- a change-of-pace to start, and more if and when injuries strike. Would not be surprising if he starts games this season.
Zamir White, Raiders. The other half of Georgia's running back tandem with James Cook, White has a concerning injury history that probably drove his draft stock down. Most likely he'll have a limited role in 2022, behind Josh Jacobs and Kenyan Drake, but let's see. Running backs get hurt, and Drake's contract was always ridiculous -- maybe the new regime looks to move on quickly. The team declined Jacobs' fifth-year option last week, so they're definitely ready for a do-over with this running back room.
Dameon Pierce, Texans. No offense (well, some) to Marlon Mack and Rex Burkhead, but if there's a running back selected the past two days that has the best shot of being a Week 1 starter, Pierce is the guy. The Florida back was part of a committee that included a running quarterback, putting up modest numbers all four years, but he's got good size (5-10, 218 pounds) and offers more inside running ability than Burkhead and probably more power and juice than Mack at this point, as well. Would seem a little silly for a team like Houston not to give rookies every opportunity to win starting job.
Hassan Haskins, Titans. Tennessee is another team that's tried and generally failed to back up Derrick Henry in recent years. They had a nice fill-in with D'Onta Foreman last year, but he's gone. Haskins is cut from a similar cloth as a big (6-2, 228) powerful runner who plays big; not overly fast, but a downhill type who won't be easy to get down once he gets his legs moving. There are more misses than hits with this type of back, but I think he's found a good roster spot, with it at least fair to wonder if Henry is starting to break down after missing a good chunk of last season.
--Andy Richardson