Sean Tucker, RB, Syracuse
I’ve tweeted this out before (@Mart_M24, thanks in advance for the follow) but Sean Tucker reminds me of Nick Chubb. Body type, play style, the whole nine yards. Nick Chubb happens to be one of my favorite NFL players, and one of the select few I actually own a jersey for. Tucker is a player that was built two things: getting pre-draft praise from me, and running dudes over.
A simple Google search tells me that Tucker is about an inch shorter and 20 pounds lighter than Chubb is, and I’m not entirely sure that’s a bad thing. While I don’t see the same athletic blend of size and speed that I get when I watch Bijan Robinson, there’s something here with Tucker. He’s swifter on his feet than Javonte Williams, the last running back to receive a Nick Chubb pro comparison from me.
When Tucker gets up to speed, which he does eye-poppingly quickly for someone of that size, there is no stopping him. He gets the runaway train stamp of approval from me, already putting him in my favorite category of running backs. He’s overwhelmingly tough on defenses, and tends to wear them down over the course of a game like any good bruising running back should. His control throughout the run is really enticing to me, and I think it’ll serve him well at the pro level.
I’m a little worried about scheme fit, if I’m being honest. There are some teams that I don’t think will be keen to use Tucker correctly. If you’re trying to show him off as a pass-catching back out of the backfield, you are sadly mistaken. He is not that guy, and I’m not sure he will ever grow into that guy. Instead, try running forward with him, the way football was intended to be. Tucker is a cut and dry, north-south running back. Push the pile and break through the line. Done.
Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College
Fans of this column will know how much I loved Chris Olave out of Ohio State last year. I even had him ranked as my WR1 over his teammate, Garrett Wilson. And I have to be honest, I haven’t watched anything from Zay Flowers this year; he’s a complete blind spot for me right now. Any scouting report I read, though, has parallels between Flowers and Olave that make me very excited to check out his tape.
Flowers is a top-tier route-runner, which is what I really enjoyed about Olave’s game at Ohio State. My number one rule for receivers is that you have to make your quarterback and coaching staff trust you. You can be the fastest receiver of all time, and be 6’4 and absolutely jacked, but if you don’t run good enough routes you are essentially useless to any professional-level offense. Flowers has the crisp routes in spades, and I can’t wait to see what all the hype is about.
Flowers has all the production to show for how reliable he’s been as well. He might be a little small at 5’10, and a little skinny at 175 pounds, but that’s the only real glaring flaw I’ve seen so far. He may slip out of the first round, despite possessing the total package, because of the lack of size. That being said, I’m willing to take a chance on Flowers to be a producer in the NFL simply because he has everything else. He will, at the very least, but a reliable slot guy for years to come, and I can’t wait to see what I’ve been missing.
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