If Donald Brown leaves, what do you guys think of Tyler Gaffney of Stanford?

[chad72]

If he is available in round 6 or 7, would you consider Tyler Gaffney of Stanford, at 6'0", 226 lbs if Donald Brown leaves?

 

Or will that be a similar style of back as Trent and Vick Ballard? He seemed to be very productive in college, hence the question.

 

What do you guys know about his pass protection skills?

[BLUEx40]

Great and I like your pic

[jameszeigler834]

Depends on whether brown leaves for one and who is still available at the time.

[MTC]

I honestly haven't seen much film on him so I can't comment but it sounds like a good idea.

[Gavin]

Nope, He's not a scat back

[COLTS449]

I like James White if we could get him in the 5th or 6th.

[MSColtsFan]

He's a grinder, and much more like Richardson and Ballard to me.  I'd much prefer a back with some speed, maybe double dip as a return guy.  Like other Stanford backs, he has mileage on him too, so I would pass.  To me, the change up of a guy like De'Anthony Thomas from Oregon (4.3 speed, 26 rushing, 15 receiving TDs in three years) would be a better fit based on the current roster.  This, of course, presumes Ballard and Richardson can actually run the ball, which remains an unknown for now...

[NewColtsFan]

If he is available in round 6 or 7, would you consider Tyler Gaffney of Stanford, at 6'0", 226 lbs if Donald Brown leaves?

 

Or will that be a similar style of back as Trent and Vick Ballard? He seemed to be very productive in college, hence the question.

 

What do you guys know about his pass protection skills?

 

I do not believe Tyler would be a good replacement for Brown.    They are NOT the same type of back.

 

Tyler is more Vick Ballard than Donald Brown.   Only, I don't think he's as good.

 

We need someone faster, quicker, with the ability to make defenders miss....   more like Brown....   Tyler is more of a power back... and I'm not sure he's got the NFL level power skills....   he might just be a college level power back.   

 

Put another way....   he's not as good a power back as Toby Gerhart was and still is.    If we need another power back, I'd much rather sign Toby in FA than draft Tyler....

 

Hope this provides a better picture....  

[krunk]

If he would have declared for the NFL this year instead of returning for his senior season, I wouldn't mind a guy like Amir Abdullah from Nebraska.  Similar size to Donald Brown, but much more elusive. Rushed for 1690 yards in 2013

[TYtheMan13]

I say we go after Dexter McCluster..his versatility would make him the perfect piece..he could line up at RB, WR, and return kicks/punts..he's a free agent too, but how much do ya think he'll cost?

[Gavin]

Im looking at 4 rb's that would make excellent scat backs:

 

1.Jerick Mckinnon- Georgia Southern

2.David Fluellen-Toledo

3.Adam Muema-San Diego State

4.Vintavious Cooper-East Carolina

[Nobody]

If he would have declared for the NFL this year instead of returning for his senior season, I wouldn't mind a guy like Amir Abdullah from Nebraska. Similar size to Donald Brown, but much more elusive. Rushed for 1690 yards in 2013

much more elusive..?

[krunk]

much more elusive..?

 

Not a hard statement to make. Abdullah is better in the open field than Brown, he can make people miss

[AntonMcG]

Depends on whether brown leaves for one and who is still available at the time.

 

Hence the caveat 'If Brown leaves' in the topic title.

 

Ugh.

[arkana04]

Charles Sims is the best RB in this draft if you want the do all type that can run pass and catch. 

[Maniq]

No, thanks. We need smaller and more elusive RB's.

[chad72]

We tried the smaller speedy back with Kerwynn Williams. It did not work out for us.

 

Outside Darren Sproles, unless you are in an offense that rotates RBs like crazy and is all about spreading the ball around, the game breaking ability of a smaller speedier back is going to be limited at the NFL level.

 

Brandon James, Trindon Holliday, Kerwynn Williams (and insert several speedster small RBs), have all made only a small dent, IMO, in limited roles. Even the Broncos got Ronnie Hillman that had a terrific resume coming from San Diego State but once he got clocked a few times, the fumbles started happening.

 

I do like the list Gavin has, it has a good combination of scat back ability and size plus can be on the field for a no huddle. I personally would also add Storm Johnson of UCF to the list too.

[Balzer40]

Why don't we just draft all Stanford guys, afterall they played at Stanford with Luck and Fleener and played in Peps offense so he must be a player we should target. Sorry sarcasm off now but I don't get why people always think we should go after every Stanford guy.

[Manning1887]

I would rather not use any draft pick on a running back. Any running back you bring in is likely a #3 option. I would rather bring in an undrafted free agent or sign a veteran to a one year deal.

 

I really don't see Donald Brown coming back next year. I think he played his way to a decent contract, and given how he has been treated in the past, I don't see him being too enthused to stick around.

[James Harden]

Can't we just stick with Richardson, Ballard, Bradshaw?

[Track Guy]

The best thing we can do for our running game is improve the O-line. I think drafting a guy in the 7th is possible but I'd really be looking to find a UDFA or a cheap FA. It'd be nice if we could find a RB with more speed the T-Rich and Ballard.

[coltsfanatic24]

He's too similar to Ballard and Richardson we need a change of pace RB. Roderick Mcdowell and Ben Malena are players that could be there in the 6th or 7th round.

[NewColtsFan]

Why don't we just draft all Stanford guys, afterall they played at Stanford with Luck and Fleener and played in Peps offense so he must be a player we should target. Sorry sarcasm off now but I don't get why people always think we should go after every Stanford guy.

 

Just to be clear....    don't include me in that group!

 

I may love my Stanford guys, but I won't want them on the Colts unless I think they can help the team -- period.

 

If not,  then they can go to another team or use their Stanford degree to land a job outside of football.

[Nobody]

Not a hard statement to make. Abdullah is better in the open field than Brown, he can make people miss

Brown was the most elusive back in the league this season dude

[Gavin]

Brown was the most elusive back in the league this season dude

By what metric?

[Dustin]

By what metric?

 

Missed tackles; yards after contact.

[Superman]

Why don't we just draft all Stanford guys, afterall they played at Stanford with Luck and Fleener and played in Peps offense so he must be a player we should target. Sorry sarcasm off now but I don't get why people always think we should go after every Stanford guy.

 

I don't get why this has to come up every time someone mentions a Stanford prospect. They're a good program and they have good players. We're gonna like some of their players, and for good reason. I'm not a fan of us drafting any of their notable prospects this year, but they are definitely good players.

[Balzer40]

I don't get why this has to come up every time someone mentions a Stanford prospect. They're a good program and they have good players. We're gonna like some of their players, and for good reason. I'm not a fan of us drafting any of their notable prospects this year, but they are definitely good players.

 

 

 

Of course they have good players, so does every other major college in the country, but many think that we have to take a look at every Stanford guy just because we have some Stanford guys on the roster and an ex-Stanford coach. 

[Superman]

Of course they have good players, so does every other major college in the country, but many think that we have to take a look at every Stanford guy just because we have some Stanford guys on the roster and an ex-Stanford coach. 

 

That's quite an assumption. I don't really agree with it.

[Balzer40]

That's quite an assumption. I don't really agree with it.

 

 

 

Really? You wouldn't agree with that? Every since we drafted Luck and Fleener, people have been suggesting almost any draftable Stanford guy because "they played with Luck", and now that we have Pep it's because "they played in Peps system".

[Danfish98]

The best thing we can do for our running game is improve the O-line. I think drafting a guy in the 7th is possible but I'd really be looking to find a UDFA or a cheap FA. It'd be nice if we could find a RB with more speed the T-Rich and Ballard.

Agree 100% with this.  My personal preference is to bring back Brown as long as another team doesn't offer him too much money (and much over vet minimum is too much).  Short of that a 7th round/UDFA speed guy is what needs to happen.  Hopefully a bit of size as well, but speed is the most important thing.  Ballard and Richardson are both power guys, or supposed to be anyway and the most successful running teams tend to have both a power and a speed guy they can turn to.

[Superman]

Really? You wouldn't agree with that? Every since we drafted Luck and Fleener, people have been suggesting almost any draftable Stanford guy because "they played with Luck", and now that we have Pep it's because "they played in Peps system".

 

Sure there are some who make the Stanford connection at every opportunity. I don't think it's quite as drastic as you say, and I don't think it's the case in this thread.

[Superman]

I like James White if we could get him in the 5th or 6th.

 

James White is my favorite all around back in the draft. If we trade down and get some extra picks, I wouldn't mind taking him in the 6th.

 

I also like Jerick McKinnon as a change back.

[Nobody]

Charles Sims is the best RB in this draft if you want the do all type that can run pass and catch.

THANK YOU. Wow I didn't think I'd find someone who thinks the same way I do on him. His route running and hands are elite, and his shake and moves in space are unreal.

[Gavin]

I'll take Ka'Deem Carey as the best running back expected to be drafted....I think he will be used as a change of pace back, Alot of wear on those tires now. I also really like Mckinnon and David Fluellen and Vintavious Cooper and Adam Muema. We can get them all late except Carey of course

[Defjamz26]

If we had our first round pick, we could have let Brown go and replaced him with Carlos Hyde or Tre Mason. Hyde is what Richardson would be if he was actually good, and Mason is a Ray Rice clone in a good way.

[SOMDColtsfan]

Sign Brown and end of discussion..that simple

[ColtsFanCO]

I would like to see the Colts use their last pick on George Atkinson III.  He has tons of big play ability.  The 2 major knocks on him are that he runs too high and he dances around too much in the back field.  With the right coaching both flaws are fixable.  What makes him worth a shot is his ability as a returner.  I think that is where he will make his living in the NFL and we have been searching for a return specialist for years now.