VJCPatriot

From the look of the videos Brown is more of a speedster back. He does have added value catching the football with his hands. IE he looks a lot like Maroney to me. I'd also have to discount the level of competition he faced a bit. Syracuse was just horrible this year and the Big East isn't the most competitive conference.

On the other hand Iowa University is in the Big 10 which features 4 teams ranked nationally in the top 25 this year: Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, and Northwestern. Now that's tough competition.

BCS Standings - Big Ten Network

How did Greene fare vs top ranked opponents? He did pretty well against just about anybody but here's how he did against nationally ranked teams.

Pittsburgh #21. 147 yards 6.4 ypc 1 td
Northwestern #23. 159 yards 7.6 ypc 1 td
Michigan State #18. 157 yards 5.2 ypc 0 td
Penn State #8. 117 yards 4.2 ypc 2 tds

Shonn Greene Stats, News, Photos - Iowa Hawkeyes - NCAA College Football - ESPN

As I said I think I prefer a power back for the Patriots offense. And Shonn Greene fits the description better imo. I expect Moreno, McCoy, and Wells to be all gone in round 1. Given Greene's skillset and power running between the tackles and through traffic, Greene looks like an attractive option to me at RB in the rounds 2-3 area.

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upstater1

Donald Brown has very little Maroney in him. He was a between the tackles downhill runner. That's what he's known for. McCoy is very similar to maroney in that he dances looking for a hole to break a big one, and he has speed. Brown runs with a lot more power.

As for the Big 10 v. BE, I'm really not impressed. By the way, you mentioned Syracuse, the worst team in the BE. There are a lot of crappy teams all over football, every league has one. Pac-10, Big 10, even the SEC.

The beauty is that Brown gained just as many yards against ACC teams:

9/13 Virginia W 45-10 20 206 10.3

9/19 Baylor W 31-28 34 150 4.4

9/26 @Louisville W 26-21 33 190 5.8

10/4 @North Carolina L 38-12 33 161 4.9

10/18 @Rutgers L 12-10 27 107 4.0

10/25 Cincinnati W 40-16 29 150 5.2

11/1 West Virginia L 35-13 19 82 4.3

11/15 @Syracuse W 39-14 22 131 6.0

12/6 Pittsburgh L 34-10 34 189 5.6

It's really hard to gain 2000 yards in a season if you don't bring it each and every week against every kind of competition. Brown really did do that. In fact, he fared better out of conference than he did in conference.

I'm a PSU fan, I really know how strong the league tends to be, and this year it was very very weak. I mean, Michigan St? Northwestern? Tough competition? Michigan State was a sieve defense when I saw them this year. The BE was off as well, and so was the ACC. This year was SEC and Big 12 and USC. Outside of that, it didn't matter if you were playing Michigan, West Virginia, Clemson or California. All the same thing.

Seneschal2

Yes -- on day two. Happens to be one of my sleeper picks in this draft -- Cedric Peerman, Virginia, 5093 210.

Similar to Faulk as a do-it-all RB -- kick returner, pass receiver, and an excellent pass blocker. Not a change-of-pace back like Kevin, but more of a tough, hard runner (good stiff arm). Not 40 fast, but has the quick burst and balance to make the first tackler miss. Injuries slowed his production (hence the 5th round projection). Done a lot of research on him, and found his intangibles to be top notch.

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Box_O_Rocks

I hope he can learn to protect the ball better.

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Seneschal2

443 touches without a fumble as a runner, receiver, and kick returner. Then he fumbles near the end of the season and at the Senior Bowl, and everyone talks about his small hands. I doubt his hands shrunk after 443 touches. EXPERTS.

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"What we want to try to do is maximize each spot on the roster; we want to be stronger at No. 1 than the opponent, stronger at No. 25 than they are, and stronger at No. 53 than they are, we're always looking to upgrade the talent level on the team, and play together to be functional."
- Bill Belichick -

Box_O_Rocks

It was a lack of concentration in the Senior Bowl that had me growling at him. Loved his running over people, I just hated seeing him mess up like that after making such a strong impression.

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WhiZa

I dont want to put a damper on all the RB talk, but we won't be drafting a RB besides to sign to the PS. Once Evans is resigned we will have our 5 RBs going into 2009 (Maroney, Morris, Faulk, Lawfirm, and Evans).

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cstjohn17

Is that a good thing? Really not sure.

Tough call, they could see value and pick a back. Hell if Wells or Moreno slip they could event take a round 1 RB, it is not like they have Jim Brown, Walter Payton and Barry Sanders. All they have is a collection of slightly better than average JAGs (except for Faulk who kicks butt). Also Maroney and Morris are not exactly locks to play 16 games.

kurtinelson

I'd have no complaints on using No. 23 for Moreno.

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kurtinelson

Thanks for posting these clips. I am very impressed with how technically sound Brown is in handling the football. The ball is tightly cradled between the palm and bicept and he fluidly and instictively switches the ball to the arm that is away from the defender.

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