Breaking Down the Tape
Reviewing Top Tier RBs Eligible for the 2008 NFL Draft

I'd like to break down the tape of one top tier running back per week each of the next 12 weeks. I'll do this by watching one of their games and commenting on their play in that game, including fakes and blocking assignments, as well as their NFL prospects. My schedule for this feature is as follows:

9/1 - James Davis, Clemson vs. Florida State
9/8 - Steve Slaton, West Virginia vs. Marshall
9/15 - Jonathan Stewart, Oregon vs. Fresno State
9/22 - Mike Hart, Michigan vs. Penn State
9/27 - Ian Johnson, Boise State vs. Southern Mississippi
10/6 - Jamaal Charles, Texas vs. Oklahoma
10/13 - Darren McFadden, Arkansas vs. Auburn
10/20 - Felix Jones, Arkansas vs. Mississippi
10/27 - Ray Rice, Rutgers vs. West Virginia
11/3 - Ryan Torain, Arizona State vs. Oregon
11/10 - Yvenson Bernard, Oregon State vs. Washington
11/17 - Tashard Choice, Georgia Tech vs. North Carolina

Obviously all of the defenses these players play will not be equal, but I still think we can get a good approximation of the skill sets that each of these running backs will bring to the NFL. This list also could be affected by injuries to the players and I will try to juggle it to fit everyone in if that occurs.

Jonathan Stewart - Jr. - Oregon(5'11" 232)
Jersey:#28
Age on 9/1/2008: 21.47
My Pre-Season Rank: #5
My Current Rank: #3

Tony Nowak's Take:
The nation's top RB recruit in the 2005 class has made solid, but relatively unspectacular progress, in his first two seasons. His development has been hampered by injuries. Ankle problems have plagued him both years and a neck strain slowed him last year, as well. As a true freshman, Stewart saw just 53 carries as RB2. Last year he lead the team in rushing (183-981-10, 5.4 ypc), but fellow 05 RB recruit Jeremiah Johnson saw significant carries (103) again too. Injuries have played a role in impeding his development. Pass-happy OC Gary Crowton left for LSU in the off-season and new OC Chip Kelly is known for running a spread offense as well, but the buzz from both Kelly and HC Mike Bellotti seems to be a commitment to feature Stewart in 2007. Stewart has ideal measurables with a thick, solid build, ideal for a workhorse back. He has track speed and it translates well in the return game, where he has been one of top kick returners in the country, but not always out of the backfield. He is a smart player and selfless to a fault, perhaps lacking the desirable borderline arrogance of a RB who demands the ball with the game on the line. Stewart was fully healthy and looking good in the spring game, where he posted 41 yards on just 5 carries and caught two passes. If durability is no longer a problem and the team commits to featuring him, a breakthrough season seems inevitable this year. 2008 Running Back Draft Class

Stats (from ESPN):

YEAR	ATT	YDS	AVG	LNG	TD	REC	YDS	AVG	LNG	TD
2005	53	188	3.5	33	6	7	45	6.4	12	1
2006	183	981	5.4	63	10	20	144	7.2	24	1

Breaking Down the Tape: Jonathan Stewart, Oregon vs. Fresno State, 9/15/2007

1st Play - 1st Quarter - 14:47 - Run Block
Stewart sweeps right as the lead blocker on a WR end around; he does a good job not taking a defender too soon that a lineman can better block, but he waits to late to actually man up on a defender as the WR is tackled

2nd Play - 1st Quarter - 14:40 - Run Fake
Stewart runs a fake to the right side of the lone; pass is incomplete to the left flat

3rd Play - 1st Quarter - 14:35 - Run Block
Stewart sweeps left as the lead blocker on a WR end around and make a great low block on a defender, allowing the WR to gain almost 10 extra yards; textbook block for a RB on a sweep

4th Play - 1st Quarter - 14:29 - Run Left
Stewart takes the handoff and goes on a sweep left; very good blocking and he makes a nice rounded turn around the corner and gets upfield getting almost 10 yards; he showed nice speed there

5th Play - 1st Quarter - 14:24 - Run Middle
Stewart takes the handoff and runs up the middle; a defender blows upfield to disrupt the play; Stewart makes a nice effort to avoid the defender, but can't quite make it work and he gets taken down for a loss

6th Play - 1st Quarter - 13:51 - Run Block
Looks like a broken play; Stewart goes to run block and the QB keeps the ball and goes down after trying to make a fake

7th Play - 1st Quarter - 13:20 - Pass Route
Stewart heads out for a short out route to the left side; QB gets sacked

8th Play - 1st Quarter - 10:23 - Run Fake
Stewart is the pitch back on an option sweep left; QB keeps the ball and gets a couple of yards

9th Play - 1st Quarter - 10:11 - Run Fake
Stewart fakes a run right up the middle, making a nice fake; pass goes to the right for a good gain

10th Play - 1st Quarter - 9:55 - Run Block
Stewart is a blocker on a WR end around; does a nice job coming back into a defender to keep him out of the play; WR gets a couple of yards

11th Play - 1st Quarter - 9:46 - Run Middle
Stewart takes the handoff and goes up the middle; does a pretty good job getting to the line quickly and makes a small cutback without gearing down much; puts his head down and gets what he can when he hits some traffic

12th Play - 1st Quarter - 9:05 - Run Right
Stewart takes the handoff and runs to the right on a sweep; gets to the corner very quickly; makes a cutback move at the sideline that works, although he gears way down to make it; gets back up to a nice speed down the sideline and then puts his head down and basically runs over a defender; nice run

13th Play - 1st Quarter - 8:59 - Run Right - Touchdown
Stewart takes the handoff on a sweep right; he does a nice job waiting for his blockers and then sees the hole and gets through it quickly, going untouched for a TD

14th Play - 1st Quarter - 1:00 - Run Right
Stewart takes the handoff on a sweep right; does a nice job rounding through the cut upfield and showing good power as he hits some defenders after a couple of yards; this is a running back that makes noise when he hits people

15th Play - 1st Quarter - 0:29 - Run Fake
Stewart runs a fake through the middle of the line; pass goes to the right side for a decent gain

16th Play - 1st Quarter - 0:21 - Run Middle
Stewart shows good power going right up the middle and gets a first down; nice job staying low and just using his bulk and keeping his legs churning

17th Play - 2nd Quarter - 15:00 - Run Middle
Stewart takes the handoff and is hit right as he gets to the line by several defenders; he tries to spin back the other way, but is taken down

18th Play - 2nd Quarter - 14:24 - Run Fake
Fake to Stewart up the middle and then a easy toss to the TE over the middle for a TD

19th Play - 2nd Quarter - 11:16 - Pass Route
Stewart goes out into the pass route from the backfield, running a 5 yard in; pass goes incomplete downfield

20th Play - 2nd Quarter - 11:10 - Run Middle - Touchdown
Stewart takes the handoff from the right side and heads left; there is a hole opening there, but he sees a bigger hole up the middle; he rounds his cut toward the middle without gearing down and is absolutely gone; 88 yard touchdown, untouched; showed great long speed there to not let any downfield defenders catch him; fantastic show of his good vision and long speed

21st Play - 2nd Quarter - 9:15 - Run Fake
Stewart fakes the same run as his last TD run and the pass goes deep downfield but is incomplete

22nd Play - 2nd Quarter - 9:07 - Run Right
Stewart takes the ball and heads right; there isn't much there and he gets tackled without getting any yardage

23rd Play - 2nd Quarter - 8:32 - Run Fake
Stewart fakes the handoff, stalls as if pass blocking for a moment and then goes out in the pass pattern; QB runs the ball to the other side; Stewart runs toward the play, but doesn't block anyone

24th Play - 2nd Quarter - 5:52 - Run Block
Stewart blocks left out of the backfield for a WR end around; does a nice job putting a helmet on a defender and pushing him back, but doesn't finish the block and the defender is in on the tackle

25th Play - 2nd Quarter - 5:17 - Pass Block
Stewart stays into pass block; shows good technique and fends off a defender who wasn't rushing very intensely as the QB runs to the other side for a first down

26th Play - 2nd Quarter - 4:48 - Run Left
Stewart takes the handoff and heads toward the middle of the line; there is nothing there so he quickly moves to the left as he sees some daylight; makes a fantastic juke as he gets to the LOS and heads toward the corner, faking out the defender; makes a nice, quick stutter step as he gets to the corner to allow a block to set up and then turns up the sideline with nice acceleration; very impressive run

27th Play - 2nd Quarter - 4:40 - Run Middle
Stewart takes the handoff heading right; cuts back pretty smoothly toward the middle of the line where he sees some daylight; it closes quickly, but he shows a nice low pad level and forward lean as he gets what he can

28th Play - 2nd Quarter - 4:11 - Pass Route
Runs to the right flat in a pass route, throw goes to the left flat

29th Play - 2nd Quarter - 3:34 - Run Fake
Run fake to the left as the QB runs the option to the right and gets a big gain

30th Play - 2nd Quarter - 3:23 - Run Fake
Run fake to the left as the QB runs to the right and gets the touchdown; nice use of him as a decoy after his big runs

31st Play - 3rd Quarter - 12:28 - Run Middle
Stewart takes the handoff in the endzone and just makes it out to the 1 yard line; a defender blew upfield and made him cut back quickly right into another defender.

32nd Play - 3rd Quarter - 12:16 - Pass Route
Stewart comes out of the backfield and curls into the middle about 8 yards downfield; pass is incomplete to a WR further downfield

33rd Play - 3rd Quarter - 10:17 - Run Right
Stewart takes the handoff and heads toward the middle before breaking it back to the outside through a large hole; makes a nice cut without gearing down that much and then does a very nice job lowering his shoulders and keeping his legs churning as he picks up several extra yards.

34th Play - 3rd Quarter - 9:37 - Pass Block
Stewart does a nice job pass blocking; he engages the defender well and stays head up with him as he pushes the defender outside the pocket; pass is completed downfield

35th Play - 3rd Quarter - 6:15 - Run Middle
Takes the handoff and tries to make something out of nothing up the middle; makes a nice quick cut to get back to the LOS, but there's nothing more there

36th Play - 3rd Quarter - 5:49 - Pass Catch
Stewart loops right out of the backfield and the pass is thrown to him; makes a nice catch and turns upfield; slips a little bit as he tries to cut back against the grain and the fumbles the ball as he tries a spin move; fumble goes out of bounds; this is a good play showing that although Stewart is pretty nimble and can make some small angle cuts, he's just too big to be making larger angle cuts when going 3/4 to full speed without gearing down.

37th Play - 3rd Quarter - 5:38 - Pass Route
Stewart loops out of the backfield into the pass route about 5 yards downfield; smart enough to block a defender as he goes by; pass completed to a WR further downfield

38th Play - 3rd Quarter - 3:03 - Run Fake
Stewart fakes the run up the middle; pass goes to the left flat

39th Play - 3rd Quarter - 2:35 - Pass Route
Stewart goes out to the right flat as the QB rolls that way; QB tucks the ball and runs; Stewart catches up with him downfield and blocks a defender as the QB gets tackled; nice hustle to get downfield

40th Play - 3rd Quarter - 2:20 - Run Left
Stewart takes the handoff and heads off tackle left; sees the hole and shows good acceleration through it; shrugs an arm tackle; does a nice job cutting back in the 2nd level to avoid the brunt of a tackler; drags that tackler for a couple of yards as another defender tackles him; nice vision and balance shown there

41st Play - 3rd Quarter - 1:59 - Run Middle
Takes the handoff and heads up the middle; nothing there, but crouches behind his blockers and finally finds a hole to get a couple of yards; very nice job here of patience waiting for a hole without appearing indecisive

42nd Play - 3rd Quarter - 1:24 - Pass Catch
Swings out of the backfield into the right flat; makes a nice catch on the ball and then gets to the corner quickly and spins by a defender to pick up enough yardage for the first down; good balance shown again

Final Game Stats:
Stewart had 17 carries for 165 yards and 2 TDs. That's a 9.7 yard per carry average with a long of 88 yards. He also had 2 catches for 1 yard.

Play Breakdown:
42 Total Plays
17 Runs
2 Pass Catches
6 Pass Routes
2 Pass Blocks
5 Run Blocks
10 Fakes

Jonathan Stewart Summary:
Jonathan Stewart is a very impressive running back who has a lot of traits that usually translate well in the NFL. He has a great, thick build; shows excellent patience and very good vision; and has good acceleration and great long speed. He also is a pretty willing blocker, has nice hands and is an excellent kick returner. On the negative side, Stewart doesn't have explosive lateral moves and needs to gear down a bit too much when making medium to large angle cuts. However, he has the patience and some nice, simple juke moves to help alleviate those issues. He also has the bulk and power to run some defenders over. He's had some injury issues, but if he can stay healthy and determined, he can be a superstar in the NFL.

Rating System:Stewart fits the Big Back profile and would be rated a 4A if he was drafted in the first round.