One of the most important activities in evaluating the ability of college football players to make an impact in the NFL is to watch them play. Although it is very useful to read the opinions of more knowledgeable and experienced NFL talent evaluators on web sites and within draft guides, it is very helpful to watch as many of the players as possible and get an idea for yourself on their strengths and weaknesses. Even if you don't know all the different things that an NFL Scout or Draft Guide guru is looking for, you can see some of the attributes that they discuss for yourself and become a better judge of what NFL scouts are looking for in a college player.

Now I am no NFL Scout or Expert Talent Evaluator. I'm just a guy that likes to watch highlight videos, particularly of running backs, and try to assess for myself how the player will do at the next level. Of course, highlight videos are not the best way to evaluate players because they almost always show the player's best plays exclusively and do not show them in "without the ball" situations, such as blocking. However, although watching multiple complete games of a player is certainly preferred (and may be possible for your favorite college team), there is generally not enough time in the day to watch as many players as needed. So the highlight video makes a decent, if imperfect, substitute.

The best place to find highlight videos these days is YouTube.com. Many different people enjoy making these highlight videos of their favorite players and posting them for everyone to see on YouTube. Footballguys user BigTex created a thread to help track highlight videos. Yahoo.com and CSTV.com are also good sites for video highlights.

The most interesting part of this draft for fantasy football owners in my opinion is the second and third tier running backs. Everyone agrees that Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch are in the top tier. But I can see 8 other running backs in the second and third tier. Being able to correctly evaluate these 8 running backs could mean the difference between drafting an outstanding contributor to your fantasy team and drafting a player you cut in week 10. I would like to find a highlight video or two of each of these 8 other running backs and break down the tape to see how the running back actually performs. The 8 running backs I will be evaluating are (in alphabetical order):

• Lorenzo Booker
• Michael Bush
• Tony Hunt
• Kenny Irons
• Brandon Jackson
• Brian Leonard
• Antonio Pittman
• Dwayne Wright

Hopefully by looking at the highlight videos of each player we can correctly rank them in relation to each other.

Tony Hunt - Sr. - Penn State

Highlight Video: 2005 Highlights

1st Run - 00:00 - At Michigan
Big hole and quick to get through it; Nice open field move at 00:06 to juke a defender 10 yards down the field, lots of times that's all it takes; decent open field speed, but not blazing, gets caught by a player with a good angle at 00:12
Replay of 1st run - 00:15 - Vs. Michigan
Nice downhill running; defender #29 clearly had the angle

2nd Run - 00:26 - Vs Temple
Great cutback at 00:30; average acceleration, but shrugs off a arm from behind at 00:32; decent speed, looks like he's running away from some defenders; tackled at 00:41 by a defender that again clearly had the angle

3rd Run - 00:42 - Vs Ohio State
Not as decisive getting through the hole, but not dancing either; another small juke at 00:45 that allows him to get by a downfield defender coming in strong; turns the corner pretty well and shows GREAT balance and forward lean at 00:47 to stay on his feet; gets pushed out of bounds, but avoids a hard hit at 00:49
Replay of 3rd run - 00:53 - Vs Ohio State
You really see the nice juke on the LB on this endzone camera shot

4th Run - 01:00 - Vs Wisconsin
Quick to the hole and a nice foot adjustment at 01:02 to move right and avoid big hit; plants his foot well at 01:03 to go upfield; running a little bit too upright, but seems to be avoiding big hits; great finish to the run at 01:04 by leaning forward, lowering his shoulder and getting the first down running through some defenders

5th Run - 01:06 - Vs Wisconsin - TD
Good read to cut it back in; pretty much untouched into the endzone Video seems to mess up at 01:12 and at 01:20 we see him finishing off a long run against Wisconsin. He gets hit pretty solidly here at the 10 yard line, but manages to get turned back around and lower his shoulders to try for an extra yard or two.
Video messes up at 01:25 again, we see more of the end of the last tackle at 01:31

6th Run/Catch - 01:38 - At Northwestern
Nice adjustment to catch a throw that was back and away from him at 01:40; Nice read of the block to turn it to the sideline and then lower his head and pick up extra yards at 01:43

7th Run - 01:45 - Vs Wisconsin - TD
Sees the hole filled and bounces it outside; probably not quick enough to ellude a defender in the NFL like he does at 01:46; decent turn around the corner and seems to have a nose for the endzone and gets quicker as he approaches it

8th Run - 01:52 - Vs South Florida
Patient going outside with his blockers; plants firmly at 01:56 and gets up field through the hole; not super fast, but he does run fast enough to eliminate the angle that the defender had on him at 01:58; dragged down from behind, but keeps his legs churning and falls forward

9th Run - 02:04 - Vs South Florida - TD
Textbook over the top run; takes off about the 2.5 to 3 yard line, arches his back in air and looks to be protecting the ball; rolls over the top and into the end zone

2006 Highlights: Single game versus Temple

Seeing a single game video with just his carries is a real treat because although he had a good game and Temple is not a good opponent, we get to see almost all his runs.

1st Run - 00:11
Not much there, a little bit slow to change direction after the hole closes; gets his shoulders turned upfield nicely though and gets what he can

2nd Run - 00:24
Defender comes shooting through and Hunt is not the type of small, quick back that is going to make a guy like that miss

3rd Run - 00:34
Nothing there; not quick enough to break it outside, the term North-South runner comes to mind

4th Run - 00:41 - TD
Good hole and pretty quick through it; nice move to the outside; nice job reading the block at the 10 yard line; shrugs off the tackle at the goal line
Replay of 4th Run - 00:50
Not running away from anyone and still too upright, but a good nose for the endzone

5th Run - 01:00 - TD
Kicks the run outside where there is space; does a nice job at 01:07 speeding up a little to juke a defender; Great job at 01:08 turning it back inside away from the sideline when it looked like he was going out; Great lean forward at the 5 yard line when he saw the defender closing in; nice determination there
Replay of the 5th Run - 01:12
Shows a nice job of cutting back in at the sideline as the blocked defender went by, he didn't have to gear down that much there, of course, he isn't going all the fast in the first place.

6th Run - 01:46
Run up the gut; not much there, but he's too upright and his pad level is too high there; an NFL defender flying into that pile would have knocked him backwards and possibly caused him to fumble; picks up some decent yardage in the pile though

7th Run - 01:59
Good example of we might see too much of in the pros: a fast defender blowing up the play and Tony trying to get outside; he doesn't have the moves or quickness to get outside, so he really should just keep his shoulder squarely upfield, pads low and try to wiggle for a couple of yards

8th Run - 02:25 - Fumble
Lots of traffic in the backfield, doesn't tuck the ball away and loses it; seems to run well in tight spaces when he's already going, but does poorly in tight spaces when he has to make moves like that and stop running; really should develop a spin move for those situations to at least get a couple of yards and allow him to keep the ball tight to his body

9th Run - 02:47
Very nice cutback in the backfield at 02:48 to avoid a defender coming upfield; moves his feet well after that to escape a prone defender; really cuts up field with some authority, best acceleration I've seen from him; Great breakdown move at 02:50 to juke a defender coming straight in; Nice job at 02:51 to see the multiple defenders, lower his pads to protect the ball and turn his shoulders upfield; nice forward lean and leg churning to bounce off a defender, fall forward and gain several more yards; best run so far, but still needs to keep lower, he might not have time at the next level to lower his pads in anticipation of a hit like he did here with the quickness of NFL defenders
Replay of 9th Run - 02:54
Announcer correctly praising his acceleration on the play, very nice

10th Run - 03:04
Nice job to get to the outside and cut upfield, but really seems slow doing it; gears down too much when he plants his foot there; good move to go toward the sideline and get what he can there; again, good lean and leg churning to get everything he can
Replay of 10th Run - 03:13
Shows the move to the sideline and the nice balance and lean to pick up extra yards

11th Run - 03:36 - TD
Nice juke right and then an excellent plant to get upfield at 03:37; Nice breakdown at 03:38 and then an outstanding slip juke at 03:39 to get through 2 defenders; really looked good there, even if it is Temple

12th Run - 03:45
Not much there, but gears down too much 03:47 to change direction, a quicker back would have avoided that defender; good job leaning forward and twisting for extra yardage

13th Run - 03:51
A little too slow to the hole, but does a decent job getting through it and a nice job running in a tight space there at 03:53 to use the side and momentum of the defender to get a couple more yards; there are a lot more tight spaces in the NFL than there are against Temple

14th Run - 04:03
This run is obstructed by an on-screen graphic, but you can see him running to the far side and it looks like he does another nice job of running in a tight space between blockers and defenders to get some more yardage

Final Game Stats: 16 carries, 167 yards, 3 TDs plus 2 receptions for 25 yards and a 4th TD

Summary:

I see a running back that will need a good situation at the next level to be very successful. He is a North-South runner who does have some decent jukes and does run well in tight spaces. But he doesn't have the quickness or acceleration to make his own space. He also needs to learn to lower his pads better. He needs an offense that opens big holes for him so he can get through the first line of defense as quickly as possible and then try to juke a smaller defender. His tough running and nose for the endzone could land him a decent job as a short yardage/goal line back somewhere, but it's hard to picture him being a 25-30 carry all purpose RB.