Which running back could be the next Ezekiel Elliott in 2017 draft?

The two leading rushers in the NFL last season were rookies. Ezekiel Elliott topped the list with 1,631 rushing yards and Jordan Howard was second with 1,313 yards.

It’s no wonder veteran running backs are having a hard time finding work in the NFL. Teams are moving the ball on the ground and paying rookie rates for it.

The Cowboys chose Elliott fourth overall in last year’s draft, and the trend this year will be to find the next Elliott.

Leonard Fournette of LSU and Dalvin Cook of Florida State stand above all the other running backs in this draft class.

Cook ran for 19 touchdowns in both 2015 and 2016 and was fifth in the nation with 1,765 yards last season. He’s more elusive than Fournette and ranked ahead of him in some places.

However, Cook comes with medical and character red flags. He’s dealt with hamstring and shoulder injuries and he’s been arrested multiple times since high school according to NFL.com.

And that big year Cook had in 2015? Yeah, Fournette topped that with 1,953 yards and 22 touchdowns.

At 6’0″, 240 pounds, Fournette is a heftier version of Elliott. Had he entered the draft last year, he might have been picked ahead of Elliott.

Staying in school looked like a mistake in terms of Fournette’s draft stock this season when he struggled with ankle injuries and ended up rushing for 843 yards in seven games. Now, Fournette has been climbing back up the draft board and there’s a chance he could go in the same spot that Elliott did with the Jaguars taking him at No. 4.

Fournette is a punishing, straight ahead runner. He’ll run over people rather than make them miss. That lack of shiftiness could be seen as a weakness, but overall it’s hard to find flaws in Fournette’s game.

“I can’t wait to see how the draft guys pick at Fournette and tell everyone what he doesn’t do right,” one NFC director of scouting told NFL.com. “He was healthy last year and that is what you are going to get. Big, fast and dominant.”

For a team looking for Elliott-like impact, Fournette is the safest bet.

About Mike Batista