Come again?
Allen Bradford?
Yeah, I dont blame you for saying that.
This isnt the conventional sleeper that you may have been looking for, but before you grill me, hear me out.
Ive been watching this guy over and over again and Im starting to understand why Dominik pulled the trigger.
According to reports, Dominik has come out and said that he loves big backs and that even with the 245 lb Legarrette Blount on the roster, they still, in Dominik’s terms were “big back hunting” going into the draft.
One would think that the Bucs would of been in the market for a smller, change of pace back, but that wasnt the case as Tampa is looking to be a pure north and south running team that does its damage between the tackles.
If thats the case, then Bradford fits the bill at 5’11” 242. When watching his film, I noticed things that made me say; why wasn’t this guy even talked about or drafted higher?
Contrary to what the “experts” say, Bradford is pretty fast for a 240 plus pound back. He shows good acceleration and doesn’t go down on first contact. He’s strong for a running back, benching 225lbs 28 times which ranked among the top in that area for running backs at the combine. He has a killer stiff arm, is extremely tough and nasty, being a former linebacker, and has completely trucked some of the best players that were in this years draft, most notably line backer Mason Foster, who the Bucs grabbed in the third round.
In his career at USC, the former Trojan touted the rock just 267 times for 1,587 yds 5.9 yds per carry and 16 scores. Those stats are not comparable to some of the better backs in this years class like former Alabama running back, Mark Ingram, but when you look at it, it shows that when Bradford did touch the ball, he did something with it.
His best season was last year, when he carried the ball 110 times for 794 yds, 5 tds and averaged 7.2 yds per carry. That’s almost a two yard increase from his red shirt junior year when he averaged 5.8 yards per carry with 115 touches. 5 more touches than his senior year.
Bradford has deceptive speed, running the 40 in 4.58 seconds. He has a career long td run of 74 yards and a receiving td of 47 yds, with career receiving totals of 14 rec, 176 yds, and 4 tds. Again, not mind blowing stats, but it shows that if given the opportunity, he can have an impact in the passing game and has the ability to break a long run in the running game. Something that Blount also does rather well for a big back.
He may not come in and start, but I can see the Bucs working Bradford in the offense in some fashion and eventually splitting carries with Blount as the season goes on. He could also come in and play some full back and do some things in that nature and if Blount goes down, we wont skip a beat as Bradford will allow the Bucs to continue their north and south running game and at 240lbs, can take the punishment and dish it out too.
I still think Tampa will add another scat back through free agency like undrafted rookie Noel Devin, but as far as the running game is concerned, Tampa is going to be a down hill running team that relies on its 2 big backs, Blount and Bradford, to punish opposing defenses.
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