The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

With the #222 pick of the NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings select DeWayne McBride

Good luck to him.

Joe Webb can give him all the necessary info about living in Minnesnowta and the Vikings organization.

I’ve been hearing rumors that dalvin cook either won’t be around for long or will be cut possibly… that could be a huge opportunity for Deebo.

For a rb Cook is nearing end of career

Telfort signed with the Packers as an UDFA

Mattison is a really good backup. Best case would be he takes over and McBride backs him up.

Mattison isn’t anything super special and it’s not like they have a ton invested in him. If dalvin is gone it’s possible Deebo could usurp him if he shows what he’s capable of

Starling Thomas to the Lions

We just need the bears to sign someone and we have the NFC north on lockdown.

Congrats and good luck to those who were drafted

Represent the Blazers in a good way

https://athlonsports.com/nfl/2023-nfl-dr...ta-vikings

Unpopular take - McBrides draft slide is due to HCBV's offense and hardheadness. Yes, he proved that McBride can be a bell cow and tote the rock. What he also did was pigeon hole him in that role. At no point that I saw did he ever work to showcase McBride in any other way. There are two things that could be. 1) McBride just can't catch or pass block and no amount of coaching him up by the staff could fix it. 2) HCBV offense is so vanilla that he couldn't find a way to make McBride showcase skills to make him a more viable NFL back. Every thing i have seen is pointing to both issues...either our staff couldn't coach him up, which is still a coaching issue but one they also can put on McBride, or they didn't really care about McBride's future while making sure if he was in all he was doing was one thing. To me, in order to really confuse an opponent, you want to have a back do multiple things so that it is harder to know what is coming. To me, this is BV's fault here

(05-01-2023 08:54 AM)jaymay2525 Wrote:  Unpopular take - McBrides draft slide is due to HCBV's offense and hardheadness. Yes, he proved that McBride can be a bell cow and tote the rock. What he also did was pigeon hole him in that role. At no point that I saw did he ever work to showcase McBride in any other way. There are two things that could be. 1) McBride just can't catch or pass block and no amount of coaching him up by the staff could fix it. 2) HCBV offense is so vanilla that he couldn't find a way to make McBride showcase skills to make him a more viable NFL back. Every thing i have seen is pointing to both issues...either our staff couldn't coach him up, which is still a coaching issue but one they also can put on McBride, or they didn't really care about McBride's future while making sure if he was in all he was doing was one thing. To me, in order to really confuse an opponent, you want to have a back do multiple things so that it is harder to know what is coming. To me, this is BV's fault here

I read where he caught a grand total of 3 passes in his UAB career..........not exactly what you need to get to the next level.

It is more that the NFL doesn’t value running backs these days. There aren’t many feature backs, certainly none like in the old days where the teams was built around a superstar RB. Even the best players often only have 3-4 year window of peak productivity but want to be paid elite salaries into their 30s. The teams know they can find big value late or UDFA and moneyball the position by committee with 3-4 players to equal the productivity of the one big salary. They would rather sink the big contracts on QBs, OT, edge rushers and corners.

Debo probably should have gone around the 4th or 5th but I also understand why some teams passed. He has a massive amount of attempts already. High mileage for a guy who will take a ton of hits with his style in the pros but also may be only a 2-down guy.

I actually think Skull could be drafted higher.

(05-01-2023 08:59 AM)DuelingDragon Wrote:  It is more that the NFL doesn’t value running backs these days. There aren’t many feature backs, certainly none like in the old days where the teams was built around a superstar RB. The fact that even the best players often only have 3-4 year window of peak productivity means but want to be paid elite salaries into their 30s means the teams know they can find big value late or UDFA and moneyball the position by committee with 3-4 players to equal the productivity of the one big salary. They would rather sink the big contracts on QBs, OT, edge rushers and corners.

That is true, but 7th round? We all know McBride is not a 7th rounder. He was a 3rd to 4th if featured properly, maybe even a second

His being injured and unable to test in the pre-draft process hurt him. In an alternate universe where he runs a 4.5 40 at the combine he probably goes in the 3rd round.

(05-01-2023 09:37 AM)BlazerMatt Wrote:  His being injured and unable to test in the pre-draft process hurt him. In an alternate universe where he runs a 4.5 40 at the combine he probably goes in the 3rd round.

This is valid for sure!

Yep the injury was super bad timing for him. I forgot about that. That really hurt him for sure

I think it is a combination of all the above.

Injuries, Lack of utilization in the passing game, (blocking and receiving), fumble issues especially earlier in the season, decreased production against perceived better competition, most of his success was against perceived weaker competition, perception of CUSA, not being at the combine, not being a senior and playing in the Senior Bowl.

Add it all up and he is fortunate to be drafted at all.

Now I said that and it sounds like a slight. I actually think he will be a 6-10 year pro and can eventually be a starter in the NFL.