To many folks, the 2003 rookie running backs appeared to be a weak one heading into the draft and with many players being drafted to less than ideal situations; there probably won't be a top fantasy producer out of the group (unless Priest Holmes continues to have problems). I believe however that many of the running backs this season are underrated and were drafted much lower than they should have been. It was simply a case of most teams in the NFL already having their starting running backs in place and not having to draft a running back early in the draft. There are many players who will have some impact on the field during the upcoming campaign and potential to have a solid career down the road. The running backs listed below are ranked in order of possible success for the 2003 season and in the seasons beyond.

Larry Johnson 6'1 - 228 lbs / school - Penn State / drafted by - Kansas City Chiefs with the 27th pick overall.
Of all the running backs taken in the 2003 draft, Larry Johnson has the best opportunity to put up solid numbers if given the chance. With Priest Holmes fighting a serious hip injury and wanting a new contract, Johnson just may get the opportunity to showcase his skills on the field. He is a big back with some elusiveness, solid power and terrific pass receiving ability. He fits into the Chiefs offensive scheme quite well and would be running behind one of the finest offensive lines in football. He put up 2436 total yards during his senior season with 23 touchdowns. He has the tools to succeed at the next level if he gets a chance and can live down the infamous Nittany Lions curse in regards to running back busts at the NFL level (Ki-Jana Carter, Curtis Enis, Blair Thomas and D.J. Dozier).

His fantasy value could be very low if Priest Holmes is cleared to play and gets his contract settled; to very high if he does get a chance to start each week. If Holmes cannot come back from the degenerative hip injury, expect Johnson to put up top twelve fantasy numbers.

Artose Pinner 5'10 229 lbs / school - Kentucky / drafted by - Detroit Lions with the 99th pick overall.
Going into the NFL Draft, Artose Pinner was one of my sleeper picks to do well at the professional level. He is a former fullback who became one of the top collegiate running backs in the country a season ago. He lacks the quickness of the other top runners who were drafted this year but he runs with power and keeps his legs driving to pick up extra yardage. He runs with a punishing style that wears down the opposing defenses as the game goes on and he rarely goes down after the first hit. He has nice patience on the field and will wait for a hole to develop instead of blindly rushing into the line of scrimmage. His 1414 yards rushing in 2002 was the second highest single-season total in Kentucky Wildcats history and he also displayed good hands with 37 receptions. He had a total of 15 touchdowns in 2002 and ran the ball effectively against strong defensive teams such as Florida and Georgia.

Pinner could very easily surprised the football world by winning the starting position for the Detroit Lions right out of the gate. He is not a fancy runner, he is not overly elusive and isn't much of a threat for a long distance score. However he reminds me a lot of Travis Henry of the Bills and he will be very effective in the NFL when it comes to moving the chains. Watch the news on him during training camp to see if he has a shot to unseat James Stewart as the starting tailback for the team.

When the players name is Willis McGahee it appears as though the sky is the limit although he may see sporadic playing time during his rookie season as he recovers from his surgery. He was a very special player in college last year, rushing for a solid 1753 yards to go along with an amazing 28 touchdowns. He has tremendous patience in waiting for his blocks often to the point where it appeared he had waited to long only to emerge on the other side of the line of scrimmage unscathed. He is quick, strong and has enough speed to take the ball the distance from anywhere on the field. Before his injury, he was almost a certain top three pick and he has impressed people with his hard work on rehabilitating his knee.

McGahee is going to be a top ten running back in the NFL but it won't be this season. Playing behind a talented player in Travis Henry with Buffalo means that he can take his time to make sure the knee is legitimately 100% before trying to carry the ball 20+ times per game at the NFL level. I expect him to see some playing time during the season to get his feet wet but his true value will be after this season.

Chris Brown 6'3 - 220 lbs / school - Colorado / drafted by - Tennessee Titans with the 93rd pick overall.
Eddie George has been a rock for the Tennessee Titans organization over the last seven seasons. During that stretch he hasn't missed a game and has carried the ball 2421 times over that stretch which equates to an average of 346 carries per season. Over the last two seasons though, it appeared as though George and his punishing style of running was beginning to wear him down and his YPC average over the last two years reflect it.

The Titans knew they needed to begin planning for the possibility of George losing his effectiveness as a starter and they took Chris Brown with the 93rd selection in the draft. Brown is quite similar to George in both his size and the way he carries himself on the field. He is an outstanding athlete with a great blend of size and speed. He runs with conviction between the tackles and has the leg drive to explode through arm tackles. He was almost unstoppable during the 2002 Colorado season with only one sub-par game. He missed the final two games of the season with a badly bruised sternum but his numbers were stellar nonetheless. He had 1841 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns in only eleven football games. At times, Brown will run too upright but the bottom line is that he has the size and strength to become a true force at the next level. The Titans got themselves a steal in the third round. No way should a player of Brown's talents have fallen so far down the draft board.

This season and maybe even the next will still be the Eddie George show in Tennessee. Brown will spell him during the season and will probably averaged around 5 carries a game for the team. However, he has the talent to become really special down the road with the team. Don't be surprised to see 330+ carries for 1400+ yards out of this back by 2005.

It's funny, but I like Smith's rushing ability coming out of college a lot more than I did Michael Bennett's when he came out of Wisconsin. Smith is more elusive and has a more natural feel coming out of the backfield. Still Bennett made big strides a season ago, which will likely keep Smith in the role of a change of pace back with the team. At some point in the next couple of seasons, I expect Smith to at least challenge for the starting running back position with the Vikings. If he doesn't get a chance in Minnesota, he'll get it somewhere in the NFL as long as he can stay out of trouble which was his downfall in college.

Quentin Griffin 5'7 - 195 lbs / school - Oklahoma / drafted by - Denver Broncos with the 27th pick overall.
Sometimes it isn't the size of a player's body that is important but rather it is the size of his heart. I don't really care that Quentin Griffin is only 5'7 (after all, Barry Sanders was only 5'8) because he plays much bigger than his height would indicate. He runs with surprising power and has incredible quickness on the field. He is very effective in between the tackles and can both make a defender miss or run him over in the hole. He also runs very solid pass routes and is a very accomplished blocker.

If Griffin went to a team where he would have a chance to start, he would have been one of my sleeper picks for the upcoming season. Any running back that breaks Billy Sims single-season rushing record by rushing for a stellar 1884 yards on the season can get it done at the NFL level. He will be playing behind another tremendous talent in Clinton Portis though and he'll only see marginal playing time unless an injury occurs. However at some point and on some team, don't be surprised to see Griffin light it up on Sundays. He reminds me a lot of Priest Holmes when he first entered the league. He will show flashes of brilliance, another team will pick him up and he'll become a terrific story at the NFL level. You can measure size, you can measure strength and you can measure agility but you can never measure desire and this little kid from Oklahoma has it.

Lee Suggs 6'0 - 202 lbs / school - Virginia Tech / drafted by - Cleveland Browns with the 115th pick overall.
After the 2000 collegiate season where he ran for an astounding 27 touchdowns, Lee Suggs was thought of as a can't miss prospect and a potential top five pick down the road in the NFL Draft. Then he tore up his knee during the 2001 season and it has been an uphill battle ever since. He actually came back last year to have a very strong season with 1325 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns. When healthy, Suggs has the entire package. He is fast, quick, powerful for his size and tough to bring down. He has a nose for the end zone and is brilliant at bowling over defenders on the way to the goal line.

If Suggs were healthy (will miss entire 2003 season due to surgery), he would be a threat to win the starting tailback position for the Browns or at least share time with the emerging William Green. However, once again Suggs will miss an entire season of football and only time will tell if he can regain the form that once had both scouts and coaches drooling over his potential. The Browns may have landed a potential bargain in the Draft if he is able to return from injury.

Smith will have a solid NFL career because of his power and determination on the football field. However his lack of elusiveness will really hurt him at the NFL level and he is backing up a solid player in Jamal Lewis who is the heart and soul of the offensive attack. He will spell Lewis on occasion to give him a rest but don't expect to see more than 70 carries on the season from Smith unless Lewis runs into injury problems. Smith could have a career like a Stacey Mack if given an opportunity but he will simply be a strong backup for the next season or two with the Ravens.

LaBrandon Toefield 5'11 - 233 lbs / school - LSU / drafted by - Jacksonville with the 132nd pick overall.
Fragile Fred Taylor meet your match. LaBrandon Toefield had the talent, size and ability to be a first round pick but he appears to be made of glass and has had very bad luck with injuries. I didn't think it was possible for the Jaguars to find a running back that has more injury concerns than Taylor but the Jaguars were able to do exactly that. Toefield runs with conviction and is skilled at making the first defender miss. He has powerful legs that help him to shake off tacklers but he needs to improve his upper body strength, which isn't as impressive. With all of his physical tools, he never really dominated at the collegiate level although he did score 19 touchdowns in 2001.

This is an interesting scenario in Jacksonville. Every fantasy football owner with a semi-coherent brain realized that the backup to Fred Taylor has some fantasy value. Taylor is always a high risk to miss time due to injury and that means Toefield could get a chance to prove his worth during the upcoming season. It's too bad that he appears to be more of an injury risk than Taylor ever was and who knows if he will be able to stay on the field even if he does get a chance. If you have Taylor on your squad, obviously you will want to target Toefield to back him up.

Fargas is an enigma. He has been compared to Curtis Martin who also couldn't stay healthy in college and there is certainly a possibility that Fargas could become a starting NFL running back. It isn't likely he has the stamina and endurance to be a 20+ carry per game running back though and he'll likely develop into a solid change of pace running back who could add a spark by carrying the ball 7-10 times per game. If he can improve his receiving skills and route running, I could see him making a solid career out of being a third down back.

Malaefou MacKenzie 5'10 - 233 lbs / school - USC / drafted by - Jacksonville Jaguars with the 218th pick overall.
There is a place in the NFL for a player such as MacKenzie. His running skills are average at best but he appears to be headed to a career much like what Larry Centers has enjoyed for many seasons. He runs very solid pass routes, has good hands and will likely become that type of player in the NFL. Don't be surprised to see MacKenzie with 60+ receptions down the road. He will be a great role player for the Jaguars.

Domanick Davis 5'9 - 213 lbs / school - LSU / drafted by - Houston Texans with the 101st pick overall.
Davis is an athletic, quick running back that does his best work running outside of the tackles. He has solid moves in the open field that make him tough to tackle and is a solid receiver although he can drop passes at times. With his lack of production in between the tackles, look for Davis to evolve into a third down specialist/ change of pace running back that catches 30-40 passes a year and carries the ball about the same. There is always a place in the NFL for athletic running backs that can catch the ball and make defenders miss in open space. Davis will do that nicely.

Andrew Pinnock 5'10 - 265 lbs / school - South Carolina / drafted by - San Diego Chargers with the 229th pick overall.
Pinnock is a poor man's Ron Dayne. He looks similar in stature to Natrone Means but too often eats his way into resembling Butterbean. Pinnock does have talent and is a big, powerful back that has surprising speed. However, his athletic ability has never equated to big success on the field and his lack of burst will likely prove to be his downfall much like the problem Mr. Dayne went through once he hit the NFL. Don't expect much out of Pinnock.

UNDRAFTED RBs THAT DESERVE MENTION
Avon Cobourne 5'7 - 205 lbs / school - West Virginia / signed by the Detroit Lions as a free agent.
I need somebody to answer this question for me.

"How tall was Barry Sanders again?"

I am tired of smaller running backs being ignored at the NFL level. I saw Avon Cobourne play many times while at West Virginia and it is a travesty that he wasn't selected during the draft. Sure he is only 5'7 but he has a powerful 205 lbs on his frame, is strong, quick and changes directions on a dime. Most importantly is the fact he produced at a high level throughout his four years in college.

The bottom line on Cobourne is that his size shouldn't hinder him that much in the NFL. He is powerful and quick on the field and if fellow rookie Artose Pinner doesn't win the starting job with the Lions this season, Cobourne just may.

Earnest Graham 5'9 225 lbs / school - Florida / signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a free agent.
Earnest Graham is a solid player who will likely be a career backup like a Moe Williams who occasionally gets to play and does a good job when given an opportunity. He has good balance, great vision and quick feet. He doesn't have the ability to be a full time starter in the NFL but he'll carve out a spot as a backup and do well when given the chance.

Cecil Sapp 5'10 229 lbs / school - Colorado State / signed by the Denver Broncos as a free agent.
Cecil Sapp is a human bowling ball. He is a tough inside runner with excellent leg drive and determination to break tackles. He is ineffective outside the tackles but don't be surprised to see him develop into a great goal line back such as Zack Crockett with the Raiders. Sapp is almost impossible to bring down within two yards of the line of scrimmage.

Dahrran Diedrick 6' 220 lbs / school - Nebraska / signed by the San Diego Chargers as a free agent.
Over the last few seasons, Nebraska running backs such as Ahman Green and Correll Buckhalter have proven they can play at a high level in the NFL. While Dahrran Diedrick isn't as talented as those two, he certainly has enough skills to stick around the NFL in some capacity. He is an excellent inside the tackles running back that can break tackles and he is a good blocker as well.

Diedrick is another player who could possibly become a solid short-yardage running back in the NFL.

FULLBACKS
Jeremi Johnson 5'11 260 lbs / school - Western Kentucky / drafted by Cincinnati with the 118th selection
Johnson has the size and skills to be a dominant fullback at the NFL level. He has been very durable throughout his collegiate career and has surprising elusiveness and quickness for a back of his size. He also is a gifted lead blocker who can clear out a hole for the running back to run through. If given the opportunity to run the ball at the professional level, he could become one of the finest true fullbacks to carry the ball in a long time. However Johnson does have some baggage he will need to work on if he wants to be the best. He has had a problem staying in shape and he will have to stay on top of that or his career could be cut short. There have also been some character issues that he will need to put behind him. Look for a strong career out of Johnson.

Ovie Mughelli 6'1 255 lbs / school - Wake Forest / drafted by Baltimore with the 134th selection
If you are looking for your stereotypical fullback, Ovie Mughelli will fit that bill nicely. He isn't a threat to run the ball but he will provide excellent lead blocking for the Ravens well into the future.

Brandon Drumm 6'1 233 lbs / school - Colorado / drafted by Detroit with the 236th selection
This is the type of player that will become a fan favorite much like Moose Johnson did in Dallas. He isn't the most skilled player, doesn't have great size or athletic ability but gives you 110% effort on every play and will make his teammates around him better just from the amazing effort he puts in on a play by play basis. He has some ability as a receiver and will get some looks out of the backfield but his real function for the Lions will be to provide toughness on the field. Look for "Bang the Drumm" banners to spring up at Lion games in the future.

Casey Moore 6'1 240 lbs / school - Stanford / drafted by Carolina with the 247th selection
Casey Moore is unlike the other fullbacks listed here. He has more talent with the ball in his hands than he does lead blocking and he'll have to improve his blocking skills and passion to succeed at the next level. However he does have the ability to run the ball with conviction, runs great pass routes, has solid hands and has good strength. He will make an impact with the Panthers and will eventually become a decent blocker although his strong point will be catching passes out of the backfield. Has more fantasy upside than the previous two players but will need to make improvements to see playing time.