I have beaten the ‘Melvin Gordon has a horrible receiving score‘ newsflash into the ground this draft season. Not saying he cannot do it, but at a historically-low level, Gordon HAS NOT done it much throughout his college career. Basically Ladainian Tomlinson was the only real prospect with a horrible receiving score in college to emerge as a dependable pass-catcher in the NFL.
In this search, I filtered for running backs with at least a +50% rushing score, showing a high-level of acumen on the ground in the model, but mixing in a -50% or below through the air. The list is a short one – 11 names – but three have come in 2015. No other draft class even had multiple backs to fit the criteria dating back to 1999.
As mentioned in the intro, Ladainian Tomlinson is the only one to really emerge as a big-time receiver in the NFL.
