Pick 127 Pierre Strong Jr. RB South Dakota St.

Nice! Strong was on my radar and binky list, though I don't think I ever brought up RBs here because it didn't seem a likely place to spend a pick.

So he'll be used as ammo for the "BB sucks as GM" crowd in a couple years because he has the slight problem of Harris, Stevenson, and White in front of him. But I'm intrigued.
 
A question might be whether the Pats drafted him with an eye to watching Damien Harris go to FA after this season or whether he is more
of a hedge against James White not being able to make it back from the hip injury.

In any case, he is supposedly a competent pass blocker, so he may not need to go the Foxboro redshirt route. I've never seen him play and
the scouting reports I've read seem a little bit at odds with his elite athletic score. I'm really curious to see how he looks.
 
So, why was Strong a binkie for me? Well, the Jackrabbits are local enough to Iowa to be on my radar, for one thing. Apart from his speed (and I'd argue that his play speed isn't as eye popping as you'd expect from the "fastest RB in the draft" designation) are his subtlety in the second level (the minor directional shifts that defeat angles and get 3rd level defenders twisted around), his patience, and a weird knack for making his cut at or past the LOS.

He plays RB with his eyes, drifting behind his blockers, drifting not just laterally but forward. He seems to make his cut within a yard of the LOS or even after it. It reduces negative plays and forces second-level playmakers to react with less of a runway to set themselves for the tackle.

This isn't a bad video to see some of what I'm talking about:

View: https://youtu.be/bYnAkfAM6HM


1:50 is a N/S run but still shows this trait.
3:50 is filmed from a bad angle, but is another good example. The 4 plays that follow are also good examples, though one is a N/S play and on one the cameraman was fooled which makes it harder to see.
5:00 is a GREAT example of his patience and this "late cut".
2 straight plays at 5:47.
2 more at 6:40, though the cameraman got fooled again on the first, helps to slow the video speed and look at the very top of the screen for a viscous late seam cut.
 
Okay, now I want to know which scouts went to the shrine game. Seems like they have a LOT of influence.

That'll be a stone lock if we draft Diego Fagot, LB Navy, which I'm psyched for in a few minutes.

He was defensive MVP in the Shrine. And I liked the cut of his jib.
 
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