NFL Draft Prop: Which Running Back Will Be Drafted First?

One of the many questions people have about the 2020 NFL Draft is will a running back be taken in the first round and if so, who will it be? The general consensus has been the Georgia’s D’Andre Swift is going to be the top back selected but it really depends on team needs. Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor showed surprising speed at the combine, which might lead a team to call his name before Swift’s.

BetOnline has posted a prop on who’ll be first taken. Let’s take a closer look at the options and the odds associated with each player.

D’ANDRE SWIFT

ODDS: -140

The Georgia running back is highly-rated because of his footwork. Swift makes exceptionally crisp cuts and displays noticeably effective lateral movements which enable him to hit the hole and elude the first tackler. Swift can get past the point of attack and slip away from defenders, which enables him to reach the second level and create big gains with regularity. Swift’s light feet and overall agility also make him the kind of NFL back who can catch passes out of the backfield and therefore become a weapon on every down. He can take handoffs on first and second down but then catch a screen pass on third down to move the chains. He has usefulness and versatility which will be very attractive to NFL teams. If you wanted to pick a first running back in this upcoming draft, it’s very hard to argue against Swift.

JONATHAN TAYLOR

ODDS: +160

One man who could displace Swift is Taylor, the Wisconsin running back who caught everyone’s attention with a 4.39 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Keep in mind that Taylor is 226 pounds, a muscular and physically developed back. He is not a 180-pound lightweight, but a bruiser who is used to pounding the ball between the tackles within a highly physical running game at Wisconsin in the Big Ten. Taylor is a hard-nosed and punishing runner. The idea that he had elite speed really didn’t occur to a lot of people before the combine, but the 4.39 time in the 40-yard dash changed a lot of minds and clearly made Taylor a lot of additional money. The one big problem with Taylor is that he fumbled at lot in the 2019 season. Everything else about his profile is extremely strong.

J.K. DOBBINS

ODDS: +700

The reality with Dobbins – who played a great game against Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl last December – is that he probably has the talent to be the first running back taken… and that it won’t matter. Why is this the case? Dobbins suffered an ankle injury in that Clemson game and has conceded that he is still not fully healthy. For a running back to enter a draft with a significant, long-term injury is the last thing teams want to see or hear. He just won’t be able to be picked higher than Swift or Taylor with this injury. That’s the bottom line.

THE FIELD

ODDS: +1000

The technique of Swift plus the 40-yard dash by Taylor should prevent any other running back from becoming a surprise selection as the first running back off the board at the upcoming draft.

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