RB, Chris Wells, Ohio State

Pros: Ideal size and strength for a grinder back, but has breakaway speed.  Low miles and durable.

Cons:  May translate to a two down runner only in the pros.  Many unknowns including hands and ability to read pass protections.

Styg's Broncos "fit":  Wells is an excellent runner with a bruising style and terrific vision and feel for cutback lanes. Some question his durability, others believe he is like a futon sofa that doesn't know the difference between getting injured and playing hurt. He certainly wobbled along on some beat-up wheels through his career, and that may have taken some tread off the tires. But there is little else to grade him out poorly on, so only team need can drive him down the board.

Around MHR:

From: Running backs looking forward

I know we are in the middle of a playoff run, the season is still ongoing, but with great game posts like the ones that HoosierTeacher and Firstfan have given us, I decided to look around the corner. In my opinion the best NFL teams of all time had one thing in common, a great QB, a great WR and a great RB.

                                                                                ~Steve'O,  Nov 29, 2008

SBNation says:

Ohio State Blog:  Around the Oval, commenting on "Beanie's" toughness:

I challenge McShay to name one of these scouts. One. Evidently our boy Todd missed that whole rushing for 1609 yards yards with 15 touchdowns, with, oh, I don't know, pieces of bone floating around in his foot and a rather broken wrist that was 2007. We'll give the man a pass since Wells' dominance in lieu of pain that would sideline many lesser backs would make it easy to think there wasn't anything wrong with the now junior tailback.

Highlights

More highlights:  More from youtube, Extended version, 2007 highlights, multiple video reels.

Scouting Reports and Offsite Links:

• Pros: Very strong, breaks a lot of tackles, hard to bring down, very fast for his size, and a true work-horse. [see more...]
• Beanie Wells is kind of back who can carry a franchise ... He's an elite talent - very near to the same grade I gave Adrian Peterson ... Dominant player who could fall a bit in the NFL Draft because the demand for running backs in the NFL is extremely low. [see more...]
• Wells' running style will translate nicely to the pros, because he runs with tremendous power and shakes off the first tackle in most instances. He also has the speed to get to the outside, and makes beautiful cutbacks while he runs. The foot injury that kept Wells out of 3 and a half games seems to have healed just fine, and will keep his stock from dropping in most scouts eyes.  [see more...]
• Wells strength is his size and speed combination. At 237 pounds Wells reportedly has 4.4 40 speed. Wells has the power to break tackles on and get to the second level and then turn on his speed. Wells has good vision and is able to recognize the cut back. Wells does a nice job always running down hill and hitting the hole hard. You won’t get many negative gains from him.  [see more...]
• The scouts see the numbers. but they also see that Beanie has spent almost two thirds of his career fighting through injuries.  There's no doubt that Beanie is a top 5 pick talent.  His rare combination of size and speed is perfect for the NFL, but teams have to be really careful about picking a guy who is injury prone.   [see more...]
• Wells unofficially ran somewhere between a 4.34 and 4.46 on the fast track at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Friday. Most scouts figure that the track at the WHAC is so fast, adding a .1 of a second to every time gets a more accurate reading. Even if that's the case, Wells might be talking about running in the mid 4.4s instead of nearly 4.6.  [see more...]
• "People should be looking at the fact that he played hurt instead of the fact that he missed a few games," said the coach. "Beanie Wells is a tremendous competitor. He's a big man, he runs big and he plays big. He's got everything you'd want in a power back." 
  
  Another NFL offensive assistant said, "Beanie Wells is the type of back who's going to rush for 1,100 or 1,200 yards a year. He wants to do it in Cleveland. The Browns should draft him and let him help make the Browns into a winner."  [see more...]
• Outstanding size and bulk...Very athletic...Strong, powerful downhill runner...Breaks a lot of tackles and doesn't go down easily...Excellent stiff-arm...Explosive with a burst...Patient with very good vision and instincts...Has nifty feet...Moves well in the hole...Good balance and usually falls forward...Can stick his foot in the ground and change directions...Reaches top speed in a hurry...Plays faster than he times and was able to run away from people in college...Workhorse who gets stronger as the game goes on...Real competitive...Terrific production.  [see more...]
• Chris Wells is an interesting prospect. He is not as dynamic as the other top prospects Knowshon Moreno or LeSean McCoy, however, Chris Wells it the most punishing back and if a NFL team is just looking for a pure runner, than Wells is your guy. Chris Wells is a poor man’s version of Larry Johnson as far he is a pure downhill runner that will offer you little to nothing in the receiving game. Some pundits have him as the top RB in the 2009 NFL Draft, just about all have him in the top three, regardless he should be a mid-later 1st round draft selection in the 2009 draft.  [see more...]