Broncos Draft Prospects: RB David Wilson

Like Doug Martin and Lamar Miller, Running Back David Wilson has been connected to the Denver Broncos in the first 2 rounds of the upcoming NFL Draft. Wilson a 5'10 205lb running back attended Virginia Tech, and was the 2011 ACC Player of the year, and was selected to the First Team all ACC team in 2011. During his impressive career at Virginia Tech, Wilson totaled 4,349 all purpose yards in his three years playing at V-Tech. Wilson is a very athletic man, he timed a 4.29 in the 40 yard dash in a 2009 spring workout, and that speed also translates to the field.

Wilson was born June 15th 1991 and grew up in Danville, Virginia. Wilson attended George Washington Highschool in Danville Virginia, and set a school record with 2,291 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns. Wilson was a first team all district and all region selection and was the Gatorade player of the year for Virginia. In 2009.

Wilsons 2011 campaign was highly impressive for the Virginia Tech Hokies. Wilson rushed for 1709 yards on 290 carries with 9 touchdowns. He added 22 receptions for 129 yards and 1 touchdown. Like i said earlier, Wilson was the 2011 ACC Player of the year, and was selected to the First Team all ACC team in 2011, after his 1700 yard rushing campaign.

Wilson was invited to the 2012 NFL Scouting Combine.

• 40 yard Dash: 4.49 seconds
• Vertical Jump: 41 inches (Top performer at his position)
• Broad Jump: 132 inches ( Top performer at his position)
• 3 Cone Drill: 7.09 seconds
• 20 Yard Shuttle: 4.12 seconds (Top performer at his position)
• 60 yard shuttle: 11.59 seconds (Top performer at his position)

Analysis

Inside: Tough guy to bring down and almost always gets positive yardage when he lowers his pads and gets north/south. Still very raw as an inside runner, running too indecisive and struggling to find running room at the LOS … wavers and hesitates too much when the clear opening isn't there and ends up going east/west for a loss. Lacks natural instincts with questionable vision and awareness to feel blocks and press the hole. Will slow down prior to contact and leave yardage on the field.

Outside: A smooth, explosive athlete who accelerates quickly downfield with a rare extra gear that he can reach in a hurry … can really turn on the jets. Shows the flexibility and balance to bend and stay on his feet while avoiding tackles. He has a strong plant foot with some shiftiness to catch defenders off balance and routinely gets to the second level … squirmy and tough.

Breaking tackles: Has a strong, compact build with good muscle mass on his body … generates power from his frame. He is physical with the strength to run through contact, keeping his legs churning and carrying defenders. Won't go down easy and picks up a lot of yardage after initial contact.

Blocking: Limited experience as a pass protector and needs extensive work on his technique.

Receiving: Has only average ballskills out of the backfield and wasn't used a lot as a receiver in college. At his best on bubble screens to get him on the outside with a head of steam.

Intangibles: Runs at full speed on every play with full effort and determination … high energy player and doesn't cheat himself. Has suspect ball security with several fumbles over his career, holding the ball too loose. Has some coachability issues, openly questioning the play-calling at times … butted heads with the coaching staff more than a few times for not enough carries. Has only one season as the full-time starter. Participated in both football and track for his first two seasons at Virginia Tech and finished second in the ACC in the triple jump in 2010, qualifying for Nationals. Offers value on special teams as kick returner, tallying 59 returns for 1,285 (21.8) and 2 TDs over his career. Extremely productive as the full-time starter in 2011, setting several school records including single season rush yds (1,709) and consecutive games with 100+ rush yds (7) … 10 total 100+ rushing yd performances in 2011 (ties ACC record).

-- Dane Brugler

Scouting Report from WalterFootball.com, Charlie Campbell:

Strengths:

Good speed

More power than one expects

Quick to the hole

Vision

Explosive

Can rip off some long runs

Breaks a lot of tackles

Capacity to accelerate immediately

Excellent cutting ability

Finishes runs well

Impressive balance

Athletic

Running instincts

Soft hands

Body lean

Runs behind his pads

Has some wiggle, elusiveness

Weaknesses:

Ball security

Lack of experience

Will need work on pass protection

Summary: Wilson has been a rising running back in the 2012 NFL Draft class. The early entry is somewhat of a one-year wonder entering the NFL. He is the reigning ACC Player of the Year after a stellar 2011 campaign. He averaged 5.9 yards per carry with a total of 1,709 yards and nine touchdowns. He caught 22 passes for 129 yards and one score as a receiver. In 2010, he was a backup and ran for 619 yards with five touchdowns.

Wilson was very consistent on a weekly basis. He had 10 games of 100-plus yards. He had huge outings against Georgia Tech, Miami, Virginia and others. Even though he was only the starter for one season, he decided to enter the 2012 NFL Draft after his junior year.

Wilson had an superb showing at the NFL Scouting Combine to help his draft stock. He showed off his straight-line speed when he ran the 40-yard dash at 4.40, unofficially. He did well with a broad jump of 11 feet and a vertical leap of 41 inches. He also has added some muscle from the end of the 2011 season.

During his one year as a starter, Wilson showed some natural instincts as a ball carrier. He is a physical runner who has the ability to handle a large workload. He runs with speed and balance, and has good vision. His body lean and ability to run behind his pads allows him to break tackles and regularly pick up yards after contact. Wilson finishes his runs extremely well, and has too much power to be stopped with an arm tackle. He has a unique combination of speed and power.

Most have projected him to be a second-rounder, and he is in the running to be the second running back selected. There is a possibility that he will sneak into the first round.

One serious negative that could prevent him from being a first-rounder is ball security. He had seven fumbles in his one season as a starter. Wilson is going to need to make some real progress in that regard.

From Mocking The Drafts Dan Kader:

David Wilson

5'9 5/8, 206 pounds | Running back | Virginia Tech

Acceleration/burst: Wilson possesses a great initial burst and he can get up to speed in a hurry. Accelerates incredibly well through the hole. Defenses will get in trouble if they don't get a hand on him in a hurry. Has the speed to turn any run into a big play.

Elusiveness: Falls in love with his elusiveness to much and likes to work outside too frequently. When that doesn't work, he'll try and cut back inside and get tackled for lost yards. NFL coaches will want Wilson to become more decisive immediately. Hard to take down with an arm tackle. It's not necessarily because he's a power back, either. Wilson has plenty of wiggle to his game to shake off tacklers. Shows off his agility when cutting back inside on sweep plays outside.

Pass blocking/catching: Can be a weapon on screens and swings in the passing game. Has above-average hands as a receiver. Used infrequently as a blocker and will need a lot of work here.

Power: Is a strong enough runner to be able to grind on a defense early and still break a big gain late in the game. Added more bulk before his junior season, which helped him become a stronger runner. Still, he'll never be viewed as a powerhouse and he won't as easily break tackles at the next level.

Speed: If there is an open running lane, few players can hit the hole and come out of it as well as Wilson. Although he ran a 4.49 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, Wilson is a speed-first runner. When Wilson gets into open space, he seems to have a second gear to break away from defenders.

Vision: Still needs to get more comfortable running between tackles and setting up his blockers. Like many speedy running backs, Wilson needs to start setting up his blockers better. Has a knack for making big plays at important times whether it's returning a kickoff for a touchdown or breaking a big run.

Final word: Wilson is a hot and cold runner. He'll break a 10-yard run, but follow it up by negative-yardage plays. Because of that, the speedy Virginia Tech runner may be best served as part of a rotation or duo. Because of that, he may slip some in the draft.

From NFLmocks.com, Jesse Bartolis:

This is our David Wilson Scouting report the blazing running back from Virginia Tech. He could have the fastest 40 yard dash at the combine.

Measruables:

5’10 206 pounds, 30.25 inch arms, 9 3/8 inch hands

4.49 forty yard dash, 41 inch vertical jump, 132 inch broad jump, 7.09 3 cone drill, 4.12 20 yard shuttle, 11.59 60 yard shuttle.

Wilson was a top performer in the vertical jump, broad jump, and the two shuttle drills.

Pros–Speed, speed, and more speed…Runs with more power than you would expect. Really has a lot of confidence in himself, is extremely productive… Talks the talk, but walks the walk. Well-liked by teammates…good vision, better size than a lot of speed backs…Return ability…breaks arm tackles…excellent in the screen game

Cons–Can he handle an NFL work load at just about 200 pounds? Will he be Chris Johnson or Felix Jones? Jahvid Best? Hasn’t had as much success running between tackles as he is on the outside…Hokies Running backs haven’t had a ton of success at the N.F.L. level. Why? Good question…doesn’t set up blocks particularly well…can he block blitzes well?

Player comparison--Jahvid Best, Lions

Projected round: 2nd round

NFLmocks preseason bio

Tech’s best big-play threat and the focal point of the 2011 offensive attack. A Percy Harvin-type who returns kicks, lines up in the slot, and out of the backfield. Was the third-string back last year but still put up 619 yards (5.5/carry) and 5 rushing TDs. Chipped in four TD receptions and two kicks returned for TDs. Deceptively strong and apparently unstoppable in the spring. Tech didn’t start efficiently using him until mid-season in 2010, but he was arguably the best player on the team at that point. His stock should explode this year.

This kid could be a breakout star in 2011, and it would not shock me to see him lead the conference in rushing. That often happens when a productive backup takes over for a very productive back like Ryan Williams. I have seen in countless times, over and over again. I love running backs who can split out wide and be every down backs. That gives an offense so much versatility. I think he will need a huge year to leave early, but he is a top of the line NFL prospect for the next couple of years. I mentioned he is a three down contributor earlier, but I think he is four down. He is also a fantastic return man. Simply put–he is a playmaker and could be the best overall player on Virginia Tech’s roster.

Final Thoughts:

David Wilson is a very fast running back prospect who has decent size and has shown to be more durable than players of this ilk. You hope that Wilson can develop into an Ahamad Bradshaw player and is not a Felix Jones kind of player. His speed is obviously excellent and his production is absolutely wonderful. He’s also getting stronger by the year and has shown he is durable and is handling the load at Virginia Tech (Best had 141 carries his final season-Wilson already has 145 through 8 games). His return ability ( and potential to go the distance on any play) make him an enticing N.F.L. prospect and a player who will be drafted as early as late day 1, or definitely on day two if he declares.

My Take: I'm not as high on this guy as many. He's athletic, fast, and has some power, which makes him very intriguing. However, he has a fumbling issue, which is never good for a Running Back to do. He fumbled the ball 7 times in his 2011 season. So that alone pushes Wilson down on my board. If Miller and Martin are gone by our 2nd round pick, i wouldn't be upset if we took him, but anything higher for a RB with fumbling issues would be a reach in my opinion. Now if he can correct that, he can be one helluva back in the NFL.