STRENGTHS
Travis is that “one cut I’m faster than you”, running back that teams seem to like in this league of passing offenses. He does a good job running outside the tackles and does a good job when used as a check-down receiver. Travis should impact in a spread offense because of his pure speed and ability to outrun opponents to the next level. He reminds me a lot of another Clemson running back select as the 9th pick in the 1st round of the 2010 draft, by the Buffalo Bills.
CONCERNS
Travis lacks a few skills and qualities needed to be a franchise back like most “media” are suggesting. He lacks vision, lateral explosion to make players miss him and the mental strength to take the pounding at the next level. He also can be “upended” with arm tackles and that is another issue that will bother some teams enough not to select him early in this draft.
BOTTOM LINE 2.72
C J Spiller played for 5 different teams in his career and had one season where he rushed for a thousand yards. These days, I think NFL offenses run a lot of the same offenses plays as colleges so, Travis may be able to impact more than Spiller did. Nevertheless, his impact will depend on play calling and the right offensive system because of his lack of any lateral agility to make opponents miss him in the open field and between the tackles. It’s hard to say what round Travis could be selected in so watching Rob’s board is the way to go if you are a team that believes that Travis is the man for your team. I would guess because he comes from a big program with production and speed he will be a first-day pick for some teams but there will be others who might feel different and that means he could slide into the 2nd or even the 3rd round of this draft. Remember Travis in a spread offense could be a top back at the next level and in fairness to C J Spiller, spread offenses were not the norm for the NFL teams in 2010, as they are today. For me personally…I like players with a little more multi-positional skill set and athletic talent. But that’s just me.
