STRENGTHS
JK is a talented, powerful, running back with just enough wiggle after he hits the whole to run strong between the tackles. He also has the speed take the ball to the outside on sweeps and after he hits the hole you better be ready to tackle him or he will take it all the way for a touchdown. He uses that breakaway speed and quickness to gain yardage in chunks when he catches the ball out of the backfield also. JK might be one of the better blocking backs for his quarterback, because of his lateral agility and overall strength, in spite of his size. He reminds me a lot of Mark Ingraham and like Mark, if he is in the right system for his talents, he will be an impact player for that team.
CONCERNS
JK lacks the vision to make yards by himself and will need a good offensive line in front of him to impact consistently. He is a “see the hole”, “hit the hole”, type of back and that by no means is a bad thing but it does mean if there is no hole that JK will struggle to see a better way to make the needed yardage on obvious running downs.
BOTTOM LINE 1.97
Mark Ingraham is a good running back and JK should be a good running back also because both of them are complete running backs. They run the ball between the tackles with strength, they break tackles in the secondary, they block, they catch the ball out of the backfield, but what they don’t do is make yardage when there is no yardage to make. They struggle behind the line of scrimmage to see anything but what their assignments say for them to see and when opponents know they are going to run the ball, they get caught behind the line for a loss. They have north/south explosive ability but in spite of their lateral agility to make players miss in the secondary, it is not the kind of explosive lateral agility that is needed behind the line of scrimmage to make yards on their own, against a penetrating defense. That makes JK a system running back, very much like Mark is. In the right system, with an athletic quarterback that requires a defense to use a spy taking away a player in the box on running downs, JK can impact. I like his talent and I would select him for my team, it’s just a matter of deciding what round to select him in. Remember, I do the Talent board and not the Value board, BIG DIFFERENCE. It would not surprise me to see JK drop in this draft because of the value of the running back position in general. That being said, if you don’t have the THREAT of a good running game, most teams don’t even get to the playoffs.
