I just don't think he is going to be an NFL superstar. There is no denying that he looked like a man among boys on the college fields. He will be a good back, that will make some noise for the first half of his rookie season...then he will be just like the rest of the NFL backs, imnsho. That is not a bad thing either.
I think it's a wait and see. I'm not sure he'll be any better than average. It's a passing league for one thing. He's going to a shit franchise.
Alabama's pro day had the usual whispers about jaw-dropping 40 times. All first-time workouts for a top-ranked prospect that have breathless predictions about their 40 times. Running back Trent Richardson had folks talking about the magic 4.3 threshold, even some whispers of a potential dip into the 4.2 range. Richardson turned in two unofficial 40 times of 4.58 seconds. Now what?
To put those times in context, Richardson was reportedly working out at just 70 percent after offseason minor knee surgery. Richardson will obviously workout again, for individual teams bringing him in for pre-draft visits.
http://www.turfshowtimes.com/2012/3/29/2910937/trent-richardson-pro-day-40-timeHe didn't work out at the combine. They alibi his pro day performance. As is the case much of the time, his expected 40 time is that of way outside the box high for his position, and yet his real time is definitely not "get to the corner" speed for the NFL.
Trent: 5-9, 229, 4.55 speed, maybe 4.5 if healthy, who really knows if he was that far off or not vs a similar sized Ben Tate at 5-11, 220, 4.43 speed. What did Ben do in his first full year on a Wildcard playoff team? Just under 1000 yards in 15 games, and a 5.4 yard per carry avg? Pretty good, but not pro bowl numbers, and he's on a decent team, while sharing the load with Arian Foster. Actually, in looking at it, Rents "measureables" are much closer to Rudi Johnson at 5-10, 227, 4.57 speed, similar strength. Decent NFL back, on a sucky to average team. Rudi played 8 seasons, and only 3 of those did he play 16 games. He only played in 9 games his first 2 seasons.
If Rent were on a team that relied heavily on Zone Blocking, and had a very good OL, he'd be ok. Like others have said, he's going to get hit early and often, and be playing on a team that is playing from behind a lot. They've won a total of 18 games the last 4 seasons. His career, on that team, won't last long, and will hardly be one to remember.
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