Todd Gurley was the only back projected to be taken in the first round at the beginning of this college football season (and that at the end of the first round- pick 26 or later even despite his talent), which to me is only reflective of just how devalued the RB position has become in the NFL anymore, but as the season has progressed, Gurley's torn his ACL and Melvin Gordon has just exploded, Gordon is now projected to be the only back taken in the first (which to me is awesome, as that means there will be tons of value to be found at that position in later rounds). Gordon isn't perfect though, as his pass-catching abilities are still very much in question, but other than that, he's pretty much the whole package.
Abdullah, who knows? He could go in the top three rounds, but I wouldn't be one bit surprised to see him drop quite a bit lower than that due to the fact that he has carried a heavy, heavy workload throughout his collegiate career (lots and lots of mileage on those legs and lots and lots of hits taken, both of which will certainly count against him), that and the fact that his pass-blocking abilities are absolutely atrocious, in fact in the game against Sconnie he about got his QB killed 4-5 times due to utterly whiffing on his blocking assignment. Whether that inability to block is due to his size limitations or what, I do not know, but what I do know is that will severely limit his opportunities as a running back in the NFL, as that means he could never, ever be a featured back, but will relegate him to being nothing more than a change of pace type back. That very large negative though is at least somewhat counter-balanced by the fact that his hands are just pillowy soft, making him a major weapon out of the backfield as a pass-catcher. He's got wonderful hands, enough so that I could see an NFL team lining him up in the slot and using him as a possession type receiver, and to further his plus points he is a very shifty runner with great acceleration and explosive, big-play capabilities. Given his size and his whole skill-set, I could see him having a Warrick Dunn or Darren Sproles type NFL career, which would not in any way be a bad thing, as you can have a nice long career and make a hell of a lot of money as the change of pace guy/dual-purpose threat as either a runner or receiver.
