The 2018 NFL Draft running backs are an especially athletic bunch, as was documented on the field during their collegiate careers ...
In college, so many of the 2018 NFL combine’s running backs had weightlifting videos blow up on social media
Seems like it’s a pretty good year to need a running back.
Let’s sum the whole thing up with one play. This was the best run by Saquon Barkley, the highlights champ of this RB draft class:
... but let’s not forget the weightroom feat videos ...
A summer workout video flying around Twitter and Instagram isn’t all that uncommon, but for whatever reason, most of college football’s memorable examples from the last few years happened to feature this draft class’ running backs.
Barkley, whom Bruce Feldman named college football’s biggest workout freak, broke off the biggest power clean in Penn State history, including linemen:
He’s reportedly also benched 390 and squatted 495 for seven reps.
Here’s LSU’s Derrius Guice, another on Feldman’s list, squatting 650:
And Georgia’s Nick Chubb squatting 600, which came after one of his teammates declared Chubb could top a previous viral Guice squat of a mere (LOL) 583:
Chubb is said to have squatted 645 and benched 390 in high school.
Eventual teammate Sony Michel was putting up a highly casual 505 at the time and surely capable of more, based on the lack of spotters:
And Auburn’s Kamryn Pettway was squatting 605 around the same time.
Oregon’s Royce Freeman is also in the 600-pound club:
And so on.
Feldman’s top 40 workout warriors also included eventual 2018 draft-eligible RBs Kalen Ballage of Arizona State, Warren Ball of Akron, Ralph Webb of Vanderbilt, and Ryan Wolpin of Boise State.
Now those viral videos are starting to come out of the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine.
On the bench press, Barkley and Chubb each hit 29 reps of 225 pounds, tying for sixth place ... among this year’s offensive linemen.
Of the combine’s 12 running backs since 2006 to push more than 29 reps, all but four weighed in the 230s or 240s, while Barkley and Chubb weigh in the 220s.
Five other 2018 backs put up 22 or more reps each, which is an average-sized group, but considering one of the RBs who hit a lower number looked like this six years ago ...
... I don’t think we have to worry about upper body strength in this class.
And they haven’t even ran at the combine yet. Let’s update this post after they do.
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