2020 NFL Draft running back prospect Zack Moss’s speed and quickness may not be elite but Matt Waldman’s RSP Film Room reveals how Moss’s flexibility, mobility, vision, and strength are compensating factors in his scouting report.
Flexibility and mobility aren’t the terms most football fans think about when studying running backs. However, they are the physical underpinnings of some of the NFL’s best runnings—past and present.
Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Eric Dickerson, Ricky Williams, Marshawn Lynch, Saquon Barkley, Alvin Kamara, and Nick Chubb have the hip, leg, and ankle mobility to stop fast and change direction at a tight angle. They also have the flexibility to bend their bodies with great range when hard contact reshapes their stances.
Use a bit of your imagination and you can see how these backs move like water colliding against something solid.
Flip on the tape of Zack Moss and speed and quickness won’t jump off the screen. However, Moss runs like water flowing downhill, bending around obstacles it can’t carry with its current.
Devin Singletary has shown that a short, light, and slow runner with below-average NFL quickness can deliver capable production in a starting lineup if the compensating traits of his game are effective peripheral vision, advanced understanding of leverage, and tight footwork. Moss likely has more speed and quickness than Singletary in addition to his superior size and strength.
This week’s Film Room explores how Moss’s less-discussed traits underpin is compelling profile as an NFL Draft prospect.
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