When discussing which rookie NFL running back is likeliest to have the most productive first season in the league, it's easy to look at the two backs selected in the first-round, Todd Gurley of the St. Louis Rams and Melvin Gordon of the San Diego Chargers, and conclude that one of the pair will probably be crowned King of the Neophyte NFL Ballcarriers after the conclusion of the 2015 season.
Unfortunately for Gurley and Gordon though, it may be that another back, chosen in the draft's third-round, is in a better position to produce the best rookie season of all the backs drafted or signed during and immediately after the NFL's annual rookie meat market - the Atlanta Falcons Tevin Coleman.
"With new play-caller Kyle Shanahan on the scene, we expect Atlanta to focus on the ground game much more than before under Dirk Koetter," writes Marc Sessler of NFL.com. "The 5-foot-11, 206-pound Coleman is a bigger player than Freeman, the second-year back who might wind up seeing more change-of-pace work instead of the large role coaches promised at the combine. I like Freeman as a pass-catcher, but after Shanahan started a pair of rookies in Cleveland last season, he won't shy away from doing so with Coleman."
Gurley and Gordon are certainly in good position to take on major roles in St. Louis and San Diego, but Coleman may have an upper hand on a potential breakout season.
While Devonta Freeman has been talked up by the Falcons coaches as a potential bell-cow back in Hotlanta, Coleman's larger frame, more physical style and top-end speed may be better suited to a three-down role, even in his first NFL season.
In fact, in his pre-draft profile of Coleman, NFL.com's Lance Zierlein suggested that the former Big Ten back may be forced to temper his violent running style in order to lengthen his NFL career.
That may be bad news for Coleman's professional football longevity, but combined with the lack of an impediment to the starting job for the Falcons and his elite burst and game-changing ability, it could make for one heck of a rookie season for Coleman in Atlanta.
Coleman, unsurprisingly, feels the same way.
"I'm going to be the best rookie running back (from this class)," Coleman said recently, via D.J. Shockley of AtlantaFalcons.com. "I'm coming out to be the starter, and I'm going to work like the starter."
