Editor’s Note: As our coverage of the 2016 NFL Draft and its impact on fantasy football continues, we bring you our 2016 Rookie SWOT series. These articles will feature video highlights, combine reviews, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, short-term expectations, long-term expectations and rookie draft advice for over 30 of the best dynasty league prospects from this year’s draft. We’ll follow that up with team-by-team draft reviews because, you know, that’s kind of what we live for.
Make sure you’re ready for your dynasty league rookie draft by staying up on all these articles, checking out our rookie draft guide, rookie rankings, rookie draft cheat sheet and mock draft rooms. There are simply no better resources out there for dynasty fantasy football enthusiasts.
Name: C.J. Prosise
Age: 21 years old (05-20-94)
Position: Running Back
NFL Team: Seattle Seahawks
College Team: Notre Dame
NFL Draft Pick: Round three, #60 overall
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Video Highlights
Combine Review
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 220
Hands: 8 1/2″
Arm Length: 32 1/8”
40-Yard Dash: 4.48
10-Yard Split: 1.57
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.21
3 Cone: N/A
Vertical: 35.5”
Broad Jump: 10’ 1”
Bench Press: N/A
Strengths
-Full-time role: He can play all three downs as a running back. He understands routes having been a receiver, and knows how defensive backs will react since he has also played safety. He likes to get rugged when it comes to blocking, and has nice hands in the open field.
-Body: He has the body to absorb punishment and knows how to keep his body balanced. He has good control when being contacted by the defender. He has the speed to make defensive backs chase him. He has good vision and has the patience to watch the play develop before striking. He also has that important second gear and the maneuverability to escape in the open field and get around the corner.
-Toughness: He is the type of player who takes defenders with him on a tackling ride. Has the strength and leg drive to fall forward. He will punish defenders trying to get at him at the line of scrimmage.
Weaknesses
-One year: One of the biggest weaknesses is that he has only had one season at the running back position. That may have got him through college, but he will need to tune his running game at the pro level.
-Technique: Coaches and veterans are going to need to teach him better techniques in blocking, learning passing routes, and spotting the defense better so he can improve his overall game.
-Pad level: He will need to learn how to keep his pad level low as he opens himself up for big hits in the NFL.
-Hesitancy and feel: He doesn’t display natural instincts when running between tackles and will slow down at times when he senses being hit. He needs to learn the fine line between patience and being indecisive.
-Fluidity: He struggles with stiff hips and lane-jumping, and doesn’t change directions very well.
-Injuries: He stands to be injured a lot if he continues to keep his pad level high and always find himself in contact with the defense. He continuously gets hit and the NFL will put his career at a stop if he doesn’t learn how to keep players off him. He missed three games in his only role at running back last season with an ankle injury.
Opportunities
Marshawn Lynch retired – that was a good thing for C.J. Prosise. The biggest opportunity will be the camp competition. Prosise will need to show he can be the every-down back Seattle hopes he can be. Thomas Rawls will have something to say about that, so at the very minimum Prosise can try to carve out a third down role.
Threats
Prosise will not only have to battle Thomas Rawls, but a slew of others including: Christine Michael, Tre Madden and rookies Alex Collins and Zac Brooks. C.J. Prosise may have better all around talent than the names listed above, but the Seahawks won’t be in a hurry to decide who is the best fit for the team as the cupboard is full.
Short-term Expectations
The shortest term expectation is that Prosise will play well enough to earn the third down role. The door is open for him to be the all-around back, but he will have to take the starting position away from Thomas Rawls. According to Aaron Levin via Twitter, Prosise is being lined up at wide receiver and head coach Pete Carroll stated that he “looked totally comfortable” at wideout and has “tremendous range in ability.” Carroll is referring more to extended packages and not a permanent role at receiver.
Long-term Expectations
I don’t see C.J. Prosise as a full-time back in the NFL. He does a lot of things well, but he just doesn’t have enough to claim his own backfield. He has a lot to offer the Seattle Seahawks with his natural feet, open field running, and especially versatility. There is just a lot of development that he needs to do, and it’s up to him how quickly he grasps the opportunity.
Rookie Draft Advice
At this time C.J. Prosise is going as the 12th rookie off the board and the fourth overall running back. The interesting thing is that he could finish as the best rookie in fantasy. He plays for a Seattle team built to run the ball, and is already placed in packages to extend his versatility in the passing game. He also has the talents to be a stud in the NFL and if he can pick up the nuances quickly he will take the league by storm.
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The best rookie? Better than Zeke? The Prosise-lovefest is out of hand. Good luck to everyone planning a season around him.
I don’t really see these two perspectives to be compatible.
So is Prosise this, “I don’t see C.J. Prosise as a full-time back in the NFL.”?
Or is he this, “The interesting thing is that he could finish as the best rookie in fantasy…He also has the talents to be a stud in the NFL and if he can pick up the nuances quickly he will take the league by storm.”?
I can’t decide either.
Well, the author could be saying he could have a CJ Anderson 2014 or David Johnson 2015 run in him because of his gifts while still not being overly talented enough to do much once he’s exposed.
To me Prosise is a great athlete who needs to learn how to be a running back. Doing it in college level is one thing. But talent will only get you on a 53 man roster in NFL. Plenty of great athletes who haven’t done anything in NFL. Look at Robert Turbin’s measurables. Not comparing the two players in any way, shape or form.
Point is that Prosise is a project. Has ability to be very good, but need to see if he has the vision (key in NFL, just ask Trent Richardson and many others) and ability to learn nuances of quality running back? He is working with former RB Chad Spann if I remember correctly, but I wouldn’t expect anything more than flashes in 2016. You are essentially picking him for 2017 production IMO.
