Running backs hoping to change perceptions at NFL combine

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Kenneth Walker III believes NFL scouts may be shortchanging this year's running backs contingent.

He sees a promising group of skillful, multi-faceted players, more than one worthy of being a first-round draft pick in April. Walker, in fact, could be at the head of the class following his 2021 breakout season at Michigan State, especially if he tests well between now and then.

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The problem: Many teams find more value waiting to take a running back. So Walker and nearly three dozen other runners will spend this week trying to change minds at the NFL's annual scouting combine in Indianapolis.

"I feel like that's a goal in my mind, to be drafted early," Walker said Thursday. "And also just for other running backs as well, I feel like we've got to get them off the board, too."

Convincing scouts to change their ways won't be easy.

With this year's draft heavy on big guys — offensive and defensive linemen — and receivers, it appears light on the splashy, offensive playmakers out of the backfield. Even the quarterback class has been criticized for its lack of star power.

Yet, as much as coaches want to talk about winning championships by running the ball and stopping the run, it's the backs who have taken the biggest hits on recent draft weekends.

Only four have been taken in the first round over the past three seasons, and only twice during the last nine years have four or more been selected among the top 50. While some believe this year's class is solid and deep, it also could be the first time since 2014 and the second in 22 years that no running back is a first-rounder.

Michigan State running