424 touches in five years (he was ineligible for 2011). Lookout for this guy! The NFL will probably take it easier on him than the MAC did. Most guys notice that football gets slower, easier, and less physical once they hit the NFL.
Some points to sum up the idiocy of this pick:
1. Archer isn't small. He isn't a scatback. He isn't Darren Sproles, DeSean Jackson, Willie Parker, or any other smallish NFL player. He's miniscule. He's smaller than Chris effing Rainey. As TMC has pointed out repeatedly, there have been zero successful RBs that weigh 173 ******* pounds. There have been zero successful NFL WRs his size, especially ones who were college RBs and have incredibly short arms and small hands. Being tiny is a huge issue, not only because it opens you up to more injury concerns (which Archer has constantly had), but also because..
2. Sorry to break this, but NFL receivers cannot simply "run past" NFL DBs. If that's how it worked, Olympian and Florida WR John Capel would have made some Pro Bowls, and Donald Driver probably wouldn't have caught 700 passes. DBs do not just watch the receiver run and try to run next to him. They don't stand in awe of the speed of the WR in front of them and just struggle to nip at their heels. They shove them at the LOS. They position themselves in the way of the receiver so as to cut off their route. When the ball comes, they get physical and control the receiver while swatting at the ball.
Consider this: Archer ran 40 yards in 4.26 in shorts with no defenders. Now add full padding, eleven NFL defenders, and a route that needs to be run. Now factor in that, after the snap, the QB typically releases the ball in less than 3 seconds, maybe 4 if it's a go route. Now factor in Archer's constant injuries and fumbling tendencies. Then explain exactly how Archer is going to just sprint to daylight, football in hand, while eleven NFL defenders bend over and suck air.
3. Where is he going to play? This isn't Madden; actual football involves things beyond the ballcarrier. You wanna put Archer in as third-down back? Good, let's have him pick up a blitzing Terrell Suggs in the open field. Want him in the slot? Sure, let's watch him fight off the jam from a 5'10 200# cornerback and use his body to shield him from the ball, then catch it and absorb the hit. Let's have him block downfield on screens and short throws. You want him to return kickoffs? There aren't that many anymore. Return punts? He's never done that and is an injury and fumble case; not sure I want him catching the ball with three sprinting defenders in his face, especially since he has no experience doing it.
Obviously, these are not options. He's not going to pick up the rush, and he's not going to block downfield. So when he's on the field, the defense knows he's going to get the ball. Kinda erases most or all of the speed advantage and limits our playbook. Now, we've spent a 3rd on Chris Rainey II.
All of the "explosiveness!" and "versatility!" and "open space!" being talked about is a moot point if a guy (a) can't get on the field due to fumbles and a lack of offensive ability, and (b) can't secure the ball. You guys keep seeing visions of Eric Metcalf and Darren Sproles in your head, but they are not comparable players. The closest comparison to Archer is absolutely Chris Rainey, who looked dead each time he was hit. Then he usually fumbled for good measure.
4. Archer's size isn't the only knock on him, by a long shot. Even at 5'10 190, he's a big question mark. He fumbles a ton. More than Chris Rainey. He's constantly injured. He was academically ineligible in 2011. He doesn't have a position; he was a part-time RB and gimmick slot WR in school. His only strength - returning kickoffs, not punts - is being rapidly phased out of the NFL; kickoffs will probably be gone within five years. There's no way he can return NFL punts.
5. There are ramifications to wasting this pick. I know we all say, "Well, we filled all our holes later in the draft, so we're fine risking that third!!" Why? Because we drafted some guys late? We took roughly the #15 OT late in the fifth round. We took roughly the #25 CB in the 5th as well. And we snagged a 7th-round NT that probably won't make the team. And that sews up our holes? Do you guys really think that we're now set at CB and OT and NT? I like Shaq Richardson as a late-round developmental CB, but what are the realistic odds he ever becomes a starting-caliber CB for us? 5%? 10%? If that? A third-round pick is immensely valuable, especially when you have holes throughout your depth chart.
