Zach Line, RB, SMU

SMU's College Football highlight reel featuring Zach Line vs. TCU Horned Frogs (via YouPlusDallas)

[Here he is against TCU's top ranked defense last season.]

He's 6-1, 230, and i'm guessing that he runs in the 4.5 range.

This has been my guy since last year.  I like Shonn Greene but its becoming apparent that he's not the guy.  He doesn't break tackles, he doesn't make guys miss, and he never makes something out of nothing.  And to top it off, he's tough to keep on the field when we go 3 or 4 wide. 

Line hails from a spread offense at SMU.  He's always on the field in 3 or 4 wide situations.  He's got great feet.  He always makes guys miss and his big frame allows him to run through a lot of tackles.  He's able to power through for tough yards but he doesn't run to contact the way Greene does.  Through 5 games this year, Line has rushed for 589 yards and has averaged 5.9 yards per carry, and he has 11 TDs. 

Greene reminds me of Lamont Jordan from way back when.  He looked great as a #2 guy, but average at best when featured.  I'm not ready to give up completely on Greene just yet, and granted, the o-line hasn't been good, but he's gotta show us something.  When have we ever seen the guy do something where we say, "Oooooh nice run"?  Seems like every time he does anything is when he's sprinting down hill through gaping holes.  

I think Line can make a guy miss in the hole.  I think he can punish people down hill.  He can run inside and outside.  He can run cut-backs and traps.  His hands are decent.  And he's comfortable operating in spread formations without a FB.  Line will allow to maintain a power game while remaining flexible enough to spread out on any down without signaling anything to the defense.