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2014 NFL Draft: Final team grades and analysis With the smoke finally cleared, the Jags, Bears and Vikings delivered straight A's, but the Rams deserve valedictorian honors for this draft. Additionally, he led rookie running backs in rushing yards that season. Entering 2009 as the starter, Slaton had a rough start, dropping three fumbles over 26 carries in the first two games of the. We've got a full rundown of the 49ers 2014 NFL Draft class. Undrafted free agency is officially underway, so the 49ers rookie class will grow, but here are this year's draft picks.

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by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

Looking to cash in on one of the rookie running backs ready to hit the NFL this season? There are a few who can make an impact, but is there anyone who can truly make an impact in 2014? Let’s take a look:

1) Bishop Sankey – Tennessee Titans
There are a lot of concerns about Sankey, but he appears to be in the best position to immediately step into the NFL and assume a starting role. With Chris Johnson now in New York, the only competition is going to be the chronically underwhelming Shonn Greene (including 3.9 YPC in 2012).

That said, Adam Caplan of ESPN recently tweeted:

“Will be very interested to see how the Titans use Sankey. Widely viewed as a change-of-pace RB by personnel execs. Is he more than that?”

With a nose for the end zone (36 TD over the past two seasons in college) and the opportunity to produce, there’s a lot to like about Sankey heading into the season. While there’s definite downside, he arguably has the highest upside of any rookie RB.

2) Jeremy Hill – Cincinnati Bengals
With BenJarvus Green-Ellis aging, you would think the Bengals drafted Hill in the second round to become to the new complement to Giovani Bernard. He’s listed at 6’1” and 235 lbs., making him the perfect replacement as he could pound the ball between the tackles. We wouldn’t expect him to assume all 220 carries Green-Ellis had, considering he’s still on the roster and Bernard could see his carries increase (he had 170 a year ago).

At the very least, he could become a major TD vulture. However, he has the potential to pick up around 125-150 carries and that should put him on the radars as a potential FLEX option in all formats.

3) Terrance West – Cleveland Browns
At the very least, he should be the “thunder” to Ben Tate’s “lightning”. A potential between the tackles masher, he scored 83 TD over his final three seasons in college. At the same time, there’s no guarantee that Tate can carry the load as a lead back (or stay healthy for 16 games).

4) Devonta Freeman – Atlanta Falcons
We discussed the Falcons situation in detail (click here to view), so make sure you check that out. The bottom line is that Steven Jackson is a shell of his former self and Jacquizz Rodgers has been a consistent underachiever. There is certainly the potential for Freeman to quickly rise up the depth chart, making him an intriguing player to consider.

5) Carlos Hyde – San Francisco 49ers
This is the point on the rankings where things get a little bit more interesting. The 49ers have tremendous depth at RB, but why use a second round pick on a running back if you don’t plan on using him? You would think that the team believes he has more potential than Marcus Lattimore (or simply don’t believe that he will be healthy), and it’s easy to imagine the team starting to lighten the load for Frank Gore. It would appear Hyde is the heir apparent, and in this offense that’s a promising position to be in.

6) Charles Sims – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
He’s got potential and could help to complement a returning Doug Martin, but second year back Mike James is also on the roster. Considering the latter averaged 4.9 YPC in his rookie season, it’s hard to imagine him simply becoming a non-factor. Sims’ has potential, but the depth chart makes him hard to count on.

7) De’Anthony Thomas – Kansas City Chiefs
Dexter McCluster was more of a WR, but Thomas is a dynamic talent who could potential step into that type of role (516 total yards). Thomas could ultimately play a bigger role in the return game in his rookie season, but if he assumes McCluster’s touches he could prove to be a FLEX option.

8) Lache Seastrunk – Washington Redskins
The concern about Seastrunk was that he was not going to be a receiving threat out of the backfield, but reports out of the Combine were that he actually fared well in that regard. With Jay Gruden now in Washington, could Seastrunk fill a role similar to Giovani Bernard’s in Cincinnati?

9) Dri Archer – Pittsburgh Steelers
He’s dynamic, but how will the Steelers utilize him? Will they be able to get him enough touches on a weekly basis to make an impact? It’s hard to imagine.

10) James White – New England Patriots
He was a rotational back at Wisconsin and is joining Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen in New England’s backfield. Then again, can anyone accurately predict what Bill Belicheck is going to do?

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2014 Nfl Rookie Running Backs Week 9

Make sure to check out all of our 2014 rankings: