“Heading into next season, Lucky will be one of the top three to five running backs in his class, probably in the top three,” says Scott Wright of NFL Draft Countdown.
Nine excellent junior running backs declared for the upcoming draft: Jamaal Charles of Texas, James Davis of Clemson, Felix Jones of Arkansas, Darren McFadden of Arkansas, Rashard Mendenhall of Illinois, Ray Rice of Rutgers, Steve Slaton of West Virginia, Kevin Smith of Central Florida and Jonathan Stewart of Oregon.
It’s possible all nine would have been chosen ahead of Lucky, probably pushing him into the fourth round or lower.
“Slaton’s maybe the only one among those nine that Lucky would contend with,” Wright says. “And there’s a senior, Chris Johnson of East Carolina, that might’ve gone ahead of Lucky, too.“