It's not exactly a state secret that the St. Louis Rams are looking to add a complementary running back to their offense, a guy to pair with the mighty Steven Jackson, a guy who is a speedster who can burn opponents on the edge, catch a ball out of the backfield, work out of the shotgun, options and all that jazz.
Team scouts kicked the tires on Kendall Hunter, Derrick Locke and Noel Devine at the Senior Bowl last month. Of all three, Hunter looks like to have the fewest questions about his game, just the usual spread offense translation issue.
Two other players generating some talk among draftniks are Taiwan Jones, a speedy small school prospect, and Sam Bradford's former OU teammate DeMarco Murray, who earned some ink at the Senior Bowl himself.
For most, Murray looks like the better prospect, but opinions are starting to shift, as so often happens this time of year. Here's Wes Bunting from NFP on the two backs today:
Just got off the phone with NFL scout...we both agreed that Small school RB Tiawan Jones is better prospect than DeMarco Murray
In a later Tweet, he calls Jones an "ideal 3rd down back" and a good pick for a team that runs out of the shotgun. You know who likes to use the Shotgun? Josh McDaniels, the Rams new offensive coordinator. The Broncos took 51.4 percent of their offensive snaps out of the shotgun, the third most in the league.
Jones has some injury red flags, as do many of these smaller scatback types. He'll be one to watch later this month at the Combine, since it's emphasis on workouts could really do wonders for his draft stock.