Keith Marshall, RB Washington Redskins

Height- 5’11”
Weight– 219 Pounds
Hand Size- 9 3/8″
40-Time– 4.31
Vertical- 30.5″
Short Shuttle- 4.25
3-Cone- 6.98
Bench Press- 25 reps

NFL Comparison: Rashard Mendenhall, Lamar Miller, Latavius Murray, Tevin Coleman, Chris Johnson, Bryce Brown

Rookie Dynasty Draft ADP- 2.12 (RB9)
RosterWatch Rookie RB Ranking– #6

We are going to have to trust our eyes – and RosterWatch Nation is going to have to trust our track record on this one – because with only 253 rushing attempts over four years at the University of Georgia, there isn’t much film on Keith Marshall (by contrast, Derrick Henry had 395 attempts last season alone).

An elite prospect coming out of high school, Marshall’s college career was derailed by an ACL injury in 2013 that lingered through 2014. He was also on the roster with Toddy Gurley, and Nick Chubb, a depth chart we wouldn’t be shocked if it goes the way of the DeAndre Hopkins, Sammy Watkins, Martavis Bryant NFL-treasure-trove-to-be that was the Clemson WR depth chart a few years back. *Coincidentally, Gurley and Chubb also suffered major knee injuries during Marshall’s UGA career

By all accounts (and a 4.31 40 time in Indy) the ACL has fully healed, however we are a bit concerned there are already reports of tweaked hamstrings coming out of Washington. Durability is going to be a real sticking point with Marshall, and a situation to monitor closely through the preseason.

If he is healthy, we firmly believe Marshall is the type of running back who can thrive in a good scheme behind a good offensive live. Fortunately, the Redskins front is very beastly in both departments. In this situation, we may like Marshall as much or more than backfield-mate Matt Jones over the next few seasons assuming the team doesn’t sign a veteran a la Arian Foster. We were on the forefront of the Matt Jones bandwagon last year and have some concerns this could turn into a time share between two very good backs.

Keith Marshall is a must-own for all Matt Jones dynasty owners, and may very well be a must-draft for Jones owners in 2016 redraft leagues as we see how the preaseason depth chart unfolds. We’ll put it this way: if we know Marshall is going to get 15-20+ touches in any given game this year, we will certainly be starting him in our own DFS lineups.

Our issues with Marshall are Latavius Murray-like. We’d like to see him be more physical through traffic at the line of scrimmage, and demonstrate more leg drive starting and finishing his runs. He’s not a overwhelming “creator” and can be stopped consistently before he gets started.

However, as we mentioned above- if his blocking is good – Marshall is a beast if allowed to penetrate the line of scrimmage. He’s good at locating the cutback, and has electric speed at 2nd and 3rd levels of the defense. He’s unlikely to be caught from behind, and certainly has the chops to outrun pursuit angles. He’s not a shifty jitterbug, but his feet are above-average. Marshall is a solid catcher of the football, he’s also scheme diverse and his YPC at UGA support the type of player we see on film. He may have his share of 1-2 yard carries, but Marshall is going to show us some very long scampers in the NFL, likely sooner than later.

Download the 2016 dynasty cheat sheet now!