Earlier this week, I had one of these posts on HB Glen Coffee, who is locked in a battle with Dixon for the primary backup role behind Frank Gore. I personally have my own thoughts on who will win that battle but I'll keep them to myself for the most part, since I know most of you love me and are therefore inclined to want to agree with me... right?
Anyway, I don't have a lot to go on with Dixon. He seems to have a whole lot of upside, but we have no NFL experience to go by. With Coffee, you could at least look at the circumstances he was treated to last season and go off of how you think he will rebound. With Dixon, all you can go by is the college game and how you think he will perform.
What we do know in that regard is that he's a player with solid burst, and good size. He plays like a big running back yet has a significant amount of "elusiveness" to his credit, or at least he did in college. Not known as someone to put the ball on the ground, looks decent in the passing game (catching 54 passes 449 yards and four touchdowns in college) and is a very, very strong guy. One of the stronger running backs in the draft, he hits hard. Unfortunately, his size and strength don't really translate to him being a very good pass blocker. Seems to lack a playmaking ability.
Now to just get to the confidence levels, which will be very similar to Glen Coffee's.
Very High: Not 1000 yards obviously, but he will be clear number two behind Frank Gore and stream together a few very good games, looking like one of the top backups and a legitimate threat to take some carries away. This is best case scenario for Anthony Dixon.
High: Will have a high yards per carry average and be the designated "closer." Will take a few carries from Gore and be just a little more than a "backup."
Medium: Dixon beats Coffee by a small margin, and is basically exactly what you want in a backup who doesn't take carries from the starter. He will play when Gore is hurt and he'll do OK. May show some promise to be a future feature back for the team when they move on from Gore.
Low: Glen Coffee keeps it close and maybe even beats Coffee for the backup job. He doesn't look good out there, whether it be for ball control issues, bad pass-blocking or anything of the sort he will just not do well out there. That, or he'll not see the field as often as he could if he played very well due to Coffee just outplaying him and Gore taking most of the carries.
Very Low: DeShaun Foster