Neal, that is. He looks like an all-purpose back to me. I am a little skeptical of his listed sub-4.5 speed, but he is certainly fast enough. Definitely need to hold on to him. Between Conner, Perkins, Elliott, Ballard, Neal, and potentially Griffin and Wells (depending on where we play him), I think we will find our next great back.
I think Perkins will be our Demps-type player still. I just don't see him as a 3-down back. I am hoping he will be a versatile-enough pass catcher to be able to line up some in the slot and take the place of Heavens on our jet sweep/reverse plays. Heavens has the speed but can't break an arm tackle to save his life. I am not writing Heavens off, hopefully he can develop into a balanced slot receiver. Perkins is compact - has that Barry Sanders little-guy build - I guess you never know. One thing is for sure, there have been plenty of small backs that are unstoppable forces...C. Johnson and Jones-Drew are proving that right now. I just thought we would have heard a little more buzz about Perkins over the course of the year if he was looking like that type of player.
This might belong in the RB conversation posted earlier, but I see us using Conner, Ballard, Elliott primarily on 1st and 2nd down and then Perkins/Elliott as 3rd down backs. If Neal or Griffin can establish themselves as sure-handed, they could definitely see some playing time.