5’10” – 208 lbs. – 4.61
Carried the ball 27 times as a freshman, then saw his role expand the following year. Ran for 128-768-8 (6.0) as a sophomore, 124-598-3 (4.8) as a junior, and 151-823-6 (5.4) as a senior. Also caught a total of 43 passes over the four years, and returned fourteen kicks this past year. Ball security is solid: over 487 touches, fumbled four times, and none this past season. On the small side for a pro running back, but should still meet most team’s minimum requirements.
Played in an offense which featured a lot of off-tackle runs out of the shotgun, as well as read-options. While he didn’t test well at the Combine, shows impressive top-end speed on tape and was able to hit home-runs at the college level. Dangerous when running sweeps, with the ability to win the race to the corner and pick up chunks of yardage. Has some explosiveness to his game; when he gets a crease, hits the hole quickly and can gain enough momentum to finish his runs by falling forward. Appears to do a good job of recognizing cutback lanes on stretch plays; however, also had the chance to run through some big holes during the games reviewed, so vision is a little bit difficult to evaluate. Does a nice job of spinning and twisting off of contact to gain additional yardage; not a punishing runner, but has enough balance to stay upright through glancing blows. Has some shake in the open field and is difficult to tackle when he gets to the second level.
Wasn’t too heavily integrated into the passing game but saw his role expand somewhat in that regard this past year, with more catches as a senior than in his first three years combined; even took a few snaps in the slot. Was often retained in pass protection and also led the way on some blocks in the run game as well; would like to see more consistent effort and physicality as a blocker, though. At times appears to be making only a perfunctory attempt to get in the way of opposing defenders when blocking. Will also try to cut out the legs of oncoming rushers on occasion instead of engaging from his feet.
Given that his nickname is “Jet”, running a 4.61 at the Combine will probably hurt his stock. However, functioned as a big-play threat in college, with what looked like good top-end speed, and has some ability to make defenders miss in the open field or fight for additional yardage after contact. Will probably be more of a mid-to-late-round pick.
DRAFTEXAMINER 