Mel Kiper Jr, Field Yates poke holes in Devin Neal's stock despite NFL Draft sleeper label

The running back position is one of the 2025 NFL Draft’s deepest classes on the offensive side of the ball, boasting collegiate stars like Ashton Jeanty, Kaleb Johnson, Dylan Sampson, Omarion Hampton, among several others.

One tailback who has been a star at the collegiate level but may be flying under the radar heading into the 2025 NFL Combine is former Kansas star Devin Neal — the Jayhawks’ all-time leading rusher. Becuase of the depth in the class, ESPN currently ranks him as the No. 12 RB available at the start of the draft.

“I just don’t know how high he will be drafted, because there are so many good running backs in this class,” ESPN’s Field Yates told his colleague Mel Kiper Jr. on First Draft on Monday afternoon. “… He’s not a home run hitter necessarily, in terms of blazing speed.

“He might not run a 4.42, 40 [yard dash] at the combine, not the biggest guy, certainly not the fastest as I just mentioned. But he has some outstanding footwork, his decisiveness as well. The ability to get skinny in holes is all really good. The kind of stuff that translates at the NFL level.”

During his four seasons with the Jayhawks, Neal totaled 4,343 yards on the ground to go with 49 ruhsing touchdowns. He logged 1,000-yard rushing seasons in each of his last three years on campus, including totaling over 1,200 yards from scimmage in each of the last two years. He scored 32 of his total career rushing touchdowns during that stretch.

Kansas found itself ranked within the AP Top 25 poll during each of Neal’s 1,000-yard rushing seasons. The program made consecutive bowl games during 2022 and 2023, for the first time since 2007 and 2008, and even won nine games in 2023 to go with a win in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl — the Jayawks’ first postseason victory since the 2008 Insight Bowl.

“You go to Lance Leipold, the [Kansas] coach. What coincided with Leipold was basically Devin Neal stepping on that campus in Lawrence? Devin Neal, really, from the get go, four straight years of consistent productivity,” Kiper noted.

Kiper raved over Neal’s ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. He caught one touchdown pass in each of the four seasons he played for Kansas, and totaled 711 receiving yards throughout his career. Neal had his best receiving season yet in 2024, logging 24 receptions for 254 yards and a touchdown.

“I don’t know that he is a perfect number one starting running back in the NFL, but I have a lot of confidence that you can see him as the next man, that second running back for a team that deploys multiple backs as their go-to guys,” Yates continued. “Devin Neal might go in the fifth, fourth round somewhere on day three, but again, another guy who in a different year would be talking about as possibly a top-100 type prospect.”

The 2025 NFL Draft will take place from Thursday, April 24 – Saturday, April 26 live from Green Bay, Wisconsin.