Mel Kiper: Jaylen Wright could be top running back in NFL Draft after Combine performance
Jaylen Wright turned heads and climbed draft boards with a standout performance at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. The former star Tennessee running back was clocked at 4.38 seconds in the 40, jumped 11-2 in the broad jump and had a 38-inch vertical.
Now Wright could be the first running back to hear his name called at the NFL Draft in April, according to ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.
Kiper on Monday listed Wright as one of his top risers coming out of the combine, writing that he could headline a running back group that “is a little underwhelming as a whole” and is without a clear No. 1 back in the group.
“Wright,” Kiper wrote, “who rushed for 1,013 yards on just 137 carries last season, is now firmly in the mix to be the top back off the board in April’s draft. I have a third-round grade on him.”
Jaylen Wright last season: 137 carried, 1,013 yards, 7.4 yards per carry
Kiper added that a back may not be picked in the first two rounds of the draft. He had Johnathon Brooks (Texas), Trey Benson (Florida State) and Audric Estime (Notre Dame) ranked ahead of Wright before the Combine.
“So with Brooks still recovering from the torn ACL in his right knee he suffered in November,” Kiper wrote, “there was a chance for the guys underneath him to rise to the occasion and that included Wright, who was my fourth-ranked back.
“All Wright did was run a lightning-quick 4.38 40-yard dash, which ranked second at his position, and put up an 11-foot-2 broad jump, which was best among the running backs. Plus, his 38-inch vertical leap was in the top five. Those are stellar numbers, particularly with Estime running a disappointing 4.71 40.”
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Jaylen Wright ‘far from (a sleeper in the NFL Draft) now’
Wright in November became the 19th running back in Tennessee football program history to go over 1,000 yards in a season. He reached the 1,000-yard mark in 22 fewer carries than any other Tennessee running back before him.
His 7.4 yards per carry is also the highest among the 1,000-yard back, just above Charlie Garner’s 7.3-yard average in 1993 (159 attempts, 1,161 yards) and well north of the next highest, James Stewart’s 6.0 yards per carry in 1994 (170 attempts, 1,028 yards).
Wright was a three-star running back prospect in the On3 Industry Ranking out of Southern High School in Durham, N.C. in the class of 2021. He was ranked No. 515 overall in the class, No. 35 among running backs and No. 26 in the state of North Carolina.
“He was considered a sleeper coming into the combine,” ESPN’s Jordan Reid wrote, “but he’s far from that now. Wright shows home run speed on tape and plays even faster than his timed speed. He led the nation in yards per carry last season (7.4), and while the 5-10 210-pounder was viewed as a fourth- or fifth-round pick a week ago, I think he could now go inside the top 100.”
