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Jeffrey Wilson
College: North Texas
Position: Running Back
Height/Weight: 5’11”, 210 pounds
College Stats: 3.205 rushing yards on 562 attempts with 32 rushing touchdowns. 70 catches for 527 receiving yards with two touchdowns.
The former 2A All-Texas high school player was a big part of why North Texas contended for the Conference USA title this season. Playing as a reserve his freshman year and taking over starting duties from his sophomore year on, Wilson became the school’s fourth all-time leading rusher and scored the third most rushing touchdowns in program history.
He had a fairly decent pro day clocking in at 4.57 seconds in the forty yard dash, a time which is about the same as what he ran when he was about twenty pounds lighter. It would appear the Elkhart native has been training hard for a shot at the pros.
Pros:
I mentioned that he was able to maintain his forty yard dash time despite gaining weight and recovering from a foot injury, which tells me that he hasn’t hit his physical ceiling yet. NFL coaches will absolutely have something to work with. I also personally really like his vision as a ball carrier. He doesn’t make too many cuts and he utilizes his blocks well to get downfield. On top of that, there’s plenty of offenses that could utilize a back who can catch passes out of the backfield as well as Wilson.
Cons:
Wilson fumbled a lot at North Texas (once every 33 carries, to be exact), which is obviously not something you typically want. While his acceleration is good, there’s concern about his top speed not being as high as it could be. His injury history could scare some teams off as well.
Who’s going to take him and where?
Wilson would be attractive to a team looking for a solid RB2 or RB3 right now. I don’t think he’ll get taken before day three if he is picked, but stranger things have happened. I like the idea of Philly drafting Wilson since they have a strong pass game and Wilson is different enough from Jay Ajayi that he could add an extra dimension to that offense...
Eagles in the fifth or sixth round