Jerrion Ealy is one of the more interesting prospects in this year’s draft. I remember him as a five-star prospect coming out of high school and while he has shown spurts of greatness at Ole Miss, he has not been able to put everything together. Whether it was because he played in a committee or because his offensive line was not great, it seems like there is still a lot of untapped potential when watching Ealy play. Despite being listed at just 5’10, 185 lbs., Ealy runs like he weighs 200+ lbs. In the NFL, I see him being a rotational back for a team that runs an old-school system. With the Seahawks, I believe that Ealy can be what everyone wants DeeJay Dallas to be. The Ravens and Buccaneers are also dark horse contenders to draft Ealy at the end of day three.

As I mentioned earlier, Ealy plays a lot heavier than he actually is. Ealy runs with power and strength through defenders and slips arm tackles like they are nothing. He is able to get skinny through tight windows and played with an offensive line that did not help him a whole lot. When making contact with tacklers, Ealy is the enforcer and makes defenders regret even trying. He is a solid receiver whose best route was a seam through the heart of the defense. Just as Ealy does a great job at catching balls through the middle of the defense, he does a phenomenal job at running through the inside of a defensive line. He is an inside runner with no fears. In pass protection, Ealy showed promise and had a few plays here and there where he “laid the boom”.  Even though he is not the fastest player; he is extremely athletic. Ealy was a star baseball drafted for Ole Miss and even got drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks. While I don’t believe Ealy will be a number one running back in the NFL, he can be an X-Factor that comes in during situational football.

Lack of explosion and burst were my biggest concerns when watching Ealy play. He just did not look fast which takes him out of play for certain teams that run the “Shanahan West-Coast” system out of the picture for drafting him. While his offensive line was not great at Ole Miss, there were too many “meh” runs where his vision just let him down. There is potential in his blocking ability, but he is still very raw in pass protection. I also felt like there were certain games where he didn’t even look like the best running back on his own team. I have Ealy going at the end of day three, and he’ll need to get faster if he wants to be one of the top backs in the NFL.