Top 10 running backs in the 2021 NFL Draft

#9 2021 NFL Draft Prospect: Jermar Jefferson (Oregon State)

[5’ 10”, 215 pounds; JR]

Jermar Jefferson

After coming onto the scene with a bang, racking up over 1500 yards and 12 TDs from scrimmage as a freshman, this former three-star recruit was banged up for large stretches of his second year. But Jermar Jefferson still went for 770 scrimmage yards and ten touchdowns.

Jefferson’s best per-game numbers, however, came last year, when he went for 925 total yards and seven scores on just 142 touches. He played in six of the Beavers’ seven games, including playing a key role in an upset win over in-state rivals Oregon, who were ranked in the top ten at that point.

Jefferson is one of the most natural runners in the 2021 NFL Draft class. When you break his tape down frame-by-frame, there’re a lot of integrated elements to his game.

He does such a good job of veering around defenders and reducing the surface area to hit with side-steps and pulling away from his shoulders. He presses the hole with great conviction and gets on the other side of the block with well-coordinated jump-cuts. When the defense is pinned inside, he has enough burst to get to the edge.

Jefferson really excels in setting up defenders and making subtle shifts on the move to make them miss. Something you see him do all the time is having his whole body pointed one way and then transitioning upfield in one step while leaning away from would-be tacklers.

What enables him to do that is his body control and the way he uses that off-arm to correct himself and keep balance. However, when he does drop that shoulder on an awaiting defender, he brings the thunder and drives forward. He also pulls through nicely when guys try to arm-tackle him from the side.

When the former Beaver finds himself in traffic, he often keeps himself alive by kicking those legs up or bouncing off contact to go with lateral steps and find daylight. And when he is actually going to the ground, he oftentimes surges forward by trying to push off the ground.

Overall, I think Jefferson looked like a more dynamic ball-carrier in 2020 after I saw him as more of a power back coming into the year. That was illustrated by his touchdown runs of 75+ yards in consecutive weeks, including an 82-yard on the very first offensive snap of the Oregon game, in which he was the biggest reason the Beavers were able to pull off the upset.

The Stanford game was the only one where he actually didn’t crack the 100-yard mark. Last season, he was also used more to bind defenders on bubble and swing screen fakes.

While OSU didn’t throw the ball a whole lot to their backs, you saw at times what Jefferson could do with momentum built up, burning quite a few angles as he got into open space. In an increased check-down role, he was a very productive player. Jefferson was also pretty effective in chip-and-release duties, as he could become a problem to pick up late for linebackers.

Nevertheless, Jefferson only had nine catches in each of his last two years (15 games overall). He doesn’t seem to be the most natural pass-catcher and takes his eyes off the ball too quickly, resulting in a few drops.

That’s why you saw him get taken off the field for the majority of third downs in the last two years. He is also a little too loose with the ball when it is in his hands. He pushes that elbow forward too much when entering traffic and needs to do a better job of shielding the ball from punching arms, which resulted in three fumbles in 2020 (even though he did touch the ball 142 times over a relatively short stretch).

As a pass-protector, his positioning and engagement is pretty solid, but he needs to roll those hips through contact and stun blitzers rather than just bump them as they approach.

I don’t love doing player comparisons, and I don’t want to say their games are totally alike, but Jefferson, for me, is kind of the Zack Moss of this NFL Draft.

I say that in terms of how natural a runner he is, setting up blockers and operating through traffic without a lot of wasted movement. I don’t think he is quite as good as Moss was coming out of Utah a year ago. But Jefferson has much less injury history. I think he's pretty scheme-diverse but doesn’t have the ceiling to be a superstar necessarily, and I would need a personal workout to evaluate how much of a factor he could be in the receiving game.