D'Onta Foreman, Texas
6-0, 233
Foreman entered Texas as the lessor of the two most prized recruits with his brother out of high school, but as these things tend to happen, D'Onta became the prize eventually. He only started one full season for the Horns, but worked his way into the starting job slowly.
As a freshman, Foreman rushed for just 74 yards on 16 carries. As a sophomore, he rushed for a team leading 681 yards on a bad football team. He carried the ball just 95 times, and scored five times.
As a junior, he exploded onto the scene nationally, rushing for 2028 yards and 15 scores. He carried the rock 323 times and averaged 6.28 yards per carry, and over 184 yards per game.
The Good
He is a very hard worker, and was patient coming up through the system, waiting on his turn to shine.
For a man his size, he is very fluid as a runner, and is very athletic.
Smooth finesse runner who sees the field well, and knows to wait for plays to develop.
Excellent hip movement, makes tacklers miss.
Excellent hurdler, avoiding leg tacklers.
If you don't wrap him up, he will shake you.
Uses his size in contact to bounce off bad tackles.
He is always running north/south, and avoids losing yards.
He is excellent in short yardage conversion, and has adequate power to churn through goal line plays.
Was never over used at Texas, and has plenty of miles left on him.
The Bad
He does not have great hands, and has a tendency to fumble at times.
Despite his solid size, he does not use it enough, and tries to be more a finesse back than a power back.
He does not possess multiple gears for speed, and can be one dimensional, and is still a bit raw in technique.
Kind of like Lawrence Maroney of the Patriots back in the day in that he is not a creator. He runs through the proscribed hole, whether the play is there or not.
He looks like an albatross in pass blocking, and is just not good at it, making him a two down back only.
Final Overview
Foreman is a back that could have benefited from another year in school based on his extremely small sample size. He was not a premier runner until 2016, so there is no telling if this was the real player, or just a fluke.
Based on his size and raw ability, I project him as a second rounder, but would not be surprised to see him slip based on him being such a mystery, and for being as raw as he is. The good news is that he has the patience to wait and learn, and work his way into a role, and likely will not pout during the process. I like his potential, but he needs some work.
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