NFL Scouts Love Speed and McNeese RB Deonta McMahon has Plenty
There is one trait NFL scouts admire the most – Speed.
Their addiction to speed trumps all other abilities. Speed is the one singular characteristic above all others that attracts NFL decision-makers to their scent.
No scout ever muttered the words, “He’s too fast.”
Scouts are drawn like a moth to a flame when evaluating a prospect with speed. No matter the size or speed involved, a player can get a seat at the table. How long they last depend on if they can play, but the speed gets them in the door.
Sprinkle in some shiftiness and it creates a concoction NFL scouts drool over.
Fortunately for McNeese running back Deonta McMahon, he has an abundance of each. Enough speed and shiftiness to feed the NFL’s addiction. The Southland Conference rushing champion, McMahon rushed for 1,408 yards on the season, ranking him 5th in the FCS. Ranking him fourth in the nation with a whopping 7.4 yards per carry that topped all others in the conference.
“Honestly, I want to touch 4.2 and I’m training hard for it,” McMahon said. “I’m trying so hard (emphatically said) day in and out grinding.”
McMahon has goofy-good athletic abilities. It is such a cliché when addressing players and their skill set. However, McMahon is different. Watch him play and you immediately notice his gifts are God-given. The make-you-miss and open-space heroics are unique.
At high school at Frostproof, Florida, he rushed for over 5,000 yards and in one game, McMahon scored six touchdowns along with a rushing performance of over 300 yards. Even Frostproof alums like Travis Henry and Alvin Kamara had to take a step back and ask – Who is this McMahon kid?
McMahon outshined them all.
Over the years, a few prospects here and there simply possess another level of athleticism that separates them from the rest. Undersized and unwanted by the behemoth college programs, these prospects must exude more than most to attract NFL attention.
It feels like McMahon is that 2023 NFL Draft candidate to follow in the footsteps of former Greyhounds star Deonte Harty (formerly Harris). Harty went undrafted out of Assumption in 2019 and signed with the New Orleans Saints and has remained on the roster ever since. Harty returned six kickoffs for touchdowns and eight punt returns for scores during his time at Assumption. A combined 14 touchdown returns were too much to ignore.
The Saints realized it and felt comfortable signing Harty after the draft. McMahon could still hear his name called, but even without the recognition of being drafted, he can find his way onto a roster afterward like Harty.
Athletic clones with nearly identical names. Deonta and Deonte! McMahon is 5-foot-7 at 185 pounds. Harty is 5-foot-6 at 170 pounds. The similarities between the two are strikingly similar in stature and ability.
“I’d like to compare myself to Alvin Kamara or a Barry Sanders,” McMahon said in describing his quickness in space and ability to make defenders miss.
In high school, his size, not his skill, made colleges reluctant to embrace him with scholarships. With little to go on, McMahon traveled 2,000 miles from home to Butte College in Oroville, California. He went the JUCO route and earned All-American honors as a running back.
“Going to Butte College built me and molded me into the person I am now,” McMahon said. “A person of good character and discipline who loves to work hard and compete.”
McMahon has proven he can compete at any level thus far. He dominated in high school. He dominated at Butte. McMahon was named one of 30 finalists for the 2022 Walter Payton Award, annually presented to the national offensive player of the year in college football's Division I championship subdivision. Validates the following, he dominated at McNeese.
The NFL is a different animal altogether. The memorizing and dazzling plays college players make become much harder to perform when football gets to the professional level. Every player is amongst the best of the best. The NFL game can squash the Peter Warrick’s and Reggie Bush’s of college football into mere mortals at the next level.
It’s a come to Jesus’ moment for plenty of NFL prospects.
For example, Harty has one touchdown return in his NFL career, compared to the 14 at the collegiate level. The point, however being, he made it to the league. The lifelong dream of reaching the NFL was achieved. He is entering his fifth season in the National Football League.
McMahon is next up. The next was Deonte Harty, who was overlooked time and time again, but when the scouts watched the tape. They knew he could make good on making an NFL roster.
“It’s a dream come true,” McMahon said. “I’m enjoying the journey I’m on right now.”
Good luck with the next journey.
The NFL.
