Four Day 3 Running Back Targets For Jets to Complement Michael Carter

From Notre Dame's Kyren Williams to Baylor's Trestan Ebner, here are four running backs the Jets should target late in the 2022 NFL draft.

Author:
Blake Pace
Publish date:
Apr 14, 2022 7:21 AM EDT

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New York Jets

As evident by their free agency signings over the last month, the Jets have made it abundantly clear to the rest of the league that they want to be a run-first offense. By signing left guard Laken Tomlinson and large blocking tight ends like CJ Uzomah and Tyler Conklin, the 2022 Jets are trying to replicate the offensive success that many of their coaches shared in San Francisco (and Atlanta before that) prior to joining Robert Saleh in New York.

Between the seasons of 2016 and 2020, Kyle Shanahan’s offenses — which Jets offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur was part off — were in the top half of football in rushing play percentage, outside of 2017. Their heralded outside zone scheme is one that’s growing in terms of use around the league and is one that has shown to not require elite talent in order to maintain success. Every year’s leading rusher for their respective team was a different name, and all but one season saw its top two rushers take 100 or more carries.

Comparing that to this most recent Jets season, there’s still work to be done. I’m all aboard the Michael Carter hype train heading into 2022, but the depth behind him still needs to be addressed. Ty Johnson doesn’t seem like a great fit in this offense and had a career-worst 3.9 yards per carry last year. Tevin Coleman, heading into his age 29 season, had one of his worst years to date with near lows in yards per carry. He goes where LaFleur goes, following him to San Francisco and New York from Atlanta, but his role should at this point should be more of a third string running back and part-time coach for his less experienced teammates.

Given Carter’s projections as a lead back and the ability to plug-and-play late round players in this offense, the Jets don’t need to tackle this need until Day 3 (or later) of the draft. This class has plenty of talent at its backend, so they can be as patient as they want and still walk away with a capable No. 2. Let’s take a look, round by round, at some of the better running back fits for the Jets.

Four Running Backs the Jets Should Target on Day 3 of the 2022 NFL Draft

New York Jets should keep an eye on these backs in the late rounds during this month's NFL draft

Round Four – Kyren Williams, Notre Dame

Notre Dame RB Kyren Williams uses stiff arm — Michael Caterina / USA TODAY NETWORK

One of the more well-known names that is going to be discussed today, Notre Dame’s Kyren Williams would be a huge help to New York’s rush attack in 2022 and beyond. A 2021 team captain for the Fighting Irish, Williams boasts back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and a solid 31 total touchdowns. He was a reliable force for his offense, appearing in 12 games each of the last two years and took the ball at least 200 times each year — averaging 5.1 yards per carry over the course of his three-year career.

Outside of his production, Williams is a well-rounded athlete that’s very technically sound. His burst to get to the edge complements his lateral agility well, and his change of direction skills make it easy for him to both get out of messy situations behind the line of scrimmage and make people miss at the second and third levels. His body control is one of his more impressive features, being able to both bounce off defenders and hold a low center of gravity when pass-blocking.

As far as weaknesses go, Williams isn’t a high-end player in any specific asset of his game and doesn’t have the best frame for an NFL running back. He best projects for an offense that will go running back by committee, as his 5-foot-9, 194-pound frame will hold him back from being a team’s lead rusher. While his elusiveness is a huge part of his game, he can be too reliant on it at times and misses some of the easier opportunities available.

Playing for the Jets, Williams would be a solid fit for LaFleur’s zone scheme and can level out the snap count for Carter while not losing too much production. He won’t wow you with any aspect to his game, but he’s rarely going to be a player that makes the wrong decision or misses a blocking assignment. Given his comfortability in an outside zone offense and all-encompassing approach, there shouldn’t be much worry when having him integrated into the offense.

Round Five — Pierre Strong, South Dakota State

South Dakota State RB Pierre Strong runs with football — Erin Bormett / Argus Leader via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Switching things up a bit, moving from a great east-west runner in Williams to a terrific north-south runner in South Dakota State’s Pierre Strong. This two-time team captain and three-time all-conference player didn’t receiver a single FBS offer heading into college, instead landing in the FCS’s Missouri Valley Conference with the Jackrabbits. Strong saw three 1,000-yard seasons in his career, the lone exemption being the shortened 2020 collegiate season, and averaged 7.1 yards per carry in four seasons with 43 total touchdowns.

While Strong lacks in frame and power, he’s silky smooth with his footwork and has tremendous breakaway speed — as evidenced by his position-leading 4.37 time in this year’s 40-yard dash. He’s patient in the backfield, has solid vision to anticipate defenders and is still able to play with a physical presence despite being undersized.

On the downside, Strong’s build is a little too high cut and because of that he’s a little clunky when utilizing the upper half of his body and doesn’t have great contact balance. He also needs to improve his ball protection, with five fumbles this past season.

Strong won’t be able to help too much between the tackles, but his footwork and speed combo make him a solid fit for an outside zone scheme and would be a great reserve option behind Carter.

Round Six – Abram Smith, Baylor

Baylor RB Abram Smith runs with football — Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Jets love moving safeties to play weakside linebacker, so why not invest a Day 3 pick in a running back, turned weakside linebacker, turned back into running back? Baylor’s Abram Smith moved to linebacker midway through his redshirt sophomore season because of depth problems and stayed there for just under two seasons before his coaches moved him back to running back for his final year.

With more opportunity his way, Smith took the ball 257 times in 2021 for 1,647 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns — leading the Big 12 in rushing yards. He’s a decisive one-cut back with great footwork and acceleration skills. A physical finisher on plays, Smith barrels through defenders and looks to inflict damage in pass protection. He was also a tremendous teammate and never complained about being moved to linebacker despite having zero experience playing defense in high school.

He still needs to refine some of his tools, mostly in the areas of pad-level setting and pass-blocking technique, which is understandable for only having 283 touches in college. He isn’t the most creative or twitchy back, having to rely on his strength more than anything, and also comes to the pros with two torn ACLs — on in high school and one in college — along with a torn MLC in college.

As far as round-by-round value goes, getting Smith in the sixth round would be an amazing grab for general manager Joe Douglas. He’s meant for an outsize zone run game, carries his body well enough to be relied on in short-yardage situations, and can also be used on special teams.

Round Seven — Trestan Ebner, Baylor

Baylor RB Trestan Ebner with football — Brett Rojo-USA TODAY Sports

It’s tough to find rosterable players in the seventh round of drafts, but Smith’s Baylor teammate Trestan Ebner could latch on with the Jets thanks to his receiving ability and special teams’ prowess.

Another undersized running back for the NFL, Ebner’s weight is distributed well, and his compactness makes up for his smaller frame. He has good vision for the position and locates open space to explode once he’s running vertical. He’s also a former wide receiver, and because of that is very comfortable running routes and has trustable hands.

He is reliant on the offensive line to open a path for him and won’t pull the offense out of broken plays behind the line of scrimmage, and he too had five fumbles this past season for the Baylor offense. Ebner also doesn’t have the footwork to make people miss in space and is more of a momentum runner that needs a runway in order to build up to his top speed.

Ebner projects as a third-down back who can provide value on special teams, and his experience in the outside zone scheme they utilized at Baylor will have him tailor-made to be used as a reserve in this Jets offense.