Draft Profile: D’Andre Swift

March 8, 2020 /
  • Height: 5’8″
  • Weight: 212lb
  • College: Georgia
  • Tape watched: Florida, Auburn, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Kentucky
  • NFL Comparison: Ray Rice

Pros

  • Evasiveness
    D’Andre Swift is best in space where he can set defenders up to fail. Swift possesses elite lateral agility and is truly one of the hardest backs to tackle in space in this class. He utilizes a lot of the same moves and shiftiness that has made players like Le’Veon Bell and LeSean McCoy so successful.
Not only does he display his receiving ability, Swift makes two defenders looks silly.
  • Speed
    Just get D’Andre Swift to the perimeter and reap the rewards. Swift excels in outside zone runs, where he uses his 4.4 speed to break the edge and create matchups against the secondary. He possesses true breakaway speed.
  • Patience/Vision
    Where Swift lacks high quality burst to disappear in small holes in the line, he makes up for his vision and patience to allow plays to develop. When able to, he does well to wait for the ideal lane to open up and allow him to get to top speed, or one-on-one opportunities with defenders.
  • Passing Game
    Swift not only has great hands in the receiving game, he offers quality pass protection as well. He identifies blitzers quickly and sets his feet to neutralize them. He held his own for his size, and showed he can effectively cut defenders or stand his ground and keep his feet moving.
Swift eating pancakes

Cons

  • Burst and Contact Balance
    D’Andre Swift doesn’t have many true “Cons”, but there are certainly areas he lacks high quality traits. Swift lacks game changing burst and acceleration. At times he can fire through holes and show the ability is there, but usually he leaves more to be desired. He takes a while to get to his game changing speed, and can be slow to get going after he jukes.

    The other area Swift didn’t show up well in is contact balance. He can go down fairly quick with solid contact that will be commonplace in the NFL. Swift was tackled often when defenders got arms on him. Swift did manage to fight forward and prevent negative yardage often, however. Fortunate for him, his best quality is avoiding contact.

Overview

D’Andre Swift has the tools and ability to be a true three-down running back in the NFL. His traits and college success project him to be a quality starter that can be a perennial 1,000 yard, 10 touchdown back. His agility paired with top-end speed is a home run waiting to happen. If he can get stronger and better balance through contact, and be more consistent with his acceleration through the line, he can be a true offense-changing player.