Overview

Position: RB

College: Kansas

Class: Senior

Age: 21

 

Measurables

Height: 5’11 1/8”

Weight: 213 lbs.

Arm length: 29 5/8”

Hand size: 8 1/2″

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: 4.58 sec.

10-yard split: 1.59 sec.

Vertical jump: 37.5”

Broad jump: 124.0”

Bench press: N/A

3-cone drill: N/A

Short shuttle: N/A

 

Strengths

Very good overall size. Extremely elusive. Natural feel for making defenders miss. Very quick feet for his size. Exceptional instincts and patience into the rush. Will slow his feet behind the line of scrimmage and allow blocks to develop. Able to evade backfield penetration. Great overall strength and balance. Very difficult for opponents to square up and will often break the initial tackle. Strong lowering his shoulder into contact. Will power through contact versus high tacklers. Excellent vision and feel on outside runs. Extreme patience behind the line of scrimmage on outside runs. Set up defenders and makes decisive cuts to get downhill. Tremendous feel for playing off his lead blocker on outside runs. Terrific overall feel to follow his blocking. Will set things up and get into the open field. Effective juke move in space. Deceptive cuts to make defenders miss. Knows how to maximize yardage in the open field and will run away from defenders despite average speed. Great feel to get outside down the sideline when bouncing runs. Good feel for seeking a cutback opportunity with no room outside. Athletic to hop over and skip past bodies on the ground. Strong stiff arm. Grinder that can close out games. Has a nose for the end zone and will balance himself after absorbing contact to lunge into the end zone. Experience on speed options. Often used as a wildcat quarterback. Lined up out wide and used as the primary read in the passing game. Quick feet to throttle down on hitches. Quick overall cuts as a route runner. Excellent hands in the flat. Very effective on wheel routes. Great hands and body control down the field. Tremendous technique in pass protection. Stands in to accurately stone blitzers up the middle and on the edge. Great effort and effectiveness as a blocker in space.

 

Weaknesses

Average speed and acceleration. Lack of juice seems to cause him to go for closer holes rather than taking further opportunities for a bigger rushing lane. Vision can be a little more inconsistent on inside runs.

 

NFL comparison

Ronnie Brown

 

Conclusion

Overall, Neal is a strong, elusive runner with outstanding feet and feel who provides true feature back potential. He should be a very good value in the second or third round in a loaded class for the position.

 

Big Board ranking: #64 | Positional ranking: #9