NFL Analysis
4/27/24
4 min read
Jaylen Wright NFL Draft 2024: Combine Results, Scouting Report For Miami Dolphins RB
The 2024 NFL Draft is getting close, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.
Here's our report on Jaylen Wright.
Jaylen Wright'S 2024 NFL COMBINE RESULTS
- Height: 5'10 1/2"
- Weight: 210 lbs
- 40-Time: 4.38 seconds
- 10-Yard Split: 1.55 seconds
- Vertical: 38 inches
- Broad Jump: 11 feet 2 inches
- 3-Cone: DNP (Did Not Participate)
- Shuttle: DNP
Jaylen Wright 2024 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT
STRENGTHS:
- Good-sized back who lined up exclusively offset in the shotgun and showed explosive downhill running traits.
- Featured on inside runs in Tennessee’s offense with zone concepts, gap scheme concepts and insert concepts.
- Inside runs where he showed desired tempo and patience, then short-area burst to work through small creases.
- Showed enough lateral agility to slide from gap to gap to find the hole. Showed jump cut and stop-and-start.
- Consistently did a good job using his initial path to press the POA/LOS, then vision and burst to attack the hole.
- Ran hard inside, showing strong finishing traits. Did not go down easily despite not being naturally powerful.
- Patience, tempo and vision consistently showed up with innate feel, reading gap fluidity and defensive flow.
- Slashing, darting feel to his running at the second and third levels of the defense. Made defenders miss in space.
- Explosive breakaway speed to take it to the house. Dynamic weapon who can score from anywhere on the field.
- Featured at times as a receiver in Tennessee’s offense. He lined up detached from the formation and caught the ball easily.
- Deployed on swing passes out of the backfield, where he had space to build up his accelerating explosive speed.
WEAKNESSES:
- How will teams factor in that he ran a high percentage of the time vs. light boxes, making reads easier?
- More straight line linear and high cut than loose-hipped and elusive. He does not possess elite hip-core flexibility.
NFL TRANSITION:
Wright is one of the best running back prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft class. His relatively complete skill set includes dynamic explosiveness to score from anywhere on the field, which makes him a weapon just as much as he is a back (think Jahmyr Gibbs, although the analogy is not exact).
Wright has good size in a well-proportioned frame. While he is not a power back, he was featured on inside runs in Tennessee’s offense (although many came versus light boxes), and he showed the functional power and drive to drag tacklers and finish runs.
What makes Wright a higher-level prospect, with starter potential as a primary back (different from a foundation back who is the offense's starting point), is his short-area burst through small creases at the POA.
When you combine that with his patience, tempo, vision and velocity, you have an explosive runner who can not only sustain offense but produce big plays. Wright also brings added value as a receiver. He can line up in the backfield and detached from the formation. Plus, he showed he could pass protect.
Overall, Wright is a higher-level running back prospect with game-changing impact traits. That kind of back will be in demand because he is a weapon in an offense from multiple locations in the formation.
OTHER NOTES:
Wright came out of North Carolina as a 3-star recruit. In addition to being a sprinter in track and field, he led Tennessee in rushing in 2022 and 2023, finishing with an outstanding 137 carries, 1,013 yards, a 7.4 average per carry and four touchdowns in 2023.
Wright ran exclusively out of the shotgun in 2023, with all 137 of his carries out of the gun. Tackle pull (or tackle trap as some call it) was a featured concept in the Tennessee run game. Wright ran against a lot of light boxes given Tennessee’s true Air Raid offense, which had its higher-percentage spread formations with receivers lined up outside the numbers.
Wright showed all of his running traits vs. Texas A&M when he recorded 19 carries for 136 yards. A 75-yard TD versus Georgia was a defining snapshot of his explosive breakaway speed.
