Dynasty Scouts Player Profile: Donnel Pumphrey
We experienced some incredible performances from the running back position last year in college football. We saw Melvin Gordon break the record for rushing yards in a single game. We watched Gordon’s record get broken the following week by Samaje Perine. We had two running backs, Gordon and Tevin Coleman, both break the 2,000 yard threshold. Ezekiel Elliott came out of nowhere last season to help lead the Ohio State Buckeyes to a national championship.
While the nation had their eyes glued to their television sets watching running backs from the major conferences break records and make highlight reel runs. Donnel Pumphrey, a small running back from San Diego State, was doing a lot of special things unnoticed. Last year he had a spectacular sophomore season, ranking fourth in the nation in rushing yards. Gordon, Coleman and Elliott were the only players to rush more than him. He also finished last season ranked ninth in rushing touchdowns.
College Production
2013: 125 carries, 752 yards, six yards per carry, eight touchdowns, 22 receptions, 234 yards, two touchdowns
2014: 276 carries, 1,867 yards, 6.8 yards per carry, 20 touchdowns, 23 receptions, 160 yards, zero touchdowns
Last season he caught 23 passes averaging 1.7 receptions per game. I’m not in love with his receiving production, but it’s serviceable and fails to hinder his player profile. He’s a very important piece to San Diego State’s offense. Last season he rushed for 66.46 percent of their rushing yards and he accounted for 36.41 percent of their total offense. He also scored 33.33 percent of their touchdowns.
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Size
He’s a smaller back at 5’9’’ and 170 pounds. He weighed 154 pounds during his high school days, and he plans on weighing 180 pounds by the beginning of this season. His size is a major concern. There are not many running backs in the NFL that weigh 180 pounds or less. Warrick Dunn is the only running back who has weighed less than 180 pounds and rushed for 300 yards or more in a season since 2000.
Here is a list of running back prospects from 2008 to current who have a similar height and weight compared to Pumphrey:
The list is very small and it’s not an impressive group of running backs. Between the three backs there have been 42 fantasy points produced during their NFL careers.
He’s way too small to be considered a three down back. He will get pulled on short yardage situations and NFL coaches would less likely be able to trust him in pass protection. There’s no way he’s going to be able to block 300 pound NFL linemen.
Pass Protection
During passing situations, they had him running short routes out of the backfield. They would also pull him on passing situations and let the backup running back do the pass protection duties. During the few times he stayed in to pass block he demonstrated his willingness to block. He’s not afraid to stick a defender who is twice his size. He doesn’t have the size or power to maintain his blocks. Most of the time he gets pushed back by the defender instantly, which is the reason why they don’t leave him in to pass protect.
Being a liability in pass protection kills a running back’s opportunity to be on the field during passing situations. He would have to be used as a receiver on passing downs because there’s no way an NFL coach will keep him in to pass protect. This means his snaps are going to be limited due to his pass blocking inefficiencies. Less snaps played means less opportunities for fantasy points.
Vision
Pumphrey runs like he’s been shot out of cannon. He’s not very patient and he will run into his blockers if the hole isn’t there right away. His impatience isn’t preferred, but if he’s caught dancing behind the line of scrimmage then he’s not going to be able to escape due to not having the power to run through the tackler.
He’s very good at using his vision to find cutback lanes. He’s able to see the hole, make his decision, and hit the cutback lane. He’s not a dancer, once he finds the hole he gets through it almost instantly. His decisive running style is what helped him gain the fourth most rushing yards in the country last season.
Speed/Athleticism
One of the first things you will notice about Pumphrey when you review his tape is how fast he is. He is dangerous with the ball in his hands and he can eat up yardage quickly. He is guaranteed to get at least a five yard gain if the offensive line can create a crease for him to run through.
He checks all the boxes when it comes to quickness and agility. He can stop on a dime, make his cut, and regain speed instantly. His ability to efficiently change his direction is one of the reasons why he finished last season with 6.8 yards per carry. He is very good at maintaining his balance while changing directions to avoid tacklers. Being able to hit your cutback lanes without losing your balance is a necessity for a running back in order for them to have a high level of efficiency. You can’t step over your feet while moving laterally because you will be out of position when you have to accelerate. That’s why maintaining balance is important while changing direction and Pumphrey is a good example of what a running back should look like when making a cut at full speed.
Toughness
Fearless is the word that best describes his running style. He’s a 170 pound back that runs like he’s 220 pounds. He’s willing to drop his shoulders at full-speed and initiate contact on the defender to pick up an extra yard. His hardnosed running style is very tough to defend when combined with his speed and elusiveness.
A reckless abandon running style can be very promising for a running back, but it does have its drawbacks. His frame isn’t built to handle that kind of pounding, and I don’t know how much longer he’s going to be able to run as hard as he does without getting injured.
Receiving
He had 45 receptions during his freshman and sophomore seasons at San Diego St. He is utilized as a check down option on passing situations. He’s dangerous with the ball in space and catching the ball out of the backfield in the flat or on a short screen is ideal for him. His route tree is very basic. They don’t ask him to run many complex routes. Primarily, they just have him slip out as a check down option.
I would like to see him run some different routes. Hopefully, they split him out more to give him more opportunities to run more variety of routes. Having a diverse route tree is going to be critical for him to be able to latch on an NFL roster. Being a receiver out of the backfield is where he’s going to get the most opportunity at the next level, because he’s not going to get much work between the tackles.
Ball Security
Once every 68 carries he fumbles the ball, amounting to 1.48 percent of his touches. He’s good at protecting the football but he’s not perfect. He has some room for improvement. He does a good job at protecting the ball except for when he’s in the second level of the defense and has to make a move to get by defenders. At that point, he will have mental lapses and let the ball hang loose from his body.
Player Comparison
He is currently standing at a fork in the road when it comes to projecting what his career could be like at the NFL level. If he chooses the left side of the fork in the road by not adding any size to his frame he will become Dri Archer, a situational running back who is only used on passing downs, special teams, and gimmick plays. If he chooses the right side of the fork and hits the weight room hard, he could find himself becoming an Ameer Abdullah type of back. With the added size he could get 10-12 touches per game with most of his value coming from the passing game. Depending on how he develops I can see him falling into either one of those two player’s arc types.
Final Thoughts
There’s tons of potential with Pumphrey. I like how he can win with his speed and quickness, along with his ability to contribute as a receiver. If he wants to get meaningful snaps at the NFL level he has get to at least 195 pounds. He’s just going to be a situational skilled player if he doesn’t put on enough size. Right now, I’m not taking a flier on him in devy drafts, because I’m betting against him being able to gain enough size to become fantasy relevant when he reaches the NFL.
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