Rookie Profile – Devontae Booker, RB Utah
Dynasty Twitter has disrespected this all-purpose three down back for specific reasons unknown to me. Is it the ripple effect of the injury? While other players are visually stimulating dynasty Twitter with NFL Combine and Pro Day performances, Devontae Booker has been abandoned and left for dead. We should all be thankful that he’s been a glaring omission in majority of first round mock drafts. My third overall running back in this class is an absolute steal in the second round. Outside of Ezekiel Elliot, Booker is the only other running back who is refined enough to step in and carry the load on all three downs in year one.
The issue folks have with Booker is his age since he turns 24 in May. He graduated High School in 2010, spent two years playing at American River College, and tried to transfer to the Utah Utes, but wasn’t able to due to academic issues. He completely sat out of football in 2013 while at American River before officially transferring to Utah in 2014. He took over the starting role a few games into the 2014 season and went on to rush for 1512 yards on 292 carries (5.2 YPC) with ten touchdowns. He’s also very refined in the passing game as evident by his 42 receptions (30 in his last five games) for 311 yards and two touchdowns. In 2015 he was set to take on the entire load and did just that by rushing for 1,261 yards on 268 carries (4.7 YPC) to go along with 11 touchdowns and had 37 receptions for 318 yards in only ten games before tearing his meniscus.
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Here’s a look at his Mock Draftable comparisons and charts.
To say Booker was a workhorse is an understatement. At the time of his injury, Booker led the country in carries and was third at 40.5% in total offensive output. At 5’11” 219lbs, he definitely has the build to be able to carry a heavy workload in the NFL as well.
From an athletic profile prospective, it’s hard to tell where Booker lands amongst his peers. He didn’t participate in the NFL Combine and his Pro Day only had his knee at 70%, according to Booker himself. Without this data, the dynasty community just assumes the worst, but the tape should really trump any concern. The only two concerns you hear about Booker is his long speed and his hand size (sixth percentile). The long speed is legitimate, but it’s one of the most overblown characteristics for a running back, in my opinion. Sure, it’s nice to break long touchdowns, but the majority of great running backs never had 4.40 speed. As for the hand size, Booker has proven reliable in the passing game with natural hands and his fumble rate in 2015 was 1.1%. To put it in perspective, out of the top ten running backs in 2015, only Devonta Freeman (0.75%) had a better fumble rate than Booker.
Let’s take a peek at the PlayerProfiler page and check how his production stacks up.
Once again, from a player profile prospective, it’s hard for folks to get comfortable with Booker as a prospect without that physical profile to compare with others. We only have the bench to use a barometer, and it checks in the sixty-fourth percentile. His college dominator rating is elite at a healthy eighty-sixth percentile. Since Booker lacks the available physical data, most are approaching him as guilty until proven innocent. Interestingly enough, despite many writing him off without the data, the majority of player comps I’ve seen are Arian Foster and Marshawn Lynch. Not bad company, if you ask me. That said, to me his game is most similar to Matt Forte coming out of Tulane. Both possess excellent instincts, great vision, solid power, elusive with quick feet, soft hands, disciplined in pass protection, and carried a huge workload for their offenses. Their negatives were also the same coming into the NFL as they both lack true breakaway speed, had scouts concerned with fumbles and both were dealt a knee injury.
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As discussed above, Devontae Booker is a do-it-all prospect. Outside of top-end speed and herculean power, Booker is a must have at his undervalued price. It’s hard to find a workhorse running back, and Booker has done enough to prove he has the potential to be that at the next level. With such a refined game, he can step in as a rookie and pay instant dividends to your investment. Don’t let the unknown physical data get in the way of excellent tape. Instead of targeting guys such as CJ Prosise (raw), Paul Perkins (COP/third down back) and Jordan Howard (lacks any versatility), take the player that gives you the best opportunity at headlining a backfield for years to come, and that’s Mr. Devontae Booker.
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