20/20: Devin Singletary
Welcome to the 20/20 series. As part of our continued Dynasty Scouts coverage and in preparation for the NFL Combine, we will be profiling 20 of the top incoming rookies of the class of 2019 by giving you 20 facts you must know.
1.) Player name – Devin Singletary
2.) College – Florida Atlantic University
3.) Height/Weight – 5’9”, 200 lbs
4.) Birthdate – 09/03/1997
5.) Class – Junior
6.) Basic college stats – 2016: 152 carries for 1,021 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, 26 receptions for 163 receiving yards, 2017: 301 carries for 1,918 rushing yards and 32 touchdowns, 19 receptions for 198 receiving yards and one touchdown, 2018: 261 carries for 1,348 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns, six receptions for 36 receiving yards
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7.) NFL Draft round projection – Rounds two-three
8.) Current NFL comparison – I’m far from your typical “tape grinder”, so when I’m making NFL comparisons for prospects, the things that I am looking for are similarities in height, weight and production, along with speed after the Combine. Devin Singletary is a smaller back in height but does weigh in at 200 pounds, which helped him become very effective at the goal line in college with 66 rushing touchdowns in three seasons.
One of the best small, short-yardage backs in the NFL today is Devonta Freeman, who measures in at 5’9”, 203 pounds. Freeman had 30 touchdowns in three seasons at Florida State with 310 fewer carries than Singletary at Florida Atlantic. If Freeman had gone to a non-Power 5 school with less backfield competition, I believe his numbers would look closer to Singletary’s.
9.) Best possible destination – Early on in the draft process, there are lots of attractive landing spots for running backs. The most available attractive spot right now is with the Kansas City Chiefs. Damien Williams showed he’s a capable NFL running back in the playoffs, but I doubt the Chiefs enter 2019 with Williams as their RB1. As a prolific touchdown-scorer, the best place for Singletary to land is on a team that will be scoring a lot of touchdowns. The Chiefs look to be one of the most productive and high scoring offenses for the foreseeable future with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback. Other attractive landing spots include Tampa Bay, Houston and Baltimore.
10.) Worst possible destination – Outside of the obvious teams with clear top backs like the Cowboys, Giants and Rams, the one team with a need at running back that I would not like to see Singletary land with is the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders’ backfield will likely not stay the same with Doug Martin, Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington. The team’s offensive future is a combination of uncertainty and incompetence. They lack significant weapons at any of the skill positions and the future of Derek Carr with the team is up in the air. The Raiders may be a good spot for Singletary simply in terms of opportunity for volume. However, in terms of being a productive offense, the Raiders may be a couple of years, a city move and quarterback change away from being a productive NFL offense.
11.) Best current skill – Short yardage. You don’t score 54 touchdowns in two seasons without being successful on the goal line. Whenever Florida Atlantic needed a first down or touchdown in short yardage, the ball went to Singletary and he got the job done.
12.) Skill that needs to be improved – Outside speed. With much of his production coming between the tackles, Singletary will need to improve his outside speed to get production outside the tackles, which integral to being an RB1 in today’s NFL.
13.) Projected predraft rookie ADP – Once rookie mocks get going, I project Singletary to be an early second round rookie pick. The talent at wide receiver and Noah Fant at tight end may push all but one running back out of the first round of rookie drafts and many people have that one running back as David Montgomery.
14.) Projected dynasty value – Dynasty value is heavily reliant on draft capital and landing spot, but as of now, I’d project him to be a low-end RB3, drafted around players like Jordan Howard, James White and Damien Williams in the RB28-30 range.
15.) Will the small school competition hurt Devin Singletary’s draft capital? – No. We have seen small school running backs go in the early rounds including Rashaad Penny (27 overall), Kareem Hunt (86) and David Johnson (86). As long as Singletary is a top three round pick like these three players, he should be a top 15 pick in rookie drafts.
16.) Historic 2017 Season – Singletary’s 32 rushing touchdowns in 2017 rank third all-time in college football, behind only Barry Sanders and Montee Ball.
17.) Singletary Returned Kicks – Even though it was brief, Singletary was a kick returner in his freshman season with 13 returns for 284 yards. His production there isn’t what matters. What does – being involved in the return game – means that the coaches wanted to get the ball in his hands in any way possible, which is a positive indicator of his ability.
18.) Trick play threat – Singletary completed both of career pass attempts, completing two passes for 37 yards – another indicator for getting the ball in the hands of Singletary in as many ways as possible.
19.) Two-Star Recruit – Singletary showed quickly at Florida Atlantic that he was more talented than his two-star rating by Rivals would indicate.
20.) Tackle Breaker – Per Pro Football Focus, 1,027 of Singletary’s 1,348 rushing yards in 2018 came after contact. That’s 76% of his yards coming after contact with 94 missed tackles forced.
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