DeWayne McBride NFL Draft 2023: Scouting Report for UAB RB

HEIGHT: 5'11"

WEIGHT: 215

HAND: TBD

ARM: TBD

WINGSPAN: TBD

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40-YARD DASH: TBD

3-CONE: TBD

SHUTTLE: TBD

VERTICAL: TBD

BROAD: TBD

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POSITIVES

— Great size for the position. Thick, filled-out frame that can handle a full workload.

— Great strength and contact balance. Bounces off tacklers with relative ease; fights through clutter.

— Unrelenting demeanor as a runner. Aggressive, never gives up and always falls forward.

— Excels at turning hits in the backfield into neutral or positive gains.

— Functional lateral ability for his size. Can work parallel to the line of scrimmage.

— Above-average vision as a zone runner. Knows when to jam his foot in the ground and go.

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NEGATIVES

— Long speed is average. Not slow, but not a major home run threat at the NFL level.

— Quickness and agility are below average. Won't make many people miss in space.

— Rarely asked to pass-protect and tended to struggle when he did.

— Almost never asked to catch passes. Caught five passes in two seasons.

— Rushing experience is limited to almost exclusively zone runs. Will have to adjust to new schemes in the NFL.

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NOTES

—DOB: July 8, 2001

— 3-star recruit in 2020

— Over 200 carries in each of the last two seasons

— 2021 second-team All-Conference USA; 2022 first-team All-Conference USA

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OVERALL

DeWayne McBride is a dream for zone-based offenses looking for mid-round production.

At 6'0" and 215 pounds, McBride's muscled-up build is perfect for handling a full NFL workload. He is a tough, violent runner who only gets better the more clutter and chaos there is. He's nimble enough at the line of scrimmage to handle those scenarios, but more than that, he has the demeanor and balance to consistently fight for yardage. It's extremely difficult to get him down behind the line of scrimmage, and he's always fighting and falling forward for extra yards, making him the type of runner who is great for keeping an offense on schedule.

McBride's vision and ability to work the horizontal stretch on zone runs is nice, too. He's no Christian McCaffrey, but he knows when to slam his foot in the ground, make the cut and trudge ahead with no hesitation. It's rare that he makes a wrong move and gets himself caught up behind his own blockers. McBride rarely got chances to show that vision on non-zone concepts, which makes his evaluation a bit incomplete, but showing good vision on the plays he was asked to execute is encouraging.

Unfortunately, McBride's explosive play potential and third-down skills are lacking. His breakaway speed is nothing to write home about. He accelerates to his top speed quickly, which helps for breaking the line of scrimmage, but his top speed is fine and nothing more.

As a third-down back, McBride showed close to nothing in college. UAB seldom asked him to pass-protect or catch passes, and he didn't look too comfortable in those limited instances. He may develop those skills in the NFL, but that's a huge assumption for a senior who couldn't do any of those things at the Group of Five level.

McBride can provide good bruiser-style play in a zone scheme right away. The size, physicality and vision are all there. He's a one-dimensional player right now, though. He will have a huge learning curve when it comes to NFL run scheme diversity and third-down play, and he's not much of a threat to rip off long touchdowns. McBride would be best served in a split backfield where he can be the heavy enforcer type to complement a smaller, quicker third-down back.

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GRADE: 6.5 (Potential Role Player/Round 4)

OVERALL RANK: 133

POSITION RANK: RB11

PRO COMPARISON: Isaiah Crowell

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Written by B/R NFL Scout Derrik Klassen