The 2025 NFL Draft running back class is strong, and Kansas Jayhawks running back Devin Neal is a notable part of that vaunted group.
Neal has been one of the most consistent producers in college football for years on end, and now, he’s nearing his leap to the professional level.
Devin Neal’s Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 5’10 5/8″
- Weight: 209 pounds
- Position: Running Back
- School: Kansas
- Current Year: Senior
The Kansas Jayhawks have become a respectable CFB program in recent years. Much of the credit goes to head coach Lance Leipold. Much of the credit goes to quarterback Jalon Daniels. But just as much, it may also go to Neal — the engine of the offense.
The hometown kid, Neal signed with the Jayhawks as a four-star RB recruit out of Lawrence, Kansas, and he quickly became an indispensable presence for the team’s offense.
As a true freshman in 2021, Neal produced 707 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on 158 carries. It was a solid year but only a premonition of the numbers that were to come.
In 2022, Neal broke the 1,000-yard mark for the first time. And in 2023, he became an All-Big 12 performer.
2023 was Neal’s best year yet. Helping to compensate for injuries at QB, Neal amassed 203 carries for 1,280 yards and 16 TDs. He also caught 25 passes for 217 yards and a score. All of his metrics were career-highs.
Kansas retained its star-studded backfield for a farewell season in 2024. But as Neal looks on at his potential last campaign, evaluators are looking at him as a future target to tote the rock in the NFL.
Neal’s already gotten off to a quick start in 2024. Through his early action, he’s averaging almost 10 yards per carry, and he’s averaging a touchdown on almost 10% of his carries. That efficiency and reliability as a runner are just a small part of what makes him so appealing.
Neal’s Scouting Report
Strengths
- A dense, compact, and well-leveraged runner with a low center of gravity.
- Has searing explosiveness out of cuts and when attacking on the vertical plane.
- Possesses enough speed to stretch seams at the second level and create big plays.
- Has extremely impressive foot speed and cutting flexibility managing short areas.
- A twitched-up runner with acute-angle freedom and bristling energy on his cuts.
- Has the flexibility to stack quick and sharp cuts while sustaining upfield acceleration.
- Can send defenders reeling with absurd flexibility and one-cut agility in open space.
- Has great initial vision and can quickly read the interior and survey second options.
- Able to quickly seek out and process inside cutback lanes on blocked wide zone runs.
- Has impressive feel, sense, and spatial awareness at the first and second levels.
- Supremely adaptable runner both physically and mentally, with fluid hips as a foil.
- Extremely slippery, elusive player in congested areas, and a missed-tackle machine.
- At the very least, has decent play strength through contact and can recalibrate feet.
- Has usage versatility as a receiving threat and a skill set very conducive to RAC.
- Flashes good pass-blocking effort and can align his base and attack with tight hands.
Weaknesses
- Short-strider mold naturally detracts from maximum long speed in open space.
- Sometimes attempts to do too much as a second-level creator, wasting motion.
- Occasionally misses and passes up open interior lanes, choosing to bounce runs outside.
- At times, tugs himself upright with successive cuts, hindering leverage at contact.
- Doesn’t have the elite mass to bowl over successive tacklers and sustain leg churn.
- Doesn’t have elite contact balance and can be slowed by arm tackles and grazes.
- Can be more easily taken down by direct contact and can’t always finish forward.
- Is willing to engage in contact but will not win often on overarching physicality.
- Can still expand his route tree and doesn’t have a large catch radius at the point.
- At times, vision as a pass blocker can improve when faced with delayed blitzes.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Heading into the 2025 NFL Draft cycle, Neal grades out as a top-75 prospect who could contend for early-to-mid Day 2 capital in April. In a formidable RB class, Neal’s blend of youth, experience, and two-phase production could help distinguish him on draft day.
In three years at Kansas, Neal has rushed for over 3,000 yards, and he’s also caught over 50 passes for over 8 yards per catch. He has an abundance of experience already, and yet, he’ll be just a 22-year-old rookie if he declares for the 2025 NFL Draft.
Neal is a ready-made NFL contributor at the RB position who specializes as a creative threat. While he has good running leverage and density at his size, what truly catches the eye is his explosiveness, bristling short-area malleability and foot speed, and devastating one-cut agility and flexibility in the open field.
With his brand of mobility, Neal is as slippery and elusive as they come, but he has enough baseline contact balance to keep his legs moving through solo tackles. He channels these traits with superb vision and creative instincts, and he also brings value as a receiving threat and blocker.
Being a shade below 210 pounds, Neal will never boast physicality as one of his central traits. To that end, he’s also unable to power through contact and finish forward when he needs to.
Nevertheless, with his elusive impulse, explosion, spatial IQ, and creative instincts, Neal can be a primary RB in a rotation with an extra dynamic kick.