The Michigan Wolverines’ running game has been a stalwart force year in and year out, and in 2024, Donovan Edwards will anchor the unit with his 2025 NFL Draft scouting report.
Can Edwards strengthen Michigan’s NFL Draft representation in the early rounds?
Donovan Edwards’ Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’1″
- Weight: 204 pounds
- Position: Running Back
- School: Michigan
- Current Year: Senior
Talent and production — two things you can’t count against Edwards.
Hailing from West Bloomfield, Mich., Edwards was a five-star recruit in the 2021 recruiting class, and he instantly found a role with the Wolverines upon arrival as a true freshman.
In his first year with the Wolverines, Edwards caught 20 passes for 265 yards and a score. And in 2022, he emerged as a venerable rushing threat as well, racking up 991 yards and seven touchdowns on 140 carries — averaging 7.1 yards per tote.
Together with eventual Los Angeles Rams third-round pick Blake Corum, Edwards helped form one of the best RB duos in college football, and that reputation remained in 2023, as the Wolverines chugged along to a National Championship crown.
While Corum thrived in 2023, Edwards’ production dipped a bit. He logged career lows in yards per carry and yards per catch — logging just over half of his rushing yardage from 2022 with almost the same amount of carries.
Edwards played most of the 2022 season with a partially torn patellar tendon, and it’s possible that the residual effects of the injury affected him even into 2023. While playing with such an injury speaks to his toughness, it also may have exacerbated the issue.
Now assumed to be fully healthy, Edwards will be expected to do more as Michigan’s lead back, and he has the talent to deliver.
Edwards’ Scouting Report
Strengths
- Has a tall frame with efficient mass, which affords better-than-expected contact balance.
- Has the high-end explosiveness to surge through narrow gaps and get efficient yardage.
- Can use instant burst to go from negative to positive territory with almost no delay.
- Possesses the free flowing twitch to adjust vertical attack angles while keeping speed.
- Able to identify backside lanes on inside-zone runs and carve his way upfield.
- Has good patience on pin-and-pull runs and can wait for blocks to play out, then press.
- Flashes solid adaptability when navigating around blocks on his way to the second level.
- Able to use quick stutter steps to adjust his pacing and redirect on outside-zone runs.
- Can roll his hips back and distribute his weight to squirm through early tackles.
- Incredibly versatile receiver who can use burst and bend to soar into space after chips.
- Nuanced route runner who can freeze DBs with quick feet at stems and break suddenly.
- Instinctively corrals passes away from his frame and quickly resets his feet for RAC.
- Able to make adjustments in-stride for low passes and cushion passes with his frame.
- Has exceptional long-strider speed in space and easily warps tackling angles.
- Willing pass blocker who can launch into defenders with physicality.
Weaknesses
- Visibly lacks the high-end mass necessary to scrape through successive contact threats.
- Doesn’t have elite contact balance and can be brought down by solo form tackles.
- Sometimes lacks the requisite strength to scrape through arm tackles and stay afloat.
- Contact balance translates better in the receiving phase, rather than in congestion.
- Is willing to finish forward, but is stalled out fairly quickly after lowering his shoulder.
- Sometimes gets tunnel vision on power runs and doesn’t adapt when primary gaps fail.
- Can be prone to missing cutback lanes, putting overall diagnosis skills into question.
- Full-field vision is questionable too often, as he fails to sense open outlets.
- Doesn’t always show high-end creative instincts in high-resistance situations.
- Peeking defenders can induce hesitation and throttle inconsistency behind the line.
- At times, can be more disciplined in pass protection with his footwork and leverage.
- Sometimes seeks only to obstruct and tucks his hands ahead of contact.
- Played on a partially torn patellar tendon for most of the 2022 campaign.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Entering the 2025 NFL Draft cycle, Edwards grades out as a mid-Day 3 prospect who could contend for early Day 3 or Top 100 capital with a strong 2024 season.
Edwards was part of a dynamic 1-2 punch with Corum in 2023, but now, it’ll be Edwards’ show alone.
Edwards was the perfect complementary back to Corum in the duo’s heyday. Corum could take heavy volume, and Edwards functioned as a receiving catalyst and change-of-pace presence.
Edwards is assuredly a dynamic presence. He’s a supercharged runner with near-instant accelerative capacity and eye-catching vertical tracking skills, and he can channel those tools both as a zone runner and as a multifaceted receiving weapon.
As of today, however, it’s unclear if Edwards can expand beyond that footprint as a role-specific back.
At 6’1″, 204 pounds, Edwards is taller and lighter than most backs — a combination that impacts both his running leverage and sturdiness through contact at times. While he has good contact balance, finishing forward isn’t always a strength.
Going further, while Edwards has the elite explosiveness and high-level short-area twitch to set a strong running foundation, his vision is close to average, and his creative instincts aren’t elite, either. He has decent baseline instincts, but when there are creases in the blocking, he sometimes struggles to adapt and make up for it.
As a versatile receiving back with high-level explosiveness and sparkplug ability, Edwards has definite appeal as a rotational presence at the NFL level. He may never be a workhorse or a volume back, but he can fill a role and provide value for an NFL offense.