RB Abram Smith: NFL Draft scouting report and fantasy football profile

Abram Smith came out of absolutely nowhere and popped off the stat sheet during his senior season at Baylor in 2021.

The running back had just 46 yards in his college career heading into his senior season, but then it finally clicked for him. During his lone season as the featured back, he toted the rock 257 times for 1601 yards. He scored 12 touchdowns on the ground as well but didn’t provide a ton of firepower in the passing game.

RB Abram Smith: Scouting Report

Smith had a strange career to get to where he is now. After being relegated to special teams and fighting off knee injuries during his first two seasons, he was forced to move over to linebacker for his junior season. But he shifted back to offense and proved that was the right call during his senior year. That linebacker’s mentality is still there, though. He stands at 6-feet tall and 213 pounds and absolutely loves getting first contact with a defender. He has good cutback vision for somebody with such limited playing time. Though he doesn't have the greatest speed, even for a physical runner, with no second gear to run away from defenders. He also runs really tall and with a high pad level, making him easier for tacklers to grab ahold of and slowing his own momentum down.

Mock Draft landing spots

Smith will be a late-round draft pick if he is drafted. He isn’t mocked in the first seven rounds at most of the big companies like ESPN, CBS Sports or Sporting News. Smith could end up as a UDFA for a team.

Fantasy impact: Rookie year

Smith’s physicality will make him desirable to a lot of NFL teams, particularly because he should be able to slide right in as an NFL-caliber pass protection running back. Despite that physicality, he’s a really patient runner too. He doesn’t just barrel into the line hoping to find the hole that was designed to be there, he can wait until it opens up or even improvise, though his speed makes it tough to get outside on a regular basis. He could be a solid RB2 or 3 in a fantasy lineup, though he won’t provide a ton extra in a PPR league.

Fantasy impact: Career

Smith’s history of knee injuries could give fantasy managers pause. Hopefully, that doesn’t become an issue during his career, but it is definitely an unfortunate possibility with him. Despite his low career carry number, that physical running style will probably take its toll sooner rather than later, but if he stays healthy and learns to run with a lower pad level, he could replicate the production from his senior year on a regular basis.