Georgia Football: Will D’Andre Swift be 2020 NFL Draft’s RB1?

With a plethora of running backs vying to be the first off the board in this year’s NFL Draft, Georgia football’s D’Andre Swift has remained the favorite.

So many schools argue over who is RBU or DBU these days that the argument and the title is starting to be cheapened a little bit.

One team that claims to be Running Back U is Georgia and frankly, they have a darn good case. From Todd Gurley to Nick Chubb to Sony Michel, nobody has put out more consistently successful running backs and don’t expect that to change with Georgia’s newest addition to the group, D’Andre Swift.

Swift started the year as the slight favorite to be the first running back taken and after a good junior season and solid NFL combine, nothing has changed and I still believe that he should be — and will be — the first running back off the board.

At 5-foot-8, 220 pounds, Swift came to Georgia as a five-star running back out of the state of Pennsylvania and most did not expect a ton of contribution from the freshman because he would be behind stud running backs such as Chubb and Michel.

While Chubb and Michel did most of the heavy lifting in Georgia’s run to the national championship, Swift was an impactful runner and showcased to the nation his potential talent in the 2017 SEC title game against Auburn, rushing seven times for 88 yards and a touchdown. Swift finished 2017 with 81 carries for 618 yards and three touchdowns, as well as 17 catches for 153 yards.

With Chubb and Michel off to the NFL after the 2017 season, Swift was going to get his chance to showcase to the country how he was going to be the lead back for the Dawgs in 2018. He started the 2018 season out kinda slow and did not have a game with 100 rushing yards until the Week 8 contest game against Florida and proceeded to finish the regular season with four 100-yard performances in the last five regular season games.

Swift finished the 2018 season with just over 1,000 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns and also had 32 receptions for 297 yards and three touchdowns.

Heading into this past season, Swift was regarded as the top running back prospect in the country and was eager to prove that he is worthy of a first-round selection. He finished this past season with a career high in rush yards with 1,219 yards and also having eight total touchdowns.

I’m going to take a look at what I think are Swift’s strengths and weaknesses and give a projection on where I think he will go in this year’s draft.

Strengths

Swift has excellent vision and dynamic cutting ability. His change of direction is his biggest asset and is why Swift had such big play ability at Georgia. He has the speed to pull away from defenders and be a threat any time he touches the ball and that is evidenced by his 4.48 40-yard dash time, which was faster than expected.

He is also a good receiver and can be used in the screen game. One of the advantages that Swift will have over the other backs in this class is that he has not carried the ball as much and that his longevity in the league and should ensure that he has fresh legs by the time his NFL career starts.

Swift should be an every-down back in the NFL. He has good size to be a 20 carry-a-game back.

Weaknesses

The Georgia star is not the best in pass protection and he could be a liability in that area. Good speed but not elite and would not make a difference on special teams as a returner. Has above average receiving skills, but you probably could not split Swift out wide and use him to create different mismatches like Saints star Alvin Kamara.

The biggest knock that I have on Swift is he is a good but not an elite running back prospect like a Saquon Barkley, Ezekiel Elliott or Todd Gurley and that could impact his draft stock. Running back is just not a highly-valued position because of the short term nature of their production and careers and the only backs that get taken high in the first round are the best of the best and I don’t think that I can sell Swift as an elite prospect which could cause him to fall.

Draft Expectation

It’s possible that Swift goes in the first round, but he could go in the second because of the position that he plays. Swift can be a good, every-down back in the league and he has not had as many carries as some other backs and that could prolong his longevity in the league. You can add Swift to the list of first-round backs from Georgia.

Projection: Late-first, early-second round