NFL Draft Sleeper: Kenneth Dixon, RB, Louisiana Tech
It’s our pleasure here at NFL Mocks to cover all things football, and for me, there are few things more gratifying or satisfying about covering football than finding a diamond in the rough.
Louisiana Tech has had some really solid teams over the last few years, so I wouldn’t exactly call their team ‘the rough’ but it’s not all that frequent to find legit NFL talent from their program. Running back Kenneth Dixon is set to prove that not only is he the best running back probably ever to come out of Louisiana Tech, but he can be a pretty darn good NFL running back as well.
One of the nation’s active leaders all-time in rushing touchdowns, Dixon has been flying under the radar for too long now and deserves some credit and publicity.
His career at Louisiana Tech got started off with a bang when he rushed for 1,194 yards and 27 touchdowns as a freshman, averaging almost six yards per carry. He was injured in 2013 and played in just 10 games, racking up over 900 yards on the ground and four touchdowns.
Coming back healthy in 2014, Dixon set a personal best with 1,299 yards and put together probably his most complete season as a collegiate player, posting 22 rushing touchdowns, 30 receptions, and another six touchdowns as a receiver, proving he could also be a dynamic complement offensively in the passing game.
This is a fun player to watch. That highlight reel gets you excited about this kid’s future, but it’s not just the highlight reel plays that you have to focus on. Those are a piece of the puzzle, but this is a guy that clearly deserves the ball in his hands at all times and is doing everything he can to make sure that happens.
As the NFL transitions to a period where it seems like the most talented player on the offense is once again the running back (meaning, they must be able to run the ball well, catch, and block) and Dixon certainly exemplifies that. In the offense that Louisiana Tech runs, he’s often running the ball on option plays or from extremely deep in the backfield in pistol formations. Because of that, he has to have patience as a runner but also to be able to read where the blocks are going to be set up really quickly.
Dixon runs nasty. He’s got the ability to run through you, around you, or dance around you. He has a second gear that is as good as some of the best backs I’ve seen, but it’s not impossible to track him down in the open field. Where Dixon will make his money in the NFL is with his ability to run through arm tackles. Obviously, the guys in the NFL are markedly better than anything he’ll face in college, but if he is faced with someone trying to pull off an arm tackle, he’s going to plow right on through that.
Keep an eye on the Louisiana Tech program, and keep a close eye on Kenneth Dixon. He’ll be coming to a TV screen near you on a Sunday in 2016.