2019 NFL Draft: RB Benny Snell Jr. is solid, but not sexy

The SEC is one of the best conference’s in all of College Football, featuring the best competition. All Benny Snell Jr. did in three seasons at Kentucky was run right through that competition. Now he looks to run through the NFL. 

School: Kentucky

Year: Junior

Height: 5’11″

Weight: 223 pounds

During his three seasons at Kentucky, RB Benny Snell Jr. changed the way Kentucky football was viewed. He finished his career as Kentucky’s all-time leading rusher. He did that against the best competition College Football had to offer.

While he dominated the competition, he didn’t do it in a way we’re used to seeing. Benny Snell Jr. doesn’t have the sexy traits we’re all looking for in a RB. Instead, Snell Jr. dominated by using his skill set to not only get on, but stay on the field.

Benny Snell Jr. may not have the speed or the quickness we love, but that doesn’t make him any less of a RB. Let’s take a deeper look into a RB who’s solid, but not sexy.

Strengths:

• Consistency

If there’s one thing Benny Snell Jr. excelled at during his time at Kentucky, it was being consistent. From the moment he stepped on the field for the Kentucky Wildcats, Snell Jr. was one of their best players.

In his three college seasons, Benny Snell Jr. totaled 3,873 rushing yards and 48 TDs. Every single one of his three seasons consisted of him rushing for at least 1,000 yards and 13 TDs. Let’s take a look at his stats year by year.

2016: 13 games, 186 attempts, 1091 rushing yards, a yards per rush average of 5.9 and 13 TDs.

2017: 13 games, 262 attempts, 1,333 rushing yards, a yards per rush average of 5.1 and 19 TDs.

2018: 13 games, 289 attempts, 1,449 rushing yards, a yards per rush average of 5.0 and 16 TDs.

Three straight seasons of over 1,000 rushing yards. Three straight seasons of a yards per rush average of at least 5.0. Three straight seasons of at least 13 rushing TDs. That’s consistency.

• Durability

One of main factors in Benny Snell Jr. being able to put up consistent numbers, is the fact that he’s durable. If you take a quick glance back at his career stats, you’ll notice he played 13 games in each of his three college seasons. The fact that he’s been durable throughout his career will only help him throughout the draft process, and as he tries to get on the field early in his career.

If you mix the two strengths of consistency and durability, that combination spells workhorse RB. Part of why Benny Snell Jr. was able to stay healthy in college is because of his thick frame. He’s right about where NFL teams typically want their workhorse RBs to be.

If Benny Snell Jr. is able to get on the field, which I don’t see why he wouldn’t, he should have no problem getting the bulk of the carries.

• Pass protection

Let’s add another element into the combination of consistency and durability. One of the quickest ways to get on the field as a rookie RB is to have the ability to play on every down. Benny Snell Jr. has exactly that. He’s not the type of third down RB teams will use heavily in passing situations, but his third down value comes from his ability to pass protect.

Benny Snell Jr. got a lot of experience in pass protection at Kentucky. It wasn’t often you saw him in bad position while trying to block pass rushers. He may actually be the best pass protecting RB in this entire draft class.

Determines where the pressure’s coming from, knows what type of blocks to throw, takes contact from pass rushers very well, knows where he needs to be and gives 100% effort. Those are just a few of the traits that make Benny Snell Jr. such an effective pass protector.

• Personality & leadership

Leadership is something you don’t get from a lot of RBs in the NFL today. There’s so much talk about how the QB is the most important position and they need to be one who leads their team. There is truth to that, but it can never hurt to have more than one leader.

Benny Snell Jr. has the personality and leadership skills to be a true leader for any team he’s drafted by. Being a leader is one thing, but being able to lead in different ways is another. Snell Jr. can not only lead verbally, but he can lead through his play. He doesn’t take plays off. He gives his full effort every play.

You can tell this kid loves football and wants all of his teammates to love it just as much as he does. The below video is a great example of his personality. He just loves to have fun, and it carries over to his teammates.

• Contact balance

You may have noticed by now that I haven’t listed a lot of strengths having to do with Benny Snell Jr.’s ability as a runner. That’s not because he doesn’t have any, it’s just because his running style is different.

Most people want to see RBs who can just out run people. They want to see RBs who can stop on a dime and make incredible cuts to make defenders miss. That’s not who Benny Snell Jr. is, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be an effective runner.

One of the reasons why I say Benny Snell Jr. is solid, but not sexy, is because instead of having all those speed and elusiveness traits, he has a great ability to use his size and power to make contact with defenders.

I won’t say Benny Snell Jr. is a bruiser. He may not run over defenders regularly, but he does a really nice job of making contact with defenders and continuing to move until he’s brought down. You won’t see many times where he’s stopped right at the point of contact. It’s this trait that allowed him to average at least 5.0 yards per carry or more every season in college.

In the following video, just watch how Benny Snell Jr. continues to run hard through the contact, eventually making it into the end zone.

Weaknesses:

• Speed

As mentioned above, Benny Snell Jr. isn’t considered a sexy RB. His lack of speed is one reason why. It’s projected Snell Jr. will run somewhere around a 4.6 40 time. Most highly drafted RBs run somewhere around 4.4.

Despite his lack of speed, I believe his other top quality traits will allow him to succeed in the NFL. Benny Snell Jr. will make his fair share of big plays, just don’t expect him to frequently outrun defenders at the next level.

• Burst and acceleration

Speed is one thing, but being able to get to full speed is another. Benny Snell Jr. doesn’t have the burst and acceleration teams will covet. He takes a little longer than you’d like to get through the holes. As a result of his lack of burst, the holes he does have have a tendency to close quickly because pursuing defenders beat him there.

• Elusiveness

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Benny Snell Jr.’s lack of burst and speed translate directly into this weakness. I don’t know if he’ll be able to consistently make defenders miss in the NFL. Although he played in the SEC and went against top level competition in college, the NFL is a whole new game. Defenders are bigger, faster and smarter.

You’ll see some elusiveness every now and then from Benny Snell Jr., but I don’t think he’ll be able to consistently use that to make plays in the NFL. He’ll have to rely on his contact balance and strength to make plays. He’s a guy who’s going to hit you, not try to go around you.

• Receiving

Like a lot of RBs in this draft class, Benny Snell Jr. needs to work on his ability as a receiver. During his three seasons at Kentucky, he recorded just 29 total receptions for 216 yards and zero TDs. On the bright side, he did get a little more involved in the passing game every year.

I think his ability as a receiver is limited because of his lack of those sexy skills, such as speed and elusiveness. Typically, a team uses a quicker, more elusive RB as their receiving option out of the backfield.

There’s also the fact that he’s a very good blocker, which is where he can make up for not having the best receiving skills. I’d much rather use him to protect the QB than have him out running routes.

• Versatility

Benny Snell Jr. isn’t the type of RB you’re going to use as a runner, receiver and returner. Again, that goes back to his speed and elusiveness. But when I say versatility here, I’m going to be more specific to the run game.

There are times when Benny Snell Jr. can take the ball outside on a run, but I’m not sure he’s going to have the speed to consistently outrun defenders on the edge. Teams will likely have to be limited in how they run the ball with him.

The best way to use him is by running between the tackles. His contact balance and power allow him to effectively run through contact on the inside. The following video is a perfect example of how Benny Snell Jr. should be used.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad thing to be good at inside runs. I just believe teams might catch on quickly to where he’s going to run the ball if he’s constantly running on the inside.

Pro Comparison: Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns

Benny Snell Jr. compares to Nick Chubb in my mind because of their size, speed and abilities.

• Nick Chubb stands 5’11”, 227 lbs. That’s almost spot on to Snell Jr.’s size.
• Nick Chubb ran a 4.52 at the NFL Combine last year. Benny Snell Jr. is projected to be somewhere between 4.5 and 4.6.
• Neither of these guys are the typical RBs with sexy skills we all love to see. Regardless of that, they always seem to be effective.

Nick Chubb doesn’t have breakaway speed. He’s not the most elusive RB. He uses his size and power to fight through contact. He’s a good inside runner. This sound a lot like Benny Snell Jr. Chubb doesn’t have a long NFL resume, but based on his one season, he’s proof a RB without the sexy skills can succeed in the NFL.

Best Team Fits: Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs

Projection: 3rd round

The reason Benny Snell Jr. will fall in the 2019 NFL Draft is because of his lack of speed, burst and elusiveness. How many times have we seen teams fall in love with players who wow with athleticism and speed at the NFL Combine? Only a million times. Benny Snell Jr. likely won’t do that.

Despite not having those skills, he should still be a very productive NFL RB. How many successful RBs have we seen drafted in the third round? Do names like Frank Gore, Jamal Charles, Alvin Kamara, Kareem Hunt, James Conner or David Johnson ring a bell? Benny Snell Jr. could be next in line.