Jadan Baugh is a junior running back out of Florida. Listed at 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds, he was a three-star recruit out of Columbia High School in Decatur, Georgia.
Baugh began seeing significant action in college halfway through his freshman season. He finished the year with 133 carries, 673 yards, and seven touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2025, he finished 19th in the nation in rushing yards with 1,170 on 220 carries and eight scores.
Baugh had a blazing start to the 2026 season and rushed for 136 or more yards in Florida's first four games. He has since cooled, with 163 yards in the last three contests combined. For the season, Baugh is 15th in the country in rushing yards with 763 on 135 carries and 13 touchdowns, which leads the SEC and is third in college football.
But the explosive start to the season did a lot for Baugh's draft stock. He was in a three-person race for RB1 consideration going into the year against Kewan Lacy and Ahmad Hardy. Lacy hasn't been at full strength this season with an injury, and Hardy still has not played this year after sustaining a gunshot wound over the summer.
But Baugh took advantage of his start to the year, jumping from borderline first-rounder to potential top-10 pick for a time. While that's come back down to Earth a bit, he's still considered RB1 for the class.
Jadan Baugh NFL Draft Profile
- Position: Running Back
- School: Florida
- Height: 6-foot-1
- Weight: 225LBS
- Class: Junior
- Hometown: Decatur, Georgia
Jadan Baugh's Career Stats
- Games Played: 32
- Rush attempts: 488
- Rushing yards: 2,606
- Rushing touchdowns: 28
- Receptions: 46
- Receiving yards: 302
- Receiving touchdowns: 3
*statistics through seven games of the 2026 college football season
What are Jadan Baugh's biggest strengths?
- Baugh is a patient runner who lets holes develop and sets up blocks, but doesn't hesitate to hit the hole as it's opening.
- He takes what's blocked and makes the most of his opportunities. He doesn't look to bounce outside unnecessarily or wait too long and miss his chance.
- He's slippery and hard to bring down. Defenders coming straight at him, even in tight spaces, tend to slide off him. He can juke past them and has excellent contact balance to keep going through arm tackles.
- When he is brought down, he almost always falls forward or slips through for another yard.
- He's a smooth receiver out of the backfield, with good hands and the ability to transition easily into running after the catch.
- He's a willing blocker in pass protection and has the size to develop into an effective one.
Where can Jadan Baugh improve?
- Baugh is not exceptionally quick or fast, so he doesn't consistently create his own running lanes or generate extra yards with his speed.
- If a defender outside Baugh's field of vision attempts a tackle, they can usually bring him down. This can be someone coming from outside his peripheral vision or an unblocked defender on a delayed blitz.
- Despite his size and willingness to block, Baugh isn't asked to do it much, so he'll need more reps to improve and become a reliable pass protector at the next level.
- He is not a big part of the passing game at Florida, so NFL teams will want to see more from him as a receiver before giving him a significant role in that area as a rookie.
NFL Draft Projection
Jadan Baugh is the top running back in the 2027 NFL Draft, so if a team is motivated to take a back in the first round, it will be Baugh.
But he does not meet the talent threshold for a first-round pick, in my opinion. So I expect him to be drafted at some point in the second round. In the past 20 years, there have been four drafts where the first running back was selected in the second round:
2024: Jonathon Brooks, 46th overall
2022: Breece Hall, 36th overall
2014: Bishop Sankey, 54th overall
2013: Giovani Bernard, 37th overall
It's safe to say Baugh will be a top 50 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, but I think he'll be next in line to be the first back taken outside the first round.
NFL Pro comparison
Comps are always tricky. You can think of Baugh's size at 6-foot-1, 225 pounds, and look at the bigger running backs we've seen, and you can think of how patient a runner he is and come up with names like Le'Veon Bell and Joe Mixon. Additionally, as players who weren't explosive and went in the second round, those names make sense.
But when I think about Baugh's additional traits, I come to a name that doesn't fit right away: Javonte Williams. Williams is a bowling-ball-type player at 5-foot-9 and 212 pounds when he came out. He also runs with a little more power than Baugh, as a guy looking to run through defenders more often than running around them.
But when I think of Bell and Mixon, I think of players who were patient because they wanted a big enough hole to run through, so they at times waited a little longer than would be ideal. And they could do that because they knew they were big enough to handle a would-be tackler that got to them quickly. But they weren't patient because they were anticipating run lanes, they were waiting for the lanes to be open.
When I think of Baugh, I see a player with excellent vision for blocks and defenders. He waits not for the hole to be open, but for the block to start opening up the hole. Williams was like that as well. A battering ram, yes, but one that was patient for his blocks to set up before hitting it hard as it opened. Williams was also more shifty than given credit for, part of why his NFL career has had a second act.
The vision, patience, contact balance, and ability to hit a hole as it opens, not after, are why Williams is my comp for Baugh.
Final evaluation
Overall Grade: 81/100
Draft Projection: Top 50
I really like Baugh as a running back prospect. As an evaluator, coach, or offensive teammate, you want a running back who is going to get the yards each play is drawn up for, and that's exactly what Baugh does. And early on in the season he also showed some potential when it comes to explosive plays and days, which is just icing on top.
Baugh doesn't have the elite physical or play style traits to be taken in the first round, but as a good all-around runner who meets all of the physical thresholds you could want, he should go in the top 50 picks, and no later than the end of round two.
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