by It’s that time of the year again! NFL Draft season.
Over the next month, I’ll be breaking down and highlighting several notable college football stars entering the draft — most of whom may be flying under the radar.
Today’s scouting report will be focused on Troy University running back Kimani Vidal.
PRODUCTION
Like most non-Power Five prospects, Vidal was not highly recruited and was just a three-star coming out of Marietta High School in Georgia. That still did not cloud the fact that he would eventually become the best running back in Troy football history.
Absurdly efficient, Vidal was a three-down alpha running back for the Trojans throughout his college career. Following a plausible sophomore campaign, the Georgia native truly took flight as a junior in 2022 behind a 1,132-yard/10-touchdown season (two 200+ yard games) that earned him First-Team All-Sun Belt honors and an impressive 90.1 rushing grade via Pro Football Focus (PFF).
Then 2023 happened.
Vidal completely took his game to another notch this past season, earning Third-Team AP All-American, Doak Walker Award Semifinalist, and Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year honors. While surpassing the 100-yard mark seven times, Vidal amassed a single-season program record 1,662 rushing yards, 993 yards after contact, and 85 forced missed tackles (2nd in FBS in all three categories). Scoring wise, Vidal tied for 15th in the country with 14 rushing touchdowns, including a five-touchdown performance in the Sun Belt title game where he became the first player in FBS conference championship history to hit that milestone. This historic stint ultimately gave him a dazzling 92.4 PFF grade.
STRENGTHS
If there’s one word to sum up Vidal it’s “work-horse.” Say what you want about his size (5’8”, 213), the Trojan is a downhill runner that has all of the tools to be the complete package at the next level.
And aside from his jaw-dropping statistics on the ground, it’s important to know that Vidal excelled in just about every metric at his position.
For starters, he is as explosive as they come, evidenced by his FBS-high 47 rushes of 10+ yards and 4.46 40-yard dash speed. Vidal compliments this with his ability to break tackles at an efficient rate. As previously mentioned, he racked up 85 forced missed tackles in 2023, but he also averaged 3.58 yards after contact.
Vidal is also a capable receiver, having posted a 92-700-1 line in his career and being one of only eight running backs to not drop a single pass with at least 20 targets this past season. He has good blocking ability as well, indicated by an FBS running back-high 79.3 pass blocking grade (PFF).
To put the icing on the cake, Vidal checks the box next to durability too, as he never suffered a significant injury through four years at the college level.
MY COMP: Dion Lewis
Both former NFL running back Dion Lewis and Vidal both had highly productive college careers and are similar in stature (5’8”). While Lewis was more shifty and quick, both running backs run with a low center of gravity and are tremendous at breaking tackles. Neither Lewis or Vidal necessarily possess home run hitting speed out of the backfield, but both can be a threat as a receiver, are good pass blockers, and have a physical running style that enables them to pick up chunks of yards on a consistent basis.
Like Lewis was in the pros, Vidal will not be a 25 carry a game type of back, but he carries a lot of potential to be rostered as a complimentary RB2. Lastly, similar to when Lewis was coming out of college, Vidal is the type of back who will get overlooked because he doesn’t fit a cookie cutter image, but still has the upside to end up being one of the most productive backs from this class.
PROJECTED ROUND: 6th-7th
Based on my evaluation and his statistical dominance, one would think that Vidal should at least be a mid-round pick, but because the running back position is crowded this season and somewhat diminished by NFL front offices in today’s world, expect him to be a late round selection in 2024.
Kimani Vidal is one of my favorite running backs of the 2024 NFL Draft class, and for good reason.