Personal Background

• Attended Woodward Academy in College Park, Georgia
• Ran track and field in high school (season record in 2016 was listed at 11.39 seconds in 100 meter dash. Personal record (PR) is 10.93 seconds)
• Four-star recruit; had offers to Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, and others, via 24/7 Sports
• His father is former heavyweight boxing champion, Evander Holyfield
• Communications major at Georgia
• Was arrested for marijuana possession in May of 2017 (sophomore season)

Injury History

• Missed time during his senior season in high school with stress fracture in left foot
• Suffered ankle injury during freshman season of college in 2016

“It’s tough when you’re a true freshman. In my career I’ve seen true freshmen get injured and the amount of mental mistakes they make when they come back is just huge. So it’s not just the injury. It’s the mental makeup of ‘how do I catch back up and learn what these words mean.’ I’ve seen it with Charlie Woerner. I’ve seen it with Elijah. I’ve seen it all throughout my career with guys. That’s his struggle more than anything. He’s got great ability.” – Kirby Smart to Seth Emerson of Dawg Nation

Production

• 27 FBS games
• Advanced Rushing Metrics via SIS:
• Touchdown Percentage: 4.4%
• Yards After Contact: 685 yards
• Yards After Contact (per attempt): 4.3
• Broken Tackle Percentage: 23.3%
• 1st Down Percentage: 30.8%

Data Courtesy of CFB at Sports-Reference.com

Film Reviewed 

• LSU (2018)
• Tennessee (2018)
• South Carolina (2018)
• Auburn (2018)
• Alabama (2018)
• Texas (2018)

Measurables 

• Year: Junior
• Height: 5’10”
• Weight: 215 lbs

Strengths

• Solid frame and is well-built with thick thighs and plenty of arm strength
• Plenty of tread left on his tires; only 215 carries in his college career
• Tremendous vision when approaching the line of scrimmage (LOS)
• Reads his blocks and sees the gaps closing to slip through small openings or bounce to the outside
• Has great lateral ability to bounce runs toward the sideline
• Terrific footwork, leg drive, and hip flexibility when changing direction
• Solid contact balance and adequate leg strength to churn additional yardage
• Great finisher; finishes his runs with power and determination
• Excellent mental processing and decision making to find another opening when the original one closes

Weaknesses

• Doesn’t get utilized as a pass catcher and looks limited in that role with only seven career receptions
• Needs to get better at picking up blitzes. From reading where it’s coming from to lowering his pad level and staying square when picking up the blitz. Tends to lunge and hand placement is inconsistent when doing so.
• Not as elusive as a runner compared to others — his game is more characterized by power and jump cuts
• Average long speed and has rarely shown ability to hit his top speed
• Burst is average when busting through the LOS and getting to the second level

Overall 

Another NFL Draft and another Georgia running back. Elijah Holyfield hasn’t been as productive as former Bulldogs such as Sony Michel, Todd Gurley, or Nick Chubb. Despite only one year of production, there’s plenty to work with when watching Holyfield. He’s got a terrific work ethic and has shown that he has the tools to be a running back that can excel between the tackles. Meanwhile, he does a great job creating opportunities for himself with his ability to bounce runs outside of the box.

His best quality is his vision and the way he identifies where the defense will be. Add the way he finishes his runs with power and determination and it’s nothing but positive results. Don’t expect to see him on third down as much as other backs. He’ll have to show that he can evolve into the role of a pass catcher but also become more consistent with his blitz pickup.

Overall, I have a third-round grade on Holyfield. He’s best suited for a power running scheme that can allow him to navigate between the tackles and finish through linebackers at the second level. Whether he’s taking handoffs from the quarterback under center or out of the shotgun, it shouldn’t affect him too much. He’s displayed his lateral ability plenty of times on tape, but I was more impressed with his mental processing when approaching the line of scrimmage and following through to the second level. There’s a chance that a team will be interested in him in the second round because of how “fresh” he is, but realistically, his talent level is in the area of a player from the third round. I expect him to become a starting running back regardless of the team that drafts him in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Film Work

Not many RBs are navigating through this with the ease that Holyfield does pic.twitter.com/JVrb7AJsGy

— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) February 6, 2019

Something I love to see from Elijah Holyfield (I guarantee I'll say Evander 104020 times during this draft) is his ability to run through contact. Lower body is so strong pic.twitter.com/h00SlGbazr

— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) February 3, 2019

Elijah Holyfield is a bad dude 🔥 pic.twitter.com/HqzsoNXpkC

— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) February 5, 2019