Mile High Report
The explosive running back prospect will meet with the Broncos ahead of the draft.
According to multiple reports, explosive Texas running back Jaydon Blue will have a top-30 pre-draft visit with the Denver Broncos. Blue is one of the fastest and more explosive backs in the draft and has the potential to be Sean Payton’s ‘Joker’ at the position.
First, a reminder or refresher on what exactly a top 30 visit is. Each NFL team in the days and weeks before the start of the NFL Draft is allowed to invite up to 30 different prospects to come in for what amounts to a job interview. From there, they will work them out, show them the facility, meet with coaches, and essentially have a job interview. It is just another step in the long scouting process leading up to the NFL Draft.
Jaydon Blue played a total of three seasons for the Longhorns and has been a productive player for them. During his three seasons at Texas, he played in 38 career games and totaled 214 carries for 1,161 yards and 11 touchdowns, while adding 56 receptions for 503 yards and 7 receiving touchdowns. This past year, he played in 15 games and totaled 134 carries for 730 yards, averaging 5.4 yards per carry, and had 8 rushing touchdowns while adding 42 receptions for 368 yards and 6 receiving touchdowns.
Jaydon Blue is far from a perfect prospect, but his big-play upside intrigued me about his potential in a Sean Payton offense.
As we know, Sean Payton loves to get his backs into space and utilize them in the passing game. Blue would be perfect in that role and would give the Broncos offense a legitimate home run threat, which is something they’re missing. I could see Payton dialing up swing passes, screens, and multiple creative ways to get him the ball in space. He could be Payton’s ‘Joker’ at running back.
His issues with pass-blocking and ball security are concerns, but the upside outweighs those concerns for me. You can always coach up ball security, and at his size, he probably won’t be asked to pass block anyway.
With him having legit 4.2/4.3 speed, he probably goes on day two of the draft or at the very latest, very early in the fourth round. It’s a loaded draft class, so he could slip a little further than expected, but speed like that gets you drafted. I would not be upset if they drafted him in the third round and paired him with a more physical runner.
My full report on Blue will come out next week, along with the debut of the Broncos draft interest tracker. The final pro days will be in the books, so I’ll have all the prospects the Broncos have reportedly shown some level of interest in thus far in the pre-draft process.
