89. UCLA WR-RB Demetric Felton
5-foot-9, 189 pounds
Yahoo Sports draft grade: 5.74 — potential starter
TL;DR scouting report: Shifty, quick, undersized back with receiving and return ability who could be used as a hybrid, do-it-all weapon
Games watched: USC (2019), Cal (2020), Arizona (2020), Arizona State (2020)
The skinny: A 3-star Rivals recruit, Felton enrolled early at UCLA and redshirted his first season in 2016. After seeing limited time as a receiver and runner in 2017, Felton moved nearly full time to receiver in 2018 and hauled in 20 catches for 207 yards and one TD. In 2019, he lined up mostly in the backfield, sharing running duties with 2020 fourth-rounder Joshua Kelley, rushing 86 times for 331 yards and one TD; catching 55 passes for 594 yards and four TDs; and averaging 26.0 yards per kickoff with one TD. As a redshirt senior, Felton primarily lined up in the backfield and totaled 668 rush yards on 132 carries with five TDs and caught 22 passes for 159 yards and three scores in six games. He attended the 2021 Senior Bowl.
Upside: Dynamic athleticism — great agility, change-of-direction skills and body control. Subtle burst in the hole. Elusive in space and can accelerate in a flash. Quick as a hiccup to make people miss routinely (see Arizona 2020 game).
Flashes nice stiff arm in space. Doesn’t give defenders a clean target to hit when he has the ball. Highly productive on a per-touch basis behind so-so Bruins offensive line.
Added notable strength through his college career and it showed. Shocking workhorse when asked to carry the load — averaged 27 touches per game in 2020. Showed moderate improvement in pass protection over past two years. Also gives good effort blocking downfield for teammates. Decent hand size.
Ate up DBs in one-on-one coverage drills at the Senior Bowl — looked like a guy who had been playing slot receiver all his life. Didn’t decelerate in his breaks or show hesitancy. Has true positional versatility and should have wide appeal as either a running back, slot receiver or a combo of the two, along with kickoff-return skill.
Was willing to take on whatever role that was asked of him, Coachable and tough-minded athlete. Team-first player.
Downside: Small frame (measured 5-foot-8 5/8 at Senior Bowl) that’s close to maxed out. Middling arm length (31 3/8 inches) and wingspan (74 1/8 inches). Durability questions — previously battled hamstring injuries. Almost certainly won’t be a 15- or 20-touch-per-game player on the regular in the NFL.
Not as many home-run plays in 2020 with increased volume — long gain of 40 yards. Ball security is something to monitor — had two fumbles over his final 143 college carries.
A bit too much east-west in his running, as opposed to north-south. Even with his quicks and vision, better as an outside-zone runner.
Legitimate debate in the scouting community over where best to play him. Does he have one dominant spot? Route tree might be somewhat limited — you’re not going to ask him to run corner routes or posts too often.
No punt-return experience to speak of. A bit older for a rookie — turns 23 in July.
Best-suited destination: Felton figures to have a role similar to how the Patriots have used James White, giving him occasional carries and using him as an outlet receiver who can split out and create space against nickel backs, safeties and linebackers. He might never be an NFL workhorse, but he only should be held back by the lack of creativity of his offensive coordinator.
Did you know: Jedd Fisch tried (unsuccessfully) to recruit Felton to Michigan but later coached him at UCLA. Considering Fisch spent a year with the Patriots last season, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Felton high on New England’s radar.
Player comp: Similar prospect to Nyheim Hines, Gio Bernard and Dion Lewis.
Expected draft range: Round 3 or 4.
