Alright, so I got curious about where Donovan Edwards might end up in the 2023 NFL draft. Heard a lot of chatter about him, especially after some big games for Michigan, and wanted to figure out what the experts were thinking and kinda form my own opinion.
First thing I did, obviously, was just hop online. I started typing stuff like “Donovan Edwards draft projection 2023”, “Edwards NFL draft stock”, that kind of thing. Just wanted to get a general feel.
Found a bunch of articles right away from the usual sports places, you know, ESPN, NFL dot com, Bleacher Report, and some dedicated draft sites too. I started clicking through, reading what different analysts were saying.
Gathering the Intel
It was interesting. A lot of people were high on his explosiveness. Here’s kinda what stood out from my reading:
- Big Play Ability: Everyone mentioned his long runs, especially those back-to-back huge games when Corum was hurt. That definitely caught eyes. He showed he could take it to the house.
- Receiving Skills: This was a big plus people kept bringing up. He looked smooth catching the ball out of the backfield, almost like a receiver sometimes. That’s huge for the modern NFL.
- Speed and Agility: You could see it on tape, the guy can move. Quick cuts, good acceleration.
But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. There were definitely some question marks that kept popping up in the articles and discussions I found.
The Concerns and Context
Consistency: Some folks pointed out he wasn’t always the main guy, sharing the backfield with Blake Corum. So, could he handle a full workload week in and week out? That was a big question.
Running Between the Tackles: While he had those explosive plays, some analysts wondered about his power and consistency grinding out tough yards inside. Was he more of a home-run threat than a reliable every-down back?
Pass Protection: Like a lot of college backs, this was mentioned as an area that needed work. You gotta be able to protect the QB in the league.
The Corum Factor: It was kinda tricky trying to project Edwards because Corum was the guy for Michigan for much of the season before his injury. So, separating Edwards’ potential from the context of that shared backfield was something I had to think about.
Forming My Own Take
So after digging through all that stuff, watching some highlights again just to refresh my memory, I started piecing together my own thoughts.
I figured his receiving ability and big-play speed were definitely going to get him drafted. That skillset is just too valuable these days. But the questions about consistency and workload probably meant he wouldn’t be a first-round lock, maybe not even a guaranteed second-rounder for some teams.
My gut feeling, based on everything I read and saw, was leaning towards Day 2. Maybe late second round if a team really fell in love with his receiving upside, but more likely somewhere in the third round seemed reasonable. A team could grab him there, use him as a change-of-pace guy and a receiving weapon initially, and see if he could develop into more.
It was a pretty straightforward process, really. Just involved digging through the available opinions, looking at the stats, watching some tape, and trying to balance the hype with the legit concerns people had. It’s always tough projecting these guys, especially running backs, but that’s where I landed after spending some time on it.
