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2020 NFL Draft Profile: San Diego State RB Juwan Washington
Washington’s senior year was marred by injury.
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Can Juwan bounce back?
San Diego State has had an amazing streak at running backs in college and the NFL success has sort of been there with multiple players drafted. The most recent Aztec running back is Rashaad Penny with the Seattle Seahawks and was a former first-round pick in 2018.
Washington was on that path but his senior year was marred by an ankle injury. In fact, in his final two years he played in just 18 games. In his senior year he got hurt early on and missed a few games but when he came back he just was not the same guy and struggled to find any footing.
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The offense changed just a bit by going away from under center and no fullback and maybe not having a lead blocker hurt Washington in 2019.
If he is healthy he might have a chance to sneak into a team.
Strengths
Washington was able to find the end zone in his career with 25 in 34 games and two of those years were as a backup and even a third-string running back.
His career rushing average was 5.1 or his career and he can catch the ball fairly with 33 in his career and 27 in his final 18 games with three scores. That is not a huge number but catching more than one a game can be seen as a positive to allow him to see the field more in the NFL.
He also was a factor in the return game and is another way he could get onto an NFL team’s radar by being a versatile back.
Weaknesses
The size and injury history are the biggest red flags. There are smaller backs who have had success like Darren Sproles, but Washington is 5-foot-6 and listed as 192 pounds.
To be an every down of even a backup running back he must gain a few pounds but he can’t get taller and those are marks against him.
The ankle injury hurt him a lot in 2019 and it caused him to miss the New Mexico Bowl. This can be seen in two ways with the first being he really wanted to get back on the field and play through injuries, and the other is the length it took to come back from an injury.
The former will look good with a guy who wants to be on the field and play but the latter is a bigger issue with how long it took for him to get healthy. Washington has some potential and if healthy a team will at the very least pick him up as a free agent.
Draft Prediction
Washington will not get drafted but he very likely will get a look and sign a free agent deal.
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