Round 7 – South Carolina RB Rico Dowdle
Dowdle has some juice to his game. He finds rushing lanes and runs hard, which is something that NFL coaches will enjoy. He also has some surprising burst and defenders don’t seem to expect it from him. One thing that is a concern is that Dowdle has only managed to stay healthy for one full season. He’s never been relied upon as the bell-cow running back and often finds himself in timeshare situations.
His testing at the combine proved that he’s the athlete to match his intriguing tape. He ran a 4.54 40-yard dash, had a 38-inch vertical jump, and a 127-inch broad jump. He looked pretty good going through all of the drills too. This could be the type of low-risk option late in the draft that the Chiefs could turn into a star. They would, of course, have to trade and acquire a seventh-round pick in the draft.