Israel Abanikanda 2023 NFL Draft profile: Scout report for the Pittsburgh RB
Israel Abanikanda: 5’11”, 215 pounds.
A top-500 overall recruit in 2020, Israel Abanikanda touched the ball 30 times for just over 100 yards as a true freshman. He racked up 848 yards and eight touchdowns on 147 chances in year two.
Making up for the loss of quarterback Kedon Slovis and carrying the Pittsburgh Panthers offense, he finished the year with 1,577 yards and 21 touchdowns from scrimmage, averaging 6.0 yards per rush. This made him a first-team All-ACC selection.
Israel Abanikanda scout report: Strengths
+ Very patient runner, who allows his blocking to get set up, decelerating behind pullers and then hitting the hole hard, with the long speed to finish off homeruns.
+ He’s not somebody you can have soft edges or undisciplined contain defenders against, because he’ll punish you for it.
+ You rarely see college backs incorporate as many subtle strides and running path adjustments.
+ Does a nice job of leading linebackers to shooting a gap and then cutting behind the blocker, where there’s now nobody on the second level.
+ Quick to spot penetration and edge defenders crashing inside, with his feet immediately opening up in order to bubble around.
+ He also doesn’t need to fully plant with the outside foot to get vertical after aiming towards the corner, bending off the inside leg and pulling his body forward.
+ Recognizes when defense overplays his speed to the edge and can slide back inside after aiming that way originally.
+ Avoids being squared up by tacklers thanks to subtle movement, such as swiping away their reach with the off-arm, spinning off wraps, etc. as he’s navigating through traffic.
+ In particular, you see a lot of guys slip off him as they try to sling their arms around him from the side as pursuit defenders.
+ When he does need to meet somebody head-up in the hole, the Pitt RB will pull his shoulders up through contact and keep his feet churning, And he’ll lower the boom on a DB at the sidelines in emphatic fashion when he gets a chance to.
+ Yet, if he clears the second level, he has the jets to bang his head on the goal-line out of nowhere, leading to several long TDs last season.
+ He broke Tony Dorsett’s single-game rushing record at the Panthers, with 36 carries for 320 yards and six touchdowns against Virginia Tech.
+ Ibanikanda’s usage as a receiver was fairly simplistic, but his approach to catching the ball shows no issues. When he catches the ball in space, he can use some little shimmies, that don’t look like much, but somehow he typically gets away from that first tackler.
+ Displays good awareness of bodies around him in the screen game, when to run through the catch basically or to pirouette back around to go underneath a block. His acceleration helps in ripping off good chunks that way.
+ You like his approach as a pass-protector, stepping up, getting into a wide base and lifting up through contact, in order to gain control.
+ His feet stay active and he’s looking to re-fit his hands in that regard.
Israel Abanikanda scout report: Weaknesses
– I’d say Israel Abanikanda is a bit of a stiff runner and not somebody who will wow you with dynamic cuts and sudden bursts necessarily.
– Not up to par with the premier collegiate backs in missed tackle rate, at just 0.19 per rushing attempt.
– Will hesitate a little too much at times and cut down his stride-length running zone concept. This leads to more no-gains and TFLs at the next level. He needs to become more decisive since his skill-set would make him an attractive target for a one-cut system.
– Was basically purely limited to swings, flat routes, and the occasional wheel in terms of Pitt’s pass game.
– When they did spread the field and put him in the slot, you saw a bunch of out routes and rounded breaks in general.
Israel Abanikanda scout report: Grade
Maybe if you’re looking for one of these smaller, shifty backs with experience as pass-catchers in space, Israel Abanikanda is not your kind of flavor. But for many of the teams that have adapted wide zone principles or if you’re looking to get downhill with old-school iso-runs behind a fullback, this guy’s speed to create explosive plays is very appealing.
With his workload doubling this past season compared to 2021, Abanikanda did have three fumbles, which is something he’ll need to clean up. However, I believe his micro-movements and subtle shifts in tight quarters have really improved and he could be one of the most productive backs from this year (if he somehow makes it to day three and gets drafted by Miami for example) as a bigger, probably more steady version of Raheem Mostert.
Grade: Early fourth round
You might like other 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Reports - Zach Charbonnet, RB, UCLA, Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas, Eric Gray RB, Oklahoma, Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Alabama, Zach Evans, RB, Ole Miss, Tyjae Spears, RB, Tulane, Roschon Johnson, RB, Texas, Tank Bigsby, RB, Auburn.
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