Anthony McFarland Jr., Maryland
Anthony McFarland was taken at Pick 124 in Round 4 by the Pittsburgh Steelers and was the twelfth running back off the board. He spent two years at the University of Maryland where he ran for 614 yards on 114 carries (5.4 yards per carry) and caught 17 passes for 126 yards with 9 total touchdowns during his last year in college.
Athletic Profile
Film Analysis
Running: When he was on the field, he was a guy that could outrun anyone on the field. Even against top competition, he was able to break huge runs. If he saw green, he got green. Against Ohio State in 2018, he had runs of 75, 81, and 52 yards en route to 298 yards and two touchdowns on only 21 carries. His running was inconsistent from game to game. In 2019 against Ohio State, he only ran for seven yards on six carries. He has good vision, but he needs his offensive line to create that initial push so that he can get out of the backfield. If he doesn’t end up in a spot with a good offensive line, I will be very concerned that his negatives are just too much to overcome.
Receiving: He’s a solid route runner out of the backfield, although he didn’t seem as explosive out of his cuts in 2019 as he did in 2018. McFarland does a great job adjusting to off-target throws by his quarterback. He wasn’t utilized in the passing game very often and it’s because he didn’t have the health to be out there as a three down back.
Pass Blocking: With a high ankle sprain bothering him most of 2019, McFarland didn’t look great in pass protection. He seemed to have a hard time planting into linebackers or at least it looked like he was trying to avoid aggravating his injury. This will really limit what teams can do with him in year one unless he’s fully healthy.
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Landing Spot Reaction
The Pittsburgh Steelers are grabbing a running back with very high potential. James Conner was consistently banged up last year, missing 6 games and the year before he missed 4 games. With Conner on the last year of his contract, the Steelers have drafted another oft-injured running back in Anthony McFarland. The Steelers had the 30th ranked offensive line in run blocking last year despite the reputation for being great year after year. McFarland will be playing in a much improved offense with Ben Roethlisberger recovered from an injury so I expect things to look much different. Conner can’t handle the load so I expect McFarland to come in and garner a decent share of the carries from day one and opportunity is the name of the game for rookie running backs.
McFarland dropped due to his injury hampered production, but make no mistake he is a talented running back. He is going to come in and really hurt James Conner’s upside. When Conner was on the field, he only had to deal with 2019 rookie Benny Snell fighting for carries. Conner is a Pittsburgh guy and a great story having beaten cancer in college, but he has no guarantee to be on the roster next year. His long-term outlook is getting cloudier by the minute, McFarland will come in and immediately push the rest of running backs down the depth chart. Goodbye to Benny Snell and goodbye to Jaylen Samuels barring injury to both of the running backs ahead of them.
Dynasty Draft Projection
Anthony McFarland is an underrated prospect in this class. He was hurt most of his college career and he was nursing a broken leg coming out of college so it’s fair to say he’s injury prone. However, his talent and potential is up there with the top running backs in this class. He was offered a scholarship to Alabama coming out of high school, but he chose Maryland so that he could rehab his broken leg close to home. His health will always be a concern, but for his price which is close to the third round in most mocks, he probably has the highest ceiling of any player you could take there. Going to the Steelers opens up a big long-term opportunity for McFarland to take over the bell cow responsibilities in 2021. I don’t think he can stay healthy with a huge workload, but the potential is too much to pass on if he’s available in the mid to late second round.
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