Ke’Shawn Vaughn, Vanderbilt University
Ke’Shawn Vaughn was taken at Pick 76 in Round 3 by the Tampa Bay Bucs and was the eighth running back off the board. He spent four years at Vanderbilt University where he ran for 1,028 yards on 198 carries (5.2 yards per carry) and caught 29 passes for 286 yards with 10 total touchdowns during his last year in college.
Athletic Profile
Film Analysis
Running: Vaughn had a great junior season running the football, but failed to recreate it after he chose to return for his senior year. Vaughn checks off a lot of boxes while watching his tape: good contact balance, acceleration, burst, top end speed, runs low, good leg drive, lateral agility. He was a really fun prospect to watch, but the biggest knocks on him go hand in hand: instincts and vision. He’s very inconsistent behind the line of scrimmage feeling out the right lane to run. He fits into the second tier of running backs with Anthony McFarland and Darrynton Evans because of his ability to get up field in a hurry and squeeze through tight spaces quickly. He’s dangerous in space and reminded me of Jonothan Taylor as I was watching him run with good blocking. Consistency is king in the NFL so he’s going to need to put in some work before he’s ever given the keys to a backfield.
Receiving: Not a lot of film on Ke’Shawn Vaughn receiving work, although he caught 29 balls his senior year. Overall, his pass catching was good, but I would have liked to see him catch the ball with his hands more instead of letting the ball come into his body.
Pass Blocking: He did a really nice job in pass protection in his tape against LSU and there’s nothing else in his tape that would make me think otherwise. His ability in pass protection should be a big draw for teams that are in need of a third down back with three down back upside.
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Landing Spot Reaction
I had Ke’Shawn Vaughn as my RB7 in this class, but he might be on the move up after landing on the win-now Tampa Bay Bucs. He is now battling with incumbent Ronald Jones for the starting spot, and it shouldn’t be long until he is getting a majority of the carries and a lot of the passing down work. Vaughn can catch and his ability in pass protection is exactly what Bruce Arians was looking for after being upset with Jones’ pass protection lapses throughout the course of 2019. Vaughn will earn the trust of Arians and he will be leading that backfield in 2020 hopefully becoming one of Tom Brady’s favorite targets a la James White.
Brady gets someone in the backfield with top tier speed and the ability to protect him when he’s dropping back to pass. Brady continues to be rising in my short-term dynasty rankings. As for Ronald Jones, they may end up splitting the work over the course of the season, but Arians made it clear that he wanted someone that could protect his quarterback and Jones just couldn’t do it. His value is declining.
Dynasty Draft Projection
As we make our way through round three of the NFL draft, I think Ke’Shawn Vaughn is my biggest riser. He was someone that consistently was available in the third round of rookie mocks, but going to Tampa Bay, I think he’s going to be worth a middle second round pick, if not higher. If you miss out on one of the top four running backs, Vaughn may be one of the best values in rookie drafts with the ceiling he offers in that high-powered Tampa Bay offense.
Draft Night-Where would I take him in a dynasty draft? Did he move in my rankings?Thanks for reading and stay tuned to Dynasty Football Factory for all your NFL Draft night coverage. Follow me on Twitter @DFF_JoeMem to join in on the draft conversation!
