Eric Gray 2023 NFL Draft Profile
Are people sleeping on Eric Gray? It feels like that has been the case with him for a while. I’ve been trying to get people to hop on the bandwagon. Maybe this post will be what does the trick. Let’s go over the 2023 NFL Draft Profile for Oklahoma running back, Eric Gray!
For starters, it just never felt like Gray was able to find a home. The sad part is if he was on this Tennessee team last year, he would have thrived. Josh Heupal got there too late! Gray spent his first two years at Tennessee with varying levels of success. Gray contributed as a freshman and took his game up a level as a Sophomore. Still, Tennessee was sort of in a reshuffling phase back in 2020 and Gray took his talents to Oklahoma.
The only problem is he didn’t get many looks that year either. Just 57 carries in 2021. It was a great mystery for a long time. A former 4-star recruit that was productive just couldn’t find a role for whatever reason. That was until this year we see glimpses of what Gray might become. Albeit on a really bad Sooners team that was in year one of the Brent Venables era.
While playing for an Oklahoma team that struggled after losing Lincoln Riley, Gray popped in 2022. 1,366 rushing yards (6.4 per carry) and 11 touchdowns. Also added 33 receptions for 229 yards in the passing game. I can’t stress enough that this is a quality back that simply hasn’t been always put in the best spot to flourish into what he can be. There were games we saw of Gray that stood out in the stock report notes. Also showed up well in the Senior Bowl.
That being said, Gray isn’t perfect. We saw some movement limitations at the combine. Not to say he’s a bad mover. Just not a grease lightning mover. I actually thought he was underrated in the passing game. Caught the ball extremely well and made route running look easy. He just checks a lot of boxes. Perfect size at 5-foot-10, 212. Has a great combination of balance, speed, and power. It’s not game breaking speed but his short area vision and cuts are there.
Be careful totally selling your stock on Eric Gray. This could very well be the next Rhamondre Stevenson Okahoma success story. Yes, two totally different body types but we’re talking about two guys that show flashes without having a ton of pure volume. Expect a similar outcome for Gray. He’s going to help whoever drafts him in a multitude of ways.
