NFL Draft 2016 Scouting Report: RB Peyton Barber, Auburn

*Our RB grades can and will change as more information comes in from Pro Day workouts, leaked Wonderlic test results, etc. We will update ratings as new info becomes available.

*We use the term “Power RB” to separate physically bigger, more between-the-tackles–capable RBs from our “speed RBs” group. “Speed RBs” are physically smaller, but much faster/quicker, and less likely to flourish between the tackles.

Wow, one of the worst tapes of a running back I think I've scouted this year.

I had some hope here after looking at Barber's 2015 performance for Auburn. He posted several 100+ yard games right out of the gates and was one of the leading rushers in college football after the first few games of the season, and then things tailed off from there. In a three-game stretch in the middle of the season, against San Jose State, Kentucky, and Arkansas, Barber rushed for 11 TDs, and then scored just one more time in his next six games. It was an interesting 2015.

The first game I scouted on him was his five rushing TD performance, with 147 yards on the ground, against San Jose State. I assumed this particular game tape would be strong for Barber considering ‘Auburn versus San Jose State’. However, I hated what I saw watching Barber – looking at him as a potential pro prospect.

Whether it was against San Jose State, or anyone else on the schedule, the tape is the same with Barber. He is truly a lesser version of, but stylistically the same as, his second cousin Marion Barber. He has one dimension to his game, and that's running straight ahead, and using his 225+ pound body to plow into anyone trying to stop him. There are no cutbacks or jukes, etc. – Barber is going straight ahead.

I have no problem with the power runner who is a bull up the middle, but Barber is lacking many qualities that could get you excited about a power runner. At first glance, he has the perfect size to be a short-yardage specialist – 5′10″/225+ pounds. He runs a 4.6+ 40-time, with decent agility measurements from the NFL Combine. Everything appears to be in order, physically, for a guy who can hang in the NFL, and make some noise as a power runner/short-yardage specialist. The problem I saw on tape is that Barber is very slow out of the blocks, and he has such poor lateral movement that he's a very limited threat as an inside runner, much less anything else.

Way too many times on tape, I would watch Barber get caught in the backfield, or get stop/stuffed at the line of scrimmage. His second cousin Marion was a better, faster athlete, and played a rugged, smashmouth style in a different era. Now, the defenses are bigger, stronger, faster as well. A 225+ pound, indecisive runner with terrible east-west movement is going to have a hard time finding success at the next level. I think Auburn got a little tired of it as well. Barber was a success early on in 2015, and he was getting a ton of carries…the coaches acted like he was the only thing Auburn had the first half of the season. In the San Jose State game, where he scored five rushing touchdowns in the game, I think it might have taken him 8-10 different carries within the 10-yard line to get those TDs. He wasn't breaking the will of the defense; he was just a guy Auburn gave the ball to as they got close to the goal line because they didn't trust much of anything else. Eventually, a 225+ pound running back with 4.6+ speed is going to surge forward for a couple yards…even though it seemed more of a chore for Barber than it should have.

I expected to be impressed here, but I walked away with a very negative takeaway from watching Barber play. He is absolutely nothing in the pass game. You can't run him to the outside, and he's not going to break away from any NFL defenders when he hits the second level. He's a big guy who can slam forward as far as the line/hole will take him. He's not going to create anything. His measurables are OK, but not strong enough for anyone to get super excited about him as an inside runner, short-yardage specialist in the NFL.

Barber can hang on the fringes of the NFL periphery, floating from team to team, as an emergency running back in times of need, but there's almost no way that I see him becoming a purposed starter in the NFL, or producer of any note. He's an undrafted free agent type of guy in my book.

Peyton Barber, Through the Lens of Our RB Scouting Algorithm:

In his first seven games in 2015, Barber averaged 24.6 carries per game and collected five 100+ yard rushing games with 12 rushing TDs. In his final six games in 2015, Barber averaged 11.0 carries per game with no 100+ yard games (72 yards was his highest) and just one rushing TD.

I believe Auburn got tired of the 'nothing' runs from Barber by about mid-season 2015. Early on he pounded Jacksonville State and San Jose State with nice games against Miss State and Louisville, but the yards per carry kept declining as the season wore on and the schedule amped up. He was insignificant late in the year after his initial burst onto the scene – and he only started in 2015 because the two starters above him were hurt.

Barber caught 11 passes in 13 games in 2015. He wasn't much of a factor in the passing game and isn't really built or styled as a pass game running back.

Barber ran a respectable (for his size) 4.64 40-time at the NFL Combine with a decent 7.00 three-cone. His tape doesn't show that kind of agility to me.

The Historical RB Prospects to Whom Peyton Barber Most Compares Within Our System:

If you remember Terrance Ganaway, then you know this is a proper comparison…a smaller, less powerful Ganaway.

*A score of 8.50+ is where we see a stronger correlation of RBs going on to become NFL good/great/elite. A score of 10.00+ is more rarefied air in our system, and indicates a greater probability of becoming an elite NFL RB.

All of the RB ratings are based on a 0-10 scale, but a player can score negative, or above a 10.0 in certain instances.

Overall rating/score = A combination of several on-field performance measures, including refinement for strength of opponents faced, mixed with all the physical measurement metrics—then compared/rated historically within our database and formulas. More of a traditional three-down search—runner, blocker, and receiver.

*RB-Re score = New/testing starting in 2015. Our new formula/rating that attempts to identify and quantify a prospect’s receiving skills even deeper than in our original formulas. RB prospects can now make it/thrive in the NFL strictly based on their receiving skills—it is an individual attribute sought out for the NFL, and no longer dismissed or overlooked. Our rating combines a study of their receiving numbers in college in relation to their offense and opponents, as well as profiling size-speed-agility along with hand-size measurables, etc.

*RB-Ru score = New/testing starting in 2015. Our new formula/rating that attempts to classify and quantify a RB prospect’s ability strictly as a runner of the ball. Our rating combines a study of their rushing numbers in college in relation to their offense and strength of opponents, as well as profiling size-speed-agility along with various size measurables, etc.

Raw Speed Metric = A combination of several speed and size measurements from the NFL Combine, judged along with physical size profile, and then compared/rated historically within our database and scouting formulas. This is a rating strictly for RBs of a similar/bigger size profile.

Agility Metric = A combination of several speed and agility measurements from the NFL Combine, judged along with physical size profile, and then compared/rated historically within our database and scouting formulas. This is a rating strictly for RBs of a similar/bigger size profile.

2016 NFL Draft Outlook:

Most analysts rate Barber as a seventh-round or undrafted free agent grade of prospect, and that's the right call. I think he will go undrafted because he has such limitations to his game, I can't imagine an NFL team purposely drafting a guy who just runs forward with size. You can find that kind of guy all over the place, after the draft, or in free agency, or off the streets at any given moment.

If I were an NFL GM, I hope I would have built a better stable of running backs than one to which I would have to consider adding a one-dimensional Peyton Barber…and the one dimension is not all that great.

NFL Outlook:   

Unless Barber bulks up to become a fullback or H-back or something, I suspect his NFL run will be short and undetectable. He won't make a team's 53-man roster on opening day. I don't even know if he'll be on anyone's practice squad…he might because of legacy reasons. Eventually he'll just drift away. He does have NFL ability on a low level, so if he was forced to, he could give something to a team in a pinch, but there is not anything exciting for the future here.

4/26/2016