Darrin Reaves has successfully remained under the radar. He plays a position in which Carolina has multiple entrenched starters; played collegiately for a two win Conference USA team; and never put up gaudy stats.
CBS Sports lists the Alabama native as a two-star running back, who chose a scholarship at UAB over Vanderbilt. In doing so, Reaves and his father became the first father-son tandem to play football for the Blazers.
A two-year starter, Reaves put up 2,337 rushing yards on a team that went 8-28 under two head coaches during his career. The prospect of having three head coaches in four years probably factored in Reaves' decision to enter the NFL draft after his junior season. Seeking the counsel of the NFL Draft Advisory Board, Reaves was told he'd be selected between the fourth and seventh rounds as an underclassmen.
Standing 5'7" and weighing 209 lbs., Reaves displayed his athleticism at UAB's pro day, in front of 28 teams. The junior ballcarrier recorded a vertical leap of 39.5 inches, a broad jump of 10.25 inches, and bench pressed 20 reps of 225 lbs.
Draft breakdown posted two cut-ups of Reaves.
Against the superior talent of the LSU front seven, the UAB running game had its best success running draws. Here the aggression of the Tigers defense allows Reaves to cross the line of scrimmage unopposed.
Reaves then turns his attention to the crashing safety. The junior manipulates the safety, first starting right, which compels the LSU defender to commit right. Reaves then changes direction left, which allows him to beat the DB's angle. Wrapping up high, the safety looks to strip Reaves, but the runner keeps his legs churning through the contact.
What happens next is most impressive. Escaping the shoestring tackle, and with only a couple yards, and less than a second between the next LSU DB, Reaves feigns outside, before a sudden juke inside leaves the defender on the ground. This play shows an NFL level of manipulating defenders and processing targets.
Third down and five inside the red zone, UAB puts the ball in Reaves' hands. LSU annihilates what looks to be an inside zone play; Reaves takes the handoff and works outside. The blockers are able to clear a lane for the running back. Reaves has his eyes on the lone defender with an angle.
Five-yards behind the line of scrimmage, Reaves angles his hips inside, which drives the crashing safety to comply.
As the safety breaks down, Reaves moves outside, beating the defender before he even crosses the line of scrimmage. Reaves demonstrates good vision, and the ability to outmaneuver unblocked defenders in the open field.
The Tigers front four again achieves penetration. Instead of trying to cut back into two waiting linebackers, Reaves maneuvers past the first defender, bouncing the run outside. Reaves takes notice of the approaching defensive back. With limited real estate, a confrontation is practically inevitable.
The Blazer back chops his feet which brings the defensive back to break down. Reaves then angles his hips towards the sideline and lowers his shoulder into the defensive back. By tilting his hips outside, Reaves ensures the defensive back only lays an indirect hit, the contact surface minimized to his shoulder pad. Exploding from the contact, Reaves toes the sideline before stepping out of bounds for a four-yard gain.
The next play comes against UAB's instate foe, Troy. Reaves follows the blocker through the hole, his eyes on the safety. The replay better highlights Reaves' manipulation. The runner follows his blocker long enough to take the first safety out of the play.
Of course Reaves is not a blue chip prospect. There are flaws to his game, but the rookie has the potential to shoulder a change-of-pace role in the NFL.
Now, Tyler Gaffney. Third leading rusher in the Pac-12 last season, and eighth leading rusher in the NCAA, Gaffney was a one year starter at Stanford. Unlike Reaves, Gaffney was a four star recruit at fullback, who had offers from Notre Dame, UCLA, and USC.
Stanford plays a unique brand of offense, making heavy usage of 22 and 23 personnel in just about any situation. The Cardinal compound their personnel groupings with some of the tightest run splits (distance between offensive linemen pre-snap) possible. As such, Gaffney routinely faced nine and ten man boxes.
Draft breakdown only has one video of Gaffney, his record 45-carry performance against Oregon.
This first play comes in the third quarter. From a rare 12 personnel pistol look, Stanford runs an inside zone play. Gaffney follows the lead blocker. Pause at 3:37 and take in the massive cut back lane created by the Cardinal OL. The blockers masterfully seal off the Oregon front seven. If Gaffney sees the hole, the senior runner has a free path into the secondary.
Stanford is running power from 22 personnel. Gaffney follows his lead blocker through the hole. Pause the video at 7:31 and you see the running back reach a fork in the road. Straight ahead are two Oregon LB's, to Gaffney's left is the open field. Choose left and Gaffney has a near uncontested jaunt to the end zone. Rather, the senior charges ahead into the linebackers. Gaffney doesn't get his pads down soon enough, and fails to generate enough power to run through the tackles. Dropped for a gain of two-yards.
Running lead power from 22 personnel, the Stanford line opens a hole for Gaffney. The senior follows the pulling guard. With the linebackers playing up to the line of scrimmage, as soon as Gaffney crosses that threshold, he's in the open field.
The lone safety takes a poor angle. It's better to over-pursue the ballcarrier and force him back to the help defense. But still, Gaffney can't blow past him. Unless the Oregon safety is an all-pro athlete, he shouldn't be able to recover to make the tackle. Gaffney doesn't have long speed.
A creative solution, the running back could have moved the defender with an inside move, much as Reaves did with his touchdown versus LSU. Even yet, Gaffney could have cut back right before contact was initiated.
Here's a similar play to Reaves' above. All game Oregon has been bringing unblocked pressure off the edge. The edge defender penetrates deep into the backfield on the play-side. Without foresight, Gaffney is brought to a narrow-minded reaction. The blocking has otherwise held up very well.
To the play-side, the pulling guard locks onto a DL, with the Cardinal TE moving on the Oregon DB. Outside, the lone receiver struggles to block the CB, losing inside leverage. If Gaffney bounces outside the first defender, and follows the original play, the corner is the only player to keep him from scoring. Instead, due to limited vision, Gaffney runs into a brick wall. The runner does well to churn his legs and pick up what he could, but this was a failed play.
I don't think scheme was limiting Gaffney. Whereas Reaves showcased NFL caliber vision, Gaffney demonstrated a lack of anticipation, awareness, and creativity. Reaves has the talent to become a secondary or tertiary option. I don't see that in Gaffney.
That being said, it would take a miracle preseason performance for Reaves to make the roster. The numbers are against him, and the front office has more invested into his competition. Gaffney's size and speed combination make him a prime candidate for special teams play. The UAB rookie could be an under the radar practice squad player.
With limited practice time available, NFL teams have very little time to work on developing players. Rather, most of the time spent at team facilities is allocated to the installation of the playbook, and watching film. Kenjon Barner touched on this in a recent interview with SI's Monday Morning Quarterback.
"You spend most of your time in a classroom. You spend two hours on a football field; the rest of the time, you're in that classroom. Looking at film, going over practices, going over games. And when it's mental, that can be more draining than the physical."
This is why projects like Lamont Bryant rarely pan out. Why it took Greg Hardy a couple years to emerge. Gaffney won't be a starter without significant improvement to his vision. That's no overnight fix.
Barner also goes on to talk about specialization, finding a niche in an offense. Gaffney's hope is to hold a roster spot as a special teams ace, which will earn him time enough to develop into a short-yardage, power back.