NFL Draft Profile: Jo'quavious Marks, Running Back, Mississippi State Bulldogs
#7
Pos: RB
Ht: 5085
Wt: 195
DOB: 12/29/2000
Hometown: Atlanta, GA
High School: Carver
Eligibility: 2023
Jo'quavious Marks
Mississippi State Bulldogs
One-Liner:
A productive running back with a well-rounded athletic profile, Jo’quavious Marks boasts impressive agility, pass-catching traits, flexibility and even reasonable power to end his runs at his size; that said, his inexperience as a blocker and route-runner and his lapses in vision limit his immediate value. He can contribute immediately and has high-level starter upside.
Evaluation:
Versatile offensive weapons can find the field early and become difference-makers in the NFL. Jo’quavious Marks has led college football running backs in catches in each year of his career; he is on pace to break the Mississippi State career receptions record in 2022. He has contributed as a returner and in coverage on special teams. Though somewhat small for the position, Marks is well-built and tough. The Bulldogs’ standout is explosive linearly and laterally. He is very flexible and can make sharp, sudden cuts in succession with notable hip sink. He precedes his breaks with exaggerated salesmanship. His long speed is good but not great. As a runner, Marks flashes impressive vision and has the flexibility to hit any hole at any time. He is willing and able to operate as a north-south back or to bounce runs outside.
A very shifty athlete, Marks begins setting defenders up long before he makes a move before timing his cuts effectively. He uses his blockers well at all levels of the field. What’s more, the Atlanta native exhibits borderline-elite leg drive and strong balance through contact. He generates power in short areas and plays with a consistently low pad level that helps him truck or bounce off defenders. Additionally, Marks is a natural hands catcher. He has a wide radius and tracks the ball cleanly to high point or win in 50-50 situations. His flexibility and salesmanship as a runner are signs of potential growth in his route running. He displays effort and strength as a blocker. Still, Marks lacks experience rushing in a true NFL system and will be scheme-specific in the league. With the ball in his hands, the athletic back is too willing to take contact in space and sometimes cuts inside instead of working to the open field.
When he is wrapped up or caught without momentum, Marks struggles to break tackles. Furthermore, his flashes of vision do not allay concerns regarding his occasional failure to read the offensive line. He tends to overreact after seeing defenders flash into a gap through blockers when, in reality, they are not tackling threats. Moreover, the Mississippi State air-raid offense has not given Marks many opportunities as a blocker or as a route-runner. His consequent poor blocking technique has resulted in below-average pass protection. Likewise, he has run a limited route tree and uses too little salesmanship.
Grade:
3rd Round
Background:
Jo'Quavious Marks is looking to be a major impact player for Mississippi State in 2022. In 2020, Jo'Quavious Marks set the single season record for receptions by not only a running back, but as a freshman. He started eight games in 2020 in his freshman year and impressed. Even in high school, where he attended Carver High School in Atlanta, Georgia, he was a four star running back and apart of the nations top one hundred seventy five overall prospects. In his career there, he closed with over six thousand yards and was a thousand yard rusher each of his four high school seasons. Born December 29, 2000, he is the son of Tameka Marks.
