Top Running Backs in NFL Draft: D’Andre Swift

Georgia’s do-it-all D’Andre Swift checks in at No. 1 in our ranking of the top running backs in the NFL Draft.

Georgia’s do-it-all D’Andre Swift checks in at No. 1 in our ranking of the top running backs in the NFL Draft.

Getting himself in position to be the first running back selected in this year’s draft was a 24/7 job for Georgia’s D’Andre Swift.

Almost literally.

“I would work out when everybody left,” Swift said at the Scouting Combine. “I would come back at 1 or 2 a.m. and have somebody throw me balls. I’d stay after practice every day to catch about 50 to 100 balls, just so when I was put into those positions, I would always catch the ball.”

One or two in the morning? Why?

“I catch myself just staying up sometimes, thinking, so I’m like, ‘Why not go try to get better? Why not go do something to make myself better?’ Swift replied. “I’m never settling. I’m always looking to get better, because you never could be perfect. Never.”

The middle-of-the-night grind paid off. In 2019, Swift earned first-team all-SEC honors with 1,218 rushing yards (6.2 average) and seven touchdowns and 24 receptions for 316 yards and one more score. In three seasons, he rushed for 2,885 yards, averaged a school-record 6.56 yards per carry and added 73 receptions.

His high school coach, Gabe Infante, called Swift a once-in-a-lifetime kid, let alone a once-in-a-lifetime player. “God got up one morning and decided to make a great running back,” said Gabe Infante, who coached Swift at St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia. “And then he gave him this great name, too.” Swift fell in love with the Georgia campus after his junior year in high school when he took a service trip to Athens. Swift helped paint, built paths in the community garden, ran Meals on Wheels routes and visited with clients in a senior center.

After biding his time behind Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, Swift showed he could carry the load with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. He ran into a loaded box 21 percent of the time, according to Sports Info Solutions. Surprisingly, that’s actually a slightly higher rate than Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor.

“That was kind of a question that people had. They didn’t know if I could do that as much,” Swift said. “I’ve been put in that situation a various amount of times last year. I excelled at that situation. Just kind of showing everybody and showing the world that I can really do whatever I’m asked, because God gave me a lot of ability.”

What we like

Swift has the characteristics that fit Green Bay’s offense. Most of his work came in a zone-blocking scheme and he’s shown he can catch the ball, with zero drops last season and a more diverse route tree than other backs. Plus, he’s got 4.48 speed in the 40.

“I think I’m the most versatile back in this class. I’m a three-down back. I can do whatever I’m asked to do. … God gave me a lot of abilities to do multiple things. My ability to pass-catch, pass-block, pass-protect. And just make something happen when there’s nothing there most of the time.”

What we don’t like

At 5-foot-8 1/4 and 212 pounds, Swift isn’t a big man capable of consistently moving the pile. His missed-tackle rate was 20 for every 100 carries, according to Sports Info Solutions. Of our top 15 backs, that ranked 13th. His 9-inch hands could be a concern for some teams, and perhaps showed up in a 1.4 percent fumble rate that also ranked 13th.

Bill's NFL Draft Series

Top 15 Running Backs

No. 1: Georgia’s D’Andre Swift

No. 2: Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins

No. 3: Florida State’s Cam Akers

No. 4: Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor

No. 5: Utah’s Zack Moss

The best of the rest leads with LSU standout

Top 13 Quarterbacks

No. 1: LSU’s Joe Burrow

No. 2: Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa

No. 3: Oregon’s Justin Herbert

No. 4: Utah State’s Jordan Love

No. 5: Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts

The best of the rest