Devin Neal was the most productive running back in the history of the Kansas Jayhawks’ football program. However, suspect athleticism in a loaded rookie class pushed him into the late rounds of the NFL Draft. His landing spot on a New Orleans offense that is projected to be one of the worst in the league also leaves something to be desired. Additionally, he finds himself sitting behind a three-down volume hog in Alvin Kamara on the Saints’ depth chart.
With the odds seemingly stacked against him, does Neal have a realistic chance of emerging as a viable asset for fantasy managers in 2025?
Devin Neal’s NFL Comps
Neal was productive from the moment he stepped foot onto the field for Kansas as a true freshman in 2021. From 2022 onward, he never had less than 1,000 yards rushing and increased his backfield dominator rating in each of his final three seasons. By the time Neal’s college tenure was complete, he owned the Jayhawks’ career records for rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and 100-yard rushing games.
A solid chunk of Neal’s production came in the receiving game, as he never had fewer than 20 receptions in his final three seasons, while hovering around a 10.0% target share in each of the past two years.
Neal’s average-at-best athleticism undersells a surprising 15.5% rushing boom rate in 2024, which trailed only Jordan James (16.7%), TreVeyon Henderson (16.7%), and R.J. Harvey (16.4%) among the 2025 rookie RB class. He also sported a strong 49.8% positive rate as a runner. Neal has proven to be elusive, never falling below a 23.7% rushing evasion rate, a 12.3% broken tackle rate, or an 11.0% forced missed tackle rate over the past two seasons. While most of his per-play efficiency numbers dipped slightly in his senior year compared to his junior season, in 2024 Neal was still able to put together better points earned per play numbers than Omarion Hampton and Quinshon Judkins — the second and third RBs selected in this year’s draft, respectively.
Although his receiving numbers are solid on the surface, Neal’s 89.3% on-target catch percentage last year was one of the worst in the class. However, he was still able to salvage a receiver rating of 114.2 that ranked 10th. This discrepancy was likely fueled by his 48.0% receiving evasion rate, which ranked fifth in the class, and a 56.7% positive receiving rate, which came in fourth. Overall, Neal’s receiving profile coming out of college signals that he won’t be a detriment in the pass game, but he probably won’t be taking away targets from a capable receiving back either.
Unsurprisingly, Neal did not light up the track at the combine, but his 84th percentile explosion score was a welcome surprise. Even though his speed underwhelmed, he was still able to pull in some promising athletic comps. While seeing him turn into Bijan Robinson is obviously a pipe dream, Neal aligns very well with Zach Charbonnet in terms of both athleticism and skill set.
It is fair to wonder if Neal would have fallen all the way to the 184th overall pick in the sixth round if he had been in a different draft class, with his poor draft capital contributing to a 17th-place rank in the RB Prospect Lab. Still, Neal’s comps in the Box Score Scout do provide us with some reasons to remain optimistic about his future.
