Deneric Prince had plenty of ups and downs in his college football career, which began at Texas A&M and was staged mainly at Tulsa. The statistics weren’t eye-popping, but he produced enough at Tulsa and then at the NFL Combine to suggest he deserves a chance to make an NFL roster.
Whether Prince gets drafted is up for debate, but the one thing that can’t be questioned is his speed.
Measured at 6-foot and 216 pounds at the Combine, Prince made his mark during the 40-yard dashing. He ran the 40 in 4.41 seconds, which was the fourth fastest among running backs at the Combine. It was also the 21st-best time of the entire Combine, one that saw plenty of speed.
He was eighth among running backs in the 10-yard split (1.53 seconds), ninth in the vertical jump (35.50”), and fifth in the broad jump (10’4”).
Those were the four events that he took part in at the Combine.
So the Combine showed that he is a good athlete.
Just look how close his numbers were to the No. 1 running back, Bijan Robinson of Texas, who ran a 4.46 in the 40, a 1.52 10-yard split, did 37” in the vertical, and 10’4” in the broad jump.
Robinson is considered one of the best players in the draft, even though running back seems to be devalued when it comes to drafting players even in the first half of the first round.
It’s not to suggest that Prince is close to Robinson as a player. It’s just that as an athlete the two had similar scores.
As football players?
That is a different story.
Robinson is considered a generational running back.
Prince, on the other hand, enjoyed a good career, it was just one that didn’t include a plethora of big moments, but a lot of solid ones.
He began his career at Texas A&M in 2018 and had two carries for 21 yards and then didn’t see action in 2019. After that, he transferred to Tulsa.
During the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he appeared in eight games with two starts and rushed for 470 yards (5.4 avg) and four touchdowns.
That was a good year for Tulsa, which finished 6-3 overall but was 6-0 in the regular season in the American Athletic Conference before losing 27-24 to Cincinnati in the AAC championship.
Prince had a solid championship game, rushing for 73 yards (8.1 avg.) and a touchdown against the Bearcats. His 8-yard scoring run tied the score at 17-17 in the third quarter.
In 2021, he appeared in 10 games with three starts and rushed for 524 yards (5.2 avg.) and five touchdowns.
This past season after missing the first four games, he played in the next eight and rushed for 729 yards (5.8 avg.) and five touchdowns.
For his career at Tulsa, he appeared in 26 games with 12 starts and rushed for 1,723 yards on 314 carries (5.48 avg.) and 14 touchdowns. He wasn’t used much in the passing game, with 17 receptions for 162 yards and a score in his three seasons.
Still, he ran for more than five yards per carry in each of his three seasons at Tulsa, which shows great consistency.
The highlight game of his senior year came in a 27-16 win over Temple when Prince rushed for 231 yards (11.6 avg.) and an 84-yard touchdown. He also caught an 18-yard scoring pass from Davis Brin.
On NFL.com, Prince received a prospect grade of 5.68, which is for a player who is a candidate for a bottom-of-the-roster or practice squad spot.
The fact that he was productive, and does have breakaway speed could make him a sleeper prospect. If he doesn’t get drafted, Prince should have several suitors looking to sign him as an undrafted free agent.
