The 2024 NFL Draft is getting close, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.
Here's our report on MarShawn Lloyd.
Lloyd is one of the better running back prospects in the 2024 draft. He is a back without a lot of tread on his tires as evidenced by only 291 carries in his college career. Lloyd, like many running backs entering the NFL in recent years, is short but with a compact sturdy frame that is conducive to a low center of gravity, natural power and outstanding contact balance. Lloyd has extensive experience running both zone and gap scheme concepts and he consistently showed good patience with the sudden change of direction and explosive reactive athleticism to react to both first and second level defenders followed by the short area burst to accelerate instantly.
There is no question Lloyd has the look of an NFL back, with his higher-level running traits, instinctive feel for reading gap fluidity and defensive flow, and the explosive dimension he brings with his burst and acceleration as a big-play weapon.
My sense is there is much to unlock as a receiver as well. It will be interesting to see how NFL teams view Lloyd, given that he is not a small scatback, but has the kind of compact frame that could be seen as primary back deployment depending on the offensive scheme and the run-pass balance favored by the coordinator.
Lloyd finished his college career with one season at USC after spending his first three seasons at South Carolina. He originally came out of DeMatha Catholic in Washington D.C. as a four-star recruit in the same recruiting class as Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs. He tore his ACL in his freshman season (2020).
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!