Raheem Blackshear Scouting Report: 2022 NFL Draft Profile
Running Back, Virginia Tech Hokies #5
Raheem Blackshear Measurements
5’9” / 198 lbs
40 time: 4.4 (High School)
Raheem Blackshear NFL Draft Player Profile
High School
Raheem Blackshear played his high school football at Archbishop Wood Catholic High School just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was here that he was teammate of current Atlanta Falcons’ tight end Kyle Pitts. During his senior season, Blackshear would rush for 1,257 yards and 19 touchdowns. This helped lead the Vikings to an 11-2 record and a state championship. He would also be selected as first team 5A All-State by the Pennsylvania Football Writers. Raheem would earn a three-star rating from 247Sports. With offers from Army, Buffalo, Michigan State, and Temple; Blackshear committed to Rutgers.
College
Virginia Tech RB Raheem Blackshear
Blackshear’s first three years were spent at Rutgers. During this time, he would play in 27 games, making 14 starts. He would rush 211 times for 912 yards and six touchdowns. This included three 100-yard rushing games. He also showed ability to be a pass catching threat. He collectied 80 catches for 810 yards and six touchdowns. Raheem also had three 100-yard receiving games during his time with the Scarlet Knights. All in all, Blackshear amassed 2,239 all-purpose yards during his three seasons with Rutgers.
He would transfer to Virginia Tech prior to the 2020 season. In his two seasons with the Hokies, he’s played in all 23 games, making 11 starts. Raheem has tallied 969 yards and eight touchdowns has a Hokie. This goes along with his 398 yards receiving with a touchdown.
Raheem Blackshear Strengths
Evasiveness
In the open field you aren’t going to see Raheem making a bunch of crazy cuts. You’re not going to see him out there looking like Barry Sanders. However, he’s still really elusive. He makes subtle cuts and jab steps that set the defenders up to miss tackles. There isn’t much wasted movement when he runs, but he’ll leave defenders grasping for air all the time.
Powerful
Blackshear isn’t a big back. However, he’s surprisingly strong for his size. I’ve seen him run through tacklers, carry defenders for extra yardage and push the pile forward when there wasn’t anything there. One of my favorite plays was against Notre Dame. He simply ran a flat route out of the backfield. The quarterback threw a pass that was a bit high. Not only did Raheem bring it down one handed with a defender rushing in to deliver a big hit, but when the defender hit him he simply bounced off of it and ran for a 27 yard gain. Even so, it’s interesting to note that he only averaged 2.9 yard per carry on run up the middle that I tracked. This is compared to 5.6 to the left and 7.7 to the right.
Virginia Tech RB Raheem Blackshear
Option in the Passing Game
Raheem is more than serviceable as a receiver out of the backfield. In games I tracked, he averaged 9.5 yards per reception. This was just under his yearly average of 10.6 yard per catch. Not only that, he showed the ability to run more than just a flat or wheel route. I was also impressed by his hands and body control. On multiple occasions he reached out and snagged off target passes with just one hand. He also showed great ability to twist himself into strange positions in order to reach poorly thrown balls. Once he had the ball in his hands, he would immediately turn up field for extra yards. Just like his running style, there wasn’t any dancing, or trying to outrun defenses to the perimeter.
Raheem Blackshear Weaknesses
Can he be THE guy?
With everything there is to like about Blackshear, this is the only real question I have. Can he be the workhorse of a running back room? Or does he have to be a rotational guy in order to be successful? Blackshear never handled a ton a work while at Rutgers. Once he got to Virginia Tech that trend continued. Although he was the leading rusher for the Hokies this season, he still only got 25% of the teams overall carries. Is this just because of how both Rutgers and Virginia Tech ran their offenses? Or did they not think Raheem could handle the workload and hold up?
Raheem Blackshear Draft Stock
Virginia Tech RB Raheem Blackshear
Blackshear isn’t a name that was thrown around before the season started. Even now, I don’t think many people are talking too much about him. When you look at Mel Kiper’s most recent running back rankings, Raheem isn’t among the top 10. The list was actually 14 players, because Mel has five players tied for 10th. Additionally, according to NFL Mock Draft Database, he’s rated as an undrafted free agent.
Final Thoughts on Raheem Blackshear Scouting Report
I’m actually a little higher than it appears others are on Blackshear. I don’t think you’re going to hear his name mentioned with Breece Hall or Isaiah Spiller. However, I don’t think that he’ll go undrafted either. I see him as an early Day 3 pick. I think someone with a deeper running back room, or a team with an established starter that needs to protection from overwork, will snag him up.
Pro Comparison: Austin Ekeler
Not only are they a similar height and weight, I see a similar running style with the ball. Ekeler is a smaller back, but isn’t a finesse back by any means. If you sit down and watch Ekeler hightlights, you see he’s doesn’t shy away from contact. While he’s rushed for almost 2,700 yards in his five year career, he’s also collected 2,637 receiving yards. This is the type of impact I could see Blackshear having in the NFL.
Raheem Blackshear Scouting Report by Brandon Claburn.
