You can check out my previous NFL Draft profile featuring Elijah Moore here.
The 2021 NFL draft is not nearly as loaded as the 2020 draft at the running back position. That draft may go down in history as one of the best with Jonathon Taylor, D’Andre Swift, Cam Akers, CEH, Antonio Gibson, JK Dobbins. This year’s draft does not have the top end guys, but there is a lot of depth at the position and value that can be found in the middle to late rounds. A player that is a mid-round sleeper that could have a big impact is Javian Hawkins from Louisville.
Production at Louisville
Hawkins was a 3-star prospect out of Titusville, Florida. He was not very highly rated and only received mid-level offers from teams like Louisville, Boston College, Cincinnati, and UCF per 247. In 2018, Hawkins redshirted and then in his RS Freshman year in 2019, broke out with over 1,500 yards and 9 TDS.
During the shortened 2020 season, he continued his solid play with over 800 yards and 7 tds in 7 games. In college, Hawkins was not much of a receiver with only 20 catches in his career; but did increase from 4 to 16 catches in his sophomore year. There is a question about the competition that Hawkins played against in the ACC as Clemson has dominated the conference as of late. But Per ESPN, in two seasons Hawkins ran for 604 yards, 4 TDS and average 5 yards per carry against Top-25 competition.
What the film Shows
While at Louisville, Hawkins ran mostly out of the shotgun, through predominantly zone runs. Only 10 total runs were not out of a zone scheme, per PFF_NCAA. His film shows that the scheme helped him quite a bit. The plays would create holes that he could pick from and use his speed to exploit. Hawkins’ speed is his best attribute and his tape shows him consistently picking up long gains; as 1/3 of his total TDs were over 40 yards.
Javian Hawkins is patient waiting for blocks to develop and his vision has improved (but that is something he still needs to work on). Some of the best examples of his vision were when fast defenses were overly aggressive and he would stop and reverse field. Still, at times he will still run into blockers by following the play’s original scheme.
One thing that caught my eye was the amount of spin moves he would deploy while running. Hawkins’ great balance allows him to make contact with defenders and spin off of them into the open field, which helped allow for many of his long gains. In short distances, his great speed also helped him turn the corner; turning modest gains into bigger chunk plays.
Some knocks on Hawkins are that his frame does not allow for an ability to bulk up, and I don’t believe he can take the constant pounding of an every down back. This is shown by him only receiving 20 total carries in goal line situations in college.
Hawkins is not the best pass blocker but I do not believe this will keep him off the field. He improved his blocking grade by 20 points from 2019 to 2020, and decreased allowed hurries from 10 to 4. Another obstacle for him will be proving his ability in the receiving game (as he had so few opportunities in college). In the NFL, coaches will want to get him out into space and the passing game will help in accomplishing that.
Fantasy Football Outlook
Javian Hawkins is not going to be in the first group of running backs selected in the 2021 NFL Draft. But in the middle rounds, he has good value for an NFL team that can pair him with another running back. Some options would be the Packers to pair with Dillon or the Jaguars to pair with JROB.
In a recent fantasy football startup draft that included rookies, I was able to get Hawkins in the 14th round. This was after other trending rookies like Michael Carter, Jaret Patterson, and Jermar Jefferson. As you can see below in the player metrics from campus2canton.com, Hawkins had the best Yards Created among those backs in his 3rd year. He is also above the regression line of Top-12 fantasy football seasons for RBs in the NFL.
Hawkins may not be a lead back but with his speed teams will want to use him right away. He could have a similar career as J.D. Mckissic or Nyheim Hines. I believe Hawkins could run the ball more than those players and become a complementary back that has real fantasy football value. In dynasty, Hawkins is worth a stash and can probably be drafted mid to late 3rd in the Rookie Draft.
Don't Sleep on Javian Hawkins. He has Great Speed and is better than similar RBs in yards created. Shout out to https://t.co/8BkJQMwmMa pic.twitter.com/PJ1ZcHXANd
— Brandon (@hayeb3) March 5, 2021
Brandon Haye
Brandon grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and works as a health insurance data analyst. He has no children, but two fur babies - Squirt and Brownie. He and his wife, Katie, spend their time playing poker and enjoying time with their pups. Brandon is a huge Michigan Wolverine and Jacksonville Jaguars fan. He at one time was in 77 fantasy leagues and loves the game of football. Brandon started writing for The Leauge Winners in 2021.