Mike Washington Jr. Film Draft Profile

Prospect Information

College: Arkansas
Height/Weight: 6’ 1’’/223
Hands: 9 1/8″
Age: 23 (at the time of the 2026 season opener)

Important NFL Combine/Pro Day Numbers

40-Yard Dash: 4.33
Vertical Jump: 39″
Broad Jump: 10’ 8’’
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
3-Cone: N/A

College Production (Stats)

Profiles similar to: Adrian Peterson

Plays similar to: Darren McFadden

Position-Specific Attributes and Grades

Note: my usual format (citing examples for each attribute) does not display well on the site. Please click this link to access them.

Positives

• Rare blend of size, speed and explosiveness.
• True home run hitter if he catches a lane (16 plays of at least 20 yards in 2025).
• Accentuates his explosiveness by baiting second- and third-level defenders with his patience and generally sees/anticipates the correct running lane well.
• Displays glimpses of power, especially in one-on-one situations once he gets past the line of scrimmage.
• Not only did he improve at each of his stops (Buffalo, New Mexico State and Arkansas), but he was at his best against the toughest competition of his career in the SEC.
• While not a dynamic pass-catcher, he is more than just a dump-off/screen option; possesses the ability to catch the ball outside of his frame.

Negatives

• Flashes the power one would expect from a 223-pound back with his kind of speed (watch this run), but it does not happen nearly enough (running less upright would help his cause).
• May never be a good outside zone runner with what appears to be an inability to plant his foot and turn upfield without needing extra steps.
• Although he has lateral agility to change his path when he is going north-south, he is mostly a straight-line runner.
• Wheel routes were about the only routes he ran at Arkansas (outside of screens and check-downs), leaving his route-running repertoire something of a mystery.
• Attention/focus/fundamentals in pass pro seem to come and go.
• Three fumbles on 195 offensive touches in 2025, six fumbles on 166 touches in 2024.

Bottom Line

Based solely on athleticism and upside, Washington is clearly the second-best running back prospect in this draft. (If a running back prospect tests out similarly to Adrian Peterson, it usually means something.) Running backs his size are supposed to be grinders, not big-play producers. He is the rare 220-pound back who accelerates quickly and can destroy pursuit angles. The crowd that expects running backs to be mostly finished products by the time they reach the NFL probably won’t like him, but the crowd that believes a good position coach can mold a talented lump of clay into something special will love him a lot. He was only running back in college football last year with 30 or more runs of at least 10 yards and 17 or more runs of at least 15 yards on less than 170 carries. He did that in the SEC on a two-win team. Yes, he had help sharing the backfield with a supremely talented dual-threat quarterback in Taylen Green, but that alone doesn’t explain Washingtons’ level of success in 2025. It could be argued that Green’s presence hurt him at times, as Arkansas occasionally relied so heavily on RPO action that made Washington an east-west back, which is definitely not his strong suit.

Washington has three-down upside, but there are some definite drawbacks to his current game that won’t allow him to be that in the NFL right away. The big concern is ball security. Nine fumbles on 361 offensive touches over the last two seasons is alarming. It doesn’t really matter if six of them happened in 2024. The other major issue is pass protection. On one hand, he has the size to do it and do it well. That will show up occasionally on tape. On the other hand, he minimizes the size advantage he has on most backs in this regard by lunging and bending. A lesser concern – but one that is unlikely to change much in the NFL – is his likely inability to run outside zone effectively. How much can NFL coaching address his ball security issues? If they can in one offseason, Washington is more than capable of being a very good early-down back right away. The problems that Washington currently has in pass protection can be improved via coaching, but that tends to be a longer process. As a result, the best-case scenario for Washington is likely as his team’s primary early-down back in 2026, with feature-back duties a possibility in 2027.