Texas RB Jaydon Blue declares for the 2025 NFL Draft
The contract year for Blue didn’t go as planned, but he’s off to the next level anyway.
The dream-chasing efforts of Texas Longhorns junior running back Jaydon Blue took a leap forward on Sunday with his early entrance into the 2025 NFL Draft
The decision from Blue comes after he made the intentions for his junior season public during spring practice.
“The plan is to be gone after this year,” Blue said. “However the year goes, we’ll see, but hopefully I’ll be gone after this year.”
The 6’0, 200-pounder has had his eyes on the future since middle school, when his missed two years of football due to knee injuries that imperiled his career in the sport.
“I had to come back from those injuries. What they told me was if it was to happen again, there’s a good chance that I wouldn’t be able to play again. I was thinking, I had to work super hard to get back to this point,” Blue said in a podcast appearance last spring.
Those injuries influenced Blue’s decision to opt out of his senior year of high school at Klein Cain to protect his health after rushing for 2,155 yards and 30 touchdowns on 227 carries (9.5 ypc) while catching 14 passes for 88 yards in 2020.
Without a senior season on the field, Blue dropped in the recruiting rankings — when he opted out, he was ranked as the No. 31 prospect overall and the No. 1 running back by 247Sports, but dropped to No. 101 nationally and the No. 6 running back by the service. The other three services were even harder on Blue, with Rivals dropping him out of their rankings and slotting him as the No. 18 running back and ESPN ranking him as the No. 277 player and No. 27 running back even though nothing had changed about his capabilities on the field.
After arriving on the Forty Acres, Blue ran for 33 yards on 15 carries as Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson starred for the Longhorns and Johnathon Brooks provided glimpses of his upside in blowouts.
There were transfer rumors after the 2022 season. Instead, Blue tweeted that he was “locked in” and stuck around the Forty Acres.
The decision started to pay off in 2023 when Blue was elevated to the backup running back role following the season-ending injury sustained by Brooks, producing his first 100-yard performance at Texas with the help of a 69-yard touchdown run against Texas Tech. In the Sugar Bowl, Blue went over 100 combined yards rushing and receiving and scored a touchdown on the ground, although he also lost a crucial fumble at the end of a run. Taking over on kickoff returns for Keilan Robinson, Blue ran back three for 80 yards, including a 31-yarder.
Clocked as the fastest running back in the country on glimpses into Blue’s game-changing speed, those late flashes set up a crucial offseason. Head coach Steve Sarkisian praised Blue’s maturity and listed him as a team leader. Sophomore running back CJ Baxter noted that Blue was taking advantage of his first chance to compete for the starting job during spring practice.
“We all know Blue is fast as a lightning bolt, so that’s what stands out to me, and he’s practicing at an elite level right now, the plays he’s making, the way he’s moving, and stuff like that. He’s gonna have a great year, for sure,” said Baxter on Thursday.
When Baxter suffered a season-ending knee injury during preseason camp, the expectations for Blue increased with that expectation that his explosive run against Texas Tech was merely a preview of what he could accomplish in a featured role.
In Blue’s first career start in the season opener against Colorado State, he rushed for 57 yards on 11 carries with a long run of 17 yards before suffering a significant setback in the road win over Michigan when he sprained his ankle.
Playing through pain, Blue was able to rush for 124 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries two weeks later against Louisiana-Monroe, but didn’t look like his explosive self again until recording a 45-yard run and 45-yard reception against Florida in early November following the season’s second bye week.
Blue’s playing time was also limited by his ball-security issues as he fumbled twice against Mississippi State in the SEC opener. Two games later, Blue didn’t receive a single carry in the home loss to Georgia. Blue’s ball security remained a problem with five total fumbles on 135 carries in 2024.
The truly game-breaking ability surfaced on two outside zone runs in the first round of the College Football Playoff against Clemson produced a 38-yard touchdown run and a 77-yard touchdown run on pre-snap audibles by quarterback Quinn Ewers.
In Blue’s two final games with the Longhorns, however, he only ran for 20 yards on eight carries, although he did score both touchdowns in the semifinal loss to the Buckeyes in the Cotton Bowl on wheel routes, evidence of his capability as a receiver — in addition to running for 1,161 yards and 11 touchdowns on 214 carries at Texas, Blue recorded 56 receptions for 503 yards and seven touchdowns.
For most skill position players during the pre-draft process, the question is whether they will test well enough to increase their stock. That’s not a concern for Blue with his proven speed, so the scrutiny will instead fall on his limited production and limited ability running between the tackles.
