2022 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: RB Tyler Badie, Missouri

Badie was an SEC All-Freshman selection in 2018 after rushing for 437-yards on 89 attempts for two touchdowns with 12 catches for 130-yards and an average of 22-yards per kickoff return. He was a rotational player throughout college until 2021 when he rushed for 1,604-yards (6.0-YPC) with 330 yards on 54 catches with 18 total touchdowns (four receiving).

Badie ranked eighth in yards after contact in 2021. He earned PFF All-American honors (third team) and was an All-SEC player while also being an Academic All-American.

He finished his college career at Missouri with 2,740 rushing yards, 23 rushing touchdowns, 126 catches, 1,149 receiving yards, and 11 receiving touchdowns.

Despite his small frame, he only fumbled the football twice in college. Badie attended the Reese’s Senior Bowl, where he had a solid week. He then attended the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine:

• 40-yard-dash: 4.45s
• 10-yard-split 1.54s
• Vertical jump: 33 ½”
• Broad jump: 121”

• Uses small height to his advantage - he’s difficult to find behind bigger players
• Good athletic ability; smooth agility, quick feet, good long speed
• Has excellent burst through the hole and is a solid one-cut runner
• Uses solid overall patience to see his blocks and then react
• Has good vision and eyes to the front-side of runs, explodes to daylight
• Solid foot efficiency when pressing the LOS; not many wasted steps (but some)
• Solid overall job challenging the angles of DBs filling the alley from space
• Elusive in space
• Huge big-play ability with solid breakaway speed
• Surprisingly good contact balance for a player of his stature
• Runs through arm tackles and isn’t easy to tackle high
• Good overall ball security (only had two fumbles in college)
• Solid receiving option out of the backfield - mostly ran screens, flat routes, a few wheels, and some middle release choice routes

• Undersized for the position, lean frame
• Won’t move the pile between tackles
• Vision to the backside could improve (ran in a heavy zone system)
• Had a few miscommunications on film that left his quarterback in a bad position - didn’t seem to know his assignment (may not be his fault, but happened multiple times)
• Not confident in his pass protection, needs work in pass protection
• Dives to cut block, but dips his head and doesn’t position himself well

Overall, Tyler Badie is an undersized zone running back who combines solid footwork, vision, and very good athletic ability to burst through the holes to create big plays for an offense. 

He has more contact balance than one would think, given his size, but he’s not a physical pile mover; he can run between the tackles, but that won’t be his best utilization at the next level. Attempting to get him out on the edge in a Shanahan type of system makes sense, and he also has receiving upside.

Badie will go after Georgia RB James Cook. If a team loves Cook, selecting Badie a round or two later makes a lot of sense. He will be a solid role player and change of pace option.