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MarShawn Lloyd 2024 NFL Draft: Combine Results, Scouting Report For USC RB

Originally posted on The 33rd Team | By Greg Cosell | Last updated 4/22/24

The 2024 NFL Draft is getting close, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.

Here's our report on MarShawn Lloyd.

MarShawn Lloyd'S 2024 NFL COMBINE RESULTS

Height: 5-foot-8 3/4
Weight: 220
40-yard dash: 4.46
10-yard split: 1.56
Vertical jump: 36"
Broad jump: 9'10"

MarShawn Lloyd 2024 NFL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT

STRENGTHS

Compact., dense frame with a low center of gravity which gives him natural power and excellent contact balance
Showed a sense of patience, pace and tempo. Measured and methodical through his first couple of steps.
Sudden change of direction and explosive short-area burst to clear the point-of-attack and get to the second level of the defense.
Stop-and-start quickness and balance with the explosive burst to re-accelerate through first and second levels.
Short-area burst and accelerating speed to bounce outside to the perimeter and outflank the inside-out pursuit.
Contact balance with the strength to break tackles — one of his best traits. Energetic, urgent, determined runner.
Accelerating, explosive speed to run through the second and third levels of the defense and take it to the house.
Flashed the ability to run routes at the intermediate and vertical levels. Not featured, but it was there on tape.
An open field weapon in the screen game and on flat routes where he has space to generate speed and lateral agility.

WEAKNESSES

Some will say he bounces too many runs outside rather than hitting it up inside and taking the hard yards.
Natural inclination is to bounce rather than grind, despite having good lower body strength and contact balance.
Runs with a big play mentality which, at times, led to inefficient cutbacks and yards left on the field.
Not a lot of experience in the passing game, so the question will be, can he develop into a three down back in the NFL?

NFL TRANSITION

Lloyd is one of the better running back prospects in the 2024 draft. He is a back without a lot of tread on his tires as evidenced by only 291 carries in his college career. Lloyd, like many running backs entering the NFL in recent years, is short but with a compact sturdy frame that is conducive to a low center of gravity, natural power and outstanding contact balance. Lloyd has extensive experience running both zone and gap scheme concepts and he consistently showed good patience with the sudden change of direction and explosive reactive athleticism to react to both first and second level defenders followed by the short area burst to accelerate instantly.

There is no question Lloyd has the look of an NFL back, with his higher-level running traits, instinctive feel for reading gap fluidity and defensive flow, and the explosive dimension he brings with his burst and acceleration as a big-play weapon.

My sense is there is much to unlock as a receiver as well. It will be interesting to see how NFL teams view Lloyd, given that he is not a small scatback, but has the kind of compact frame that could be seen as primary back deployment depending on the offensive scheme and the run-pass balance favored by the coordinator.

OTHER NOTES

Lloyd finished his college career with one season at USC after spending his first three seasons at South Carolina. He originally came out of DeMatha Catholic in Washington D.C. as a four-star recruit in the same recruiting class as Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs. He tore his ACL in his freshman season (2020).

This article first appeared on The 33rd Team and was syndicated with permission.

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