The New Orleans Saints are one of many teams to have met with Ole Miss running back Zach Evans ahead of the 2023 NFL draft, per KPRC 2 Houston’s Aaron Wilson. A former five-star recruit, Evans transferred from TCU last season and did well for himself, and he’s now regarded as a likely third- or fourth-round pick after running for a career-high 936 yards last season.
Evans is a decent athlete for his size, but he’s beneath the Saints’ thresholds at 5-foot-11 and 202 pounds (though he bulked up to 208 pounds for his pro day), and his high Relative Athletic Score (8.73) feels a little misleading given his pedestrian times in the 40-yard dash (4.51), short shuttle (4.25), with mediocre numbers in the broad and vertical jumps. He’s not as fast or explosive as someone in his weight class ought to be.
Still, he played well against a higher quality of competition last year, and he was a regular source of big plays despite a light workload with just 320 career touches at the college level. If the Saints believe he can maintain a heavier weight and continue to separate from defenders when playing against better athletes in the NFL, he could make sense as a backup for Alvin Kamara and Jamaal Williams.
