LAFAYETTE — Nothing is more flashier at the NFL Combine than a 40-yard-dash time. With the combine sacked in 2021, flashy pro day times are all the rage and Monday its noise surrounded Cajuns running back Elijah Mitchell.
Video of Elijah Mitchell running a 4.32 40-yard dash pic.twitter.com/7p5v5FQt5K
— Andrew Clay (@AndrewClayTV) March 29, 2021
Mitchell ran a blistering 4.32 second 40-yard-dash, a run that would have been quickest among running back at the 2020 combine.
"My plan was to just run a 4.4, be in the 4.4s," he said. "But I kept speaking the 4.3s into existence and it happened for me."
His eye-popping numbers didn't stop at the 40, his 6.87 second 3-cone time also would have been the quickest, his 128-inch broad jump would have also been among the top marks a season ago. Mitchell credited a new diet for helping him trim down to a smidgen over 200 lbs. Measured at 5-foot-10-inches it's a great size for a speed-slasher running back who catches out of the back field. Billy Napier pulled a name from his past comping Mitchell to former Tide running back Kenyan Drake.
"(He's) a very similar type player. Just observing him today, that seemed to be the name that came out of a lot of people's mouths after he posted those numbers today," Napier said. "I think we all know what he is capable of, he's a three-down back, he can catch the ball, he'd certainly be a mismatched issue and will probably have to adjust at the next level from a protection standpoint, but he's very capable in protection. I know I'd draft him. That's all I can tell you."
Mitchell's backfield partner Trey Ragas has impressive numbers on paper a 4.68 40-yard-dash will continue to role-cast Ragas as a short-yardage back. Ragas has trained in Florida to prepare for Pro Day, Mitchell in Texas. Trey saying this process his been different than expected, and he has to be more self-reliant than he has been throughout his career.
"You know, ain't nobody telling you if you missed something. You have to do it yourself," Ragas said. "You have to show up every day for yourself, because nobody really cares, nobody really cares if you show up. You have to do it for you."
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