One of the most fun aspects of every NFL Draft as a writer is scouting prospects and trying to identify those hidden gems….the diamonds in the rough, if you will…guys who might not be Day 1 or Day 2 picks, but sure as hell seem to have what it takes to make it in the NFL. Over the course of the next couple months, I’ll be highlighting some guys from this year’s draft class that I believe will be a steal for someone come April. Up next, we diving into the game of Appalachian State running back Camerun Peoples.
One thing we know about App State is that they aren’t going to back down from anyone, and that spirit isn’t reflected any better than it is in a guy like Peoples. If you’re box score scouting, you might not see the production you’d typically want out of a running back in the NFL. Peoples had prolific campaigns in 2022 and 2021, when he rushed for 1,124 and 926 yards respectively, and punched in 26 touchdowns over the course of the two seasons. He played in nine games in 2022, during which he had ~60 less carries than he did in each of the two previous seasons, turning it into what looks like a modest 593 yards and five touchdowns. But, if you watched this App State offense, then you already know there was a massive timeshare in the back field. I swear, the Mountaineers have five guys capable of posting a thousand yards each and every season. I was watching games and thinking they had to just be pulling guys out of the stands or something – running backs just coming out of the woodwork to pound the ball and pick up 10 yards per clip. Nonetheless, just because we had a smaller sample size in 2022, it doesn’t mean the talent isn’t there.
After first studying up on Peoples in the build-up to the 2023 Reese’s Senior Bowl, he caught my eye as a guy to watch because of his size – 6’2″ and 225 pounds. That’s a big hoss. I thought he was a guy who could improve his stock with a good Senior Bowl week, and by and large, I’d say he showed enough progress to believe in his potential to keep getting better. Factoring his size and his athleticism, there is a place in the NFL for his skill set. After being impressed with his workouts, I wanted to go back and find some App State games to see how he stacked up on the field.
Let’s rewind the clock to the end of the 2020 season. It’s the Myrtle Beach Bowl – App State vs. North Texas. Peoples absolutely gashed the Mean Green. In that game, he took 22 carries and turned it into a whopping 317 yards and five touchdowns. He was the featured guy that day, and North Texas simply couldn’t do anything to stop him. The offensive line was blocking well, and Peoples took advantage of it. He’s the type of back that if you give him a hole, or get him to the edge, he’s going to make that one cut and drive. He was finding lanes left and right in that game, averaging 14.4 yards per carry. There was a beautiful toss play that he scored on, during which he navigated the North Texas defense and threw a nice stiff arm before punching the ball into the end zone. He showed nimble footwork after first contact, keeping his balance and breaking tackles to pick up extra yardage at what should’ve been the end of the play.
I noticed that he didn’t seem as decisive as he’d go on to look in 2022, and he was late to pick up the extra rusher in pass pro a couple of times. Both of those are areas of marked improvement based on where he was during that game, and where he was a couple of years later when App State would take on a talented Texas A&M defense. His 317 yards in that game actually broke the record for most rushing yards in a bowl game, a record that would stand until Frank Gore Jr. would go for 329 yards against Rice this past bowl season.
Good morning. Time to wake up and spam your feed with more Cam Peoples clips. pic.twitter.com/h97w7lDrV4
— Stoney Keeley (@StoneyKeeley) March 11, 2023
The 2022 Texas A&M game was so hard to evaluate because you want to see how some of these guys stack up against the best competition, but the way App State played that game, it wasn’t like they were opening up the playbook. They simply hit the Aggies with body blow after body blow, played a bit of the time of possession game, and eventually wore down Texas A&M to the point where they couldn’t keep up. It was a brilliant game plan, but in the first half, they utilized a committee of backs. That was the name of App State’s game in 2022. They had like four dudes in that back field that could go. But, in the second half, they really leaned on Peoples to close it out, and close it out he did. That second half is where we really saw the flashes of the things that give Peoples a real chance in the NFL.
My man runs with purpose, and that’s putting it nicely. He’s a violent runner. At times, it felt like he was just lowering his head and running into whoever the hell was in front of him regardless of what uniform they had on. I thought he showed nice vision, moving laterally behind the line, identifying his hole, planting his foot, and sending it on through. He showed that he still has that great first cut that we saw in the Myrtle Beach Bowl, and he keeps moving upon first contact, breaking tackles in the process. You can hand him the ball and it seems like he’s a lock for three yards. I only noticed them sending him out to run a route twice, and both were quick shoot routes. The ball didn’t go his way either time. Peoples averaged 5.9 yards per carry in that game, amassing 112 yards on 19 carries. It was kind of wild to see his improvement on tape from two years prior.
I tried to find the two Marshall games…one from 2022 and one from 2021, as the Thundering Herd, for whatever reason, held Peoples to two of the lowest yards-per-carry averages of his career. I didn’t have much luck digging anything up, but I did find some highlights from the 2021 game (I couldn’t verify it was actually a game recap or just highlights – sometimes, you just take what you can get from the dark bowels of the internet), and as best as I could tell, it looked like Marshall simply put 18 guys at the line of scrimmage and dared App State to throw the ball. Peoples also had a fumble in that game after several dudes flocked to him, and one of ’em just happened to punch the ball out.
Switching from the tape to the athletic drills, Peoples came into Senior Bowl week as a back that was known for his size and physicality. I wouldn’t say that he necessarily stole the show in Mobile, but I believe he improved his stock by showing more explosiveness than expected, and in particular, he showed that he’s actively working on his pass catching. I thought he looked good throughout the week in practice, and it certainly seemed like the coaching staff in Mobile was trying to cook up ways to throw him the ball. I had the chance to ask him if that was a point of emphasis for him that week.
#SeniorBowl: Camerun Peoples had a nice practice today. Caught a few balls pretty naturally. I asked him if that was an aspect of his game he felt was being slept on. pic.twitter.com/mfubdTlHKP
— Stoney Keeley (@StoneyKeeley) February 1, 2023
They called up a couple of throws his way during the Senior Bowl and he dropped them. That was discouraging as you want to see the practice work yield in-game results, but I still see a back that has RB1 potential if he can iron that out. He has quick feet that look slower because of his long frame – he’s a strider. He’s a nasty back in how he’s willing to lower his shoulder and take on contact. He’s great in pass protection and he has a great release on special teams that will make him a candidate for playing time right away.
I have grown to kind of hate this “can’t catch the ball” critique. I watched Texas A&M, North Carolina, some Marshall (’21), North Texas, some Troy, some Georgia State, and Miami (’21), and App State rarely, if ever, throws the ball to their running backs. It’s not like there’s evidence of him sucking ass in the passing game…they just didn’t try it….for any of their backs. There’s still potential there based on how well he was catching the ball in Mobile, but if he’s so far behind, it’s not because he’s incapable. It’s because he just hasn’t got the reps yet. There could be untapped potential as a pass catcher as he continues to get work.
My main worry about Peoples is his style…he’s not very elusive unless he can get to the edge and take a guy on 1:1. If he ends up somewhere that doesn’t have a good blocking unit in front of him, between the OL and TE, I don’t know how effective he will be. I also noticed that he seems to have that same quality as Derrick Henry where if you get to him before he gets going, you might be able to slow him down just enough to tackle him (if you bring at least two dudes). There’s also an element of versatility that is perceived to be missing from his game, but they had him doing more at the Senior Bowl. In a way, it felt like they were making an effort to show scouts that this guy is more than what is being said about him, and is capable of more than that App State offense had him doing.
Pros
- Statement runner
- Got that dawg in him
- Good vision
- Pass pro upside
- Great one-cut move
- Deceptively fast
- Physical
- Underrated special teams potential
Cons
- Not a lot of receiving production on tape
- Not a jukey, change-of-direction guy
- Unproven versatility
All in all, I see a more traditional running back that runs with attitude and conviction. He’s a closer. He’s a hammer. But, he has the traits to develop into a well-rounded and explosive weapon in an offense that runs the ball a lot and has a good offensive line out in front of ’em. The best chance he has at success would be getting a shot with the Eagles or Ravens. Maybe the Falcons if they can retool their lineup. Or, hey – maybe even Nashville’s own Tennessee Titans! This may be bold of me to say, but if he can add some consistency as a pass-catcher, and take those smooth catches from the workouts to the field on Sundays, he has true RB1 potential in the league. The highest I’ve seen him mocked is between the 6th-7th round, but most writers and analysts seem to think he’ll be an UDFA. He is miscast as a one-trick pony. This dude has a valuable skill set in the right NFL offense. He’ll be a steal for someone.
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2023 NFL DRAFT HIDDEN GEMS
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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