At the Reese’s Senior Bowl in January, several players earned themselves some money by performing well during the week of practices. One of those NFL Draft prospects, UCLA’s Demetric Felton, is the subject of this scouting report. Felton set himself apart from other prospects by demonstrating his skills as a runner, as well as a slot receiver.
Throughout this scouting report, we’ll take a look at Demetric Felton’s background. Next, we’ll turn on the game film and breakdown what makes him a desirable prospect in the 2021 NFL Draft. Finally, we’ll release the pros and cons from our scouting report, while also recapping and predicting his NFL future.
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Background
Demetric Felton was a three-star prospect according to Rivals and 247 Sports, while ESPN had him listed as a four-star prospect. As a graduate of Great Oak High School in Temecula, California, Felton was a consensus top 25 all-purpose back in the 2016 recruiting class. Prior to his commitment to UCLA, Felton had offers from Michigan, Arizona State, and Washington State.
In March of 2015, Felton committed to UCLA. By June of the following year, Demetric Felton officially enrolled in classes.
Felton was redshirted in 2016, his first year with the UCLA Bruins. In 2017, Felton saw action in 12 games, including one start, but only recorded stats in 4 of them. He finished with 10 carries for 75 yards and one touchdown.
In 2018, Demetric Felton’s workload increased as he recorded eight starts in twelve games. While he only finished with five rushing attempts for 27 yards, Felton did display his versatility as a receiver with twenty catches for 207 yards and one touchdown.
Felton’s junior season once again showed an increase in production as the Bruins playmaker finished with 86 carries for 331 yards and one touchdown. Additionally, Felton also caught 55 passes for 594 yards and four touchdowns.
In a shortened 2020 season, Demetric Felton appeared in six games, racking up 132 rushes for 668 yards and five touchdowns. Once again, Felton caught 22 catches for 159 yards and three touchdowns.
What I Like About Demetric Felton
This scouting report, as well as all the rest of our reports, includes positives and negatives from an NFL Draft prospect’s career. Below, I’ve attached three clips from Felton’s career that I feel best highlight what he can do in the NFL. For the first clip, we head to Tucson for the 2019 game against Arizona.
Burst and Acceleration Through The Line of Scrimmage
As you’ll see above, Felton does a great job of exploding out of the backfield as he navigates through the trenches. While he isn’t able to break this for a big gain, Felton does earn a very respectable seven yards. More importantly, this play shows off his competitive toughness as he continues to fight for yardage after the first contact.
Quickness, Vision, and Change of Direction
This play, maybe above all others, does wonders to highlight Demetric Felton’s overall abilities. Once he gets the pitch, Felton hits his second gear as he accelerates through the running lane outside. Once downfield, Felton hits the brakes and changes direction, finding a way into the endzone. While it is unlikely that Felton will operate with this kind of room in the NFL, it does show off what he can do in space.
Vision and Second Gear
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This clip just looks like an NFL play, right? Demetric Felton gets the handoff and burst through an open lane. As he weaves through traffic, he’s keeping his eyes downfield to find the open space. The effort doesn’t result in a touchdown, but it’s still a tremendous effort from the playmaking back.
What I Dislike About Demetric Felton
As I mentioned on the previous page, all of our scouting reports not only show off what player does well but also areas in which they could improve upon. Once again, I’ve attached three clips from Deteric Felton’s collegiate career. For the first clip, we once again head back to the 2019 game against Arizona.
Establishing Leverage As A Blocker
While this effort does give the quarterback ample time to make a downfield throw, Felton will be eaten alive in the NFL for this. More importantly, he’ll see a reduced role in the NFL for reps like this. I’d like to see Felton gets his hands up much quicker, and be much more violent with his hand movement.
Downfield Blocking
I’ll nitpick on this one, but I’m going to once again criticize Felton’s effort as a blocker. This time, however, it’s a downfield block. I don’t know how many more yards this would have resulted in had Demetric Felton executed an efficient block, but I’d just like to see him engage the defensive back. Instead, Felton continues to look for the ball. Again, I just want to see more effort from him on a consistent basis.
Quick Reads In Pass Protection
Once again, we’re criticizing Felton’s pass-blocking technique. However, I do feel like it’s necessary to do so. As you’ll see above, Felton fails to see the linebacker coming off the edge. Instead, Felton engages with the defensive lineman, who is already engaged with Felton’s teammate. The result of this play is an incomplete pass, but it doesn’t need to be.
Demetric Felton NFL Draft Scouting Report
Pros
- Acceleration
- Pass Catching Versatility
- Quickness and Burst
Cons
- Pass-Blocking Technique
- Mental Processing Speed
- Play Strength
The Verdict
Demetric Felton’s future in the NFL is strongly dependent on what position a franchise sees as his best fit. Felton spent quite a bit of team at both running back and slot receiver. If Felton is able to find himself on a roster that allows him to lineup at both positions, I think that would be best for him long-term.
However, if Felton is limited to one position, his development long-term could be impacted. Despite this, I feel like Felton is best served as a wide receiver over the running back position if a team was forced to choose.
Furthermore, Demetric Felton would have been the type of prospect that would have benefited greatly from an NFL Combine workout. However, with the NFL moving to rely on pro days and local combines, Felton likely will not see the bump to his draft stock that was expected. Nonetheless, as we’ve explained in this scouting report, Demetric Felton finds himself as a late-third round to early-fourth round 2021 NFL Draft prospect.
