We are breaking down the Notre Dame prospects hoping to hear their names called in the upcoming NFL Draft being held in Detroit from April 25th through the 27th. Today, we look at a big running back hoping to shoot up the draft boards this spring.

SPECS

Name: Audric Estime
Hometown: Nyack, New York
Position: RB
Height: 5-11 (per NFL Combine)
Weight: 221 (per NFL Combine)
40: 4.71
Vertical: 38.0
10-Yard Split: 1.58
Broad: 10′ 5″
Bench Press: 23

STRENGTHS:

A big muscular running back who improved his footwork tremendously throughout his college career. Estime is able to get compact through the hole and a surprising quickness in short space breaks as many tackles as his pure power. Underrated pass catcher. Developed into a dependable and successful short-yardage touchdown machine combined with plenty of big-play explosiveness. Balanced a good amount of patience with finding holes quickly behind his blocks. Solid open field agility with several effective footwork moves in traffic to create separation from tacklers.

WEAKNESSES:

Needs to continue to improve processing blocks and finding creases in a quicker manner. Estime can plant his foot and go but needs better acceleration after making one-cut in the NFL. A bruising running style will be difficult to excel at against better competition. Flashed amazing athleticism at times at Notre Dame but will need to show more of it to scouts. Not used in the passing game much. Too patient, especially early in his career. A few too many fumbles.

OVERVIEW:

Estime leaves behind a wonderful career at Notre Dame as we recently chronicled briefly in the 2023 run success rate review article. He totaled all but 60 of his overall 2,321 rushing yards over the last 2 seasons and packed in 30 total touchdowns.

This is not a running back class where a couple elite guys will come off the board early in the 1st round. I would expect Estime to be among a large group that will be coming off the board on the second day and into the early parts of the 3rd day of the Draft.

His rankings are all over the place, too. Fox Sports lists Estime as the top running back in this class, although NFL.com has him all the way down at 23rd among the tailbacks. Other sites have him as 7th (NFL Draft Buzz), 8th (PFF), 11th (ESPN), and 12th (CBS Sports) at his position which feel a lot more realistic for his draft slot.

PREDICTION:

4th Round, 111th Overall to the New York Jets

Poking around the internet, most are not expecting the Jets to target a running back in the 4th round and probably not in this draft. But, they still need help at this position. I’m assuming Estime grew up a Giants fan from Nyack and if so I am sorry about predicting him to the Jets. Even if he is a Jets fan, I am sorry too.

New York has the talented Breece Hall heading into the 3rd year of his rookie deal and the unquestioned number one back on the roster. Behind him, there hasn’t been much to speak of and very little the Jets could rely on last year.

Picking Estime up now, when Hall is going to get as many touches as humanly possible, is a good bet for securing depth at this position while adding a backup at a manageable salary.