Grade

Photo: olemisssports.com

1st Round - 2nd Round

2027 Draft Class

Kewan Lacy

Status

Not Signed

Ole Miss

5'11"

200 lbs

Age 20

Oct 10, 2026

Executive Summary

Kewan Lacy is a patient, instinctive running back whose elite vision, short-area quickness, burst, and contact balance make him extremely difficult to bring down behind the line of scrimmage or in traffic.

Strengths

Vision / Instincts, Burst / Acceleration / Agility, and Physicality / Contact Balance

Weaknesses

Straight-Line Speed, Ball Security, and Receiving Ability

Full Scouting Report

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Vision / Instincts

Pros:

•Does a good job of waiting for a hole to open up instead of running into a defender

•Able to squeeze through very tight gaps

•Great at reading blocks and knowing where the blocker will take the defender

Cons:

•Will occasionally miss lanes to cut up

Burst / Acceleration / Agility

Pros:

•Very good burst upfield through the gap

•Very shifty and great change of direction, especially behind the line of scrimmage

•Good at getting to the edge and turning the corner

•Really good short-area quickness with quick feet

Cons:

•Didn’t really make defenders miss in the open field at speed

Straight-Line Speed

Pros:

•Can get to the edge and turn a corner

Cons:

•Doesn’t have the breakaway speed to completely outrun a defense

•Struggles to gain separation on wheel routes against linebackers

Physicality / Contact Balance

Pros:

•Breaks arm tackles consistently

•Solid stiff arm that can throw off defenders

•Good balance when getting hit to stay on his feet

•Keeps his feet moving after contact and doesn’t go down easily

•Great at staying on his feet when defenders try to swipe at his feet

Cons:

•Jumps in the air a little too often

•Can't really run over defenders

Athleticism

Pros:

•Great initial burst when getting the ball

•Good jump cuts and able to put his foot in the ground and get upfield

•Very hard runner that doesn’t go down at first contact regularly

Cons:

•Not great long speed

•Lacks the great strength to take on blitzing lbs in pass pro

Frame

Pros:

•Pretty average height

•Longer legs lead to longer strides

Cons:

•A little on the lighter side, which could make him easier to bring down

•The longer legs keep him from getting lower than any tackler

Ball Security

Pros:

•When one defender gets on him, he covers up by the time more defenders get there

Cons:

•Runs loosely with the ball

•Would like to see him cover up when getting hit more

•Had a fumble against Louisville

Receiving Ability

Pros:

•Utilized in the screen game out of the backfield

Cons:

•Doesn’t have great hands and can drop the easy balls

•Route running seems lazy at times

Pass Protection

Pros:

•Willing pass blocker that can lay a hit against blitzing DBs

Cons:

•Needs to have a better anchor in pass pro

•Has to know when to cut block bigger lbs

•Does get blown back

Games Watched:

•Week 1 vs LOU, Week 2 vs CLT(h), Week 3 vs LSU

Ideal Situation:

•Kewan Lacy is the Ole Miss star running back who came back after his stellar season in 2025. He is extremely quick and nimble, especially in the backfield. He can make defenders miss even when they seem to have a free tackle for loss. He is patient after the handoff and does a good job of letting the play develop before committing to a lane. He also breaks most arm tackle attempts and runs with force, fighting for extra yards regularly. In the open field, he can lack the ability to make defenders miss with juke or spin moves, but has flashed a stiff arm a couple of times. He has the speed to beat the defender to the edge and turn the corner, but he doesn’t have fantastic breakaway speed and hasn’t really broken one off to start the season (longest run: 28 yards against Charlotte). He isn’t really a receiving threat out of the backfield, and Ole Miss didn’t line him up outside the backfield to run routes much at all. His blocking is fine, but it could use some work. His anchor against blitzing linebackers coming at full speed is lackluster, and he gets blown back or even pancaked at times. He is effective at blocking blitzing defensive backs and is quick enough to not let them get around him. While he runs the ball, he holds it pretty loosely around defenders and has already fumbled this year, so that is definitely something to watch. He also leaves the ground quite a bit when getting tackled, which could be a symptom of his longer legs and not being able to get as low as some defenders who would prefer to dive at his legs rather than hit him high. It is still early in the season, and during his All-American year in 2025, he didn’t especially break out until the middle-end of the year, so he could really explode again at midseason. Overall, he is a more slender back, like a slightly taller Jahmyr Gibbs, but he lacks the long speed and home run play ability of a back like Gibbs. While he has carried a heavy workload at Ole Miss, he recently suffered a shoulder injury, and I think he could enter the league as an RB2 with the ability to earn the RB1 role midseason. The best teams I think for this would be the Vikings, Commanders, Broncos, and Titans.

Ratings:

•Vision / Instincts - 9.5/10

•Burst / Acceleration / Agility - 9.4/10

•Physicality / Contact Balance - 9.3/10

•Athleticism – 8.1/10

•Frame – 6.6/10

•Straight-Line Speed - 5.2/10

•Receiving Ability - 2.7/10

•Ball Security - 4.5/10

•Pass Protection - 5.3/10

Total: 79.84 Late Second - Early 3rd

Combine Testing

Height

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Weight

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40-Yard Dash

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Vertical

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Bench

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Broad Jump

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Three-Cone

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Shuttle

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DPH Proprietary Scores

Frame Score

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Measures a prospect's physical build and size relative to historical NFL positional standards.

DPH Athlete

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Diamond Prospects' proprietary athletic score that evaluates a player's overall athletic profile using combine testing and positional percentiles.

Total Score

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The combined athletic evaluation generated from Frame Score and DPH Athlete Score.

Combine Year: 2027 • Data from DPH Combine Database

Jack Satica

Assistant NFL Scout View Full Bio

I am currently a junior studying sports management at Washington State University, originally from Fremont, California. I have experience in football ranging from playing, coaching, and scouting. My main focus is scouting college recruits and providing in depth reports on their strengths and weaknesses.

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