Texas Longhorns RB Jaydon Blue declared for the 2025 NFL Draft following their Cotton Bowl loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes on Jan. 10.
After a successful season as the RB2 in Texas’ backfield alongside sophomore star Quintrevion Wisner, Blue takes the next step in his professional journey, but he is another tributary in a raging river carrying running back talent downstream from Austin, Texas, to the NFL stage.
Texas’ RBU Claim Strengthens With Jaydon Blue’s Declaration
Blue had a strong season in his own right. While playing behind Wisner (624 snaps and 270 touches), Blue carved his own role (429 snaps and 176 touches) by stacking up 1,098 scrimmage yards and 14 total touchdowns with an average of 6.2 yards per touch.
He showed shiftiness and pass-catching skills out of the backfield, even outpacing teammate Isaiah Bond in receptions (42) and receiving touchdowns (six). And while most of his catches came behind the line of scrimmage in a Longhorns offense that heavily utilized screens and RPOs as extensions of the running game, he showed proficiency by totaling more YAC than total receiving yards in 2024.
But in the NFL talent factory pumping out names every year, Blue is another product of an already raging machine that, as one X (formerly Twitter) user put it, marked a “clean sweep” for the Longhorns.
Jaydon Blue declaring means @rockyknowsbest’s picture was a clean sweep for NFL backs. pic.twitter.com/1MDZ31UMQd
— Daniel Seahorn (@DanielSeahorn) January 13, 2025
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Over the last few seasons, Texas has habitually handed its running back talent to the NFL. In the 2024 NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers made Jonathon Brooks the first back off the board despite returning from a torn ACL. He unfortunately re-tore his ACL, putting a pause on his nascent NFL career.
The year before that, the 2023 NFL Draft saw Texas produce two members of its backfield in the same class. Bijan Robinson, who was selected at No. 8 by the Atlanta Falcons, was the prized commodity, after showing an elite ability to be a two-phase threat while being one of the most tackle-evasive backs in college history. He emerged as one of the NFL’s brightest in 2024 with nearly 1,900 scrimmage yards and 15 total touchdowns.
Love y’all longhorn nation 🤘🏾 ! #23out pic.twitter.com/QjkcYw32be
— DA BLUEPRINT💙 (@Jaydonblue23) January 12, 2025
However, he was not alone, accompanied in the class by Roschon Johnson, a fourth-rounder by the Chicago Bears who established an early role as a two-minute drill, third-down back with a pass-blocking skill set. But Johnson reinvented his role as a goal-line threat in 2024 with six rushing touchdowns as a sophomore, vulturing D’Andre Swift to many fantasy football managers’ dismay.
The other member of the viral photo, Keilan Robinson, was a fifth-round pick in 2024 by the Jacksonville Jaguars. He appeared in six games as a rookie, playing 33% of Jacksonville’s special teams snaps and appearing for five snaps on offense.
While four Longhorns RBs currently on NFL rosters were drafted in the last two seasons, one has outlasted the brutal hourglass with which NFL backs seemingly compete, beating the Fates’ planned timeline: D’Onta Foreman.
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At 28 years old, 29 by the 2025 NFL season, Foreman has laid a blueprint for the late-career running back. A 2017 Achilles tear threatened his professional career during his rookie season with the Houston Texans. However, a 566-yard season with Tennessee in 2021 and a 914-yard season with Carolina in 2022 rebirthed his career, giving the phoenix new life as Foreman continues to produce in the NFL.
And the run might not be over. While there’s plenty of time for things to change, Wisner, as well as CJ Baxter — who was injured during the 2024 CFB season — could emerge as top NFL prospects of their own in due time.
Blue’s Projection at the NFL Level
While he is not expected to go nearly as highly as Robinson and Brooks did, likely ending Texas’ two-year run at the RB1 throne, Blue is undoubtedly an NFL prospect.
In College Football Network’s latest seven-round 2025 NFL mock draft, Cam Mellor had Blue going undrafted, but the CFN All-SEC Honorable Mention Flex will be on radars regardless of whether he is a late-round pick or an undrafted free agent.
He may start out in a limited role but could potentially find a path as a team’s depth RB who primarily comes in on passing downs and two-minute situations, serving as a complement to an already established room.
Quinn Ewers connects with Jaydon Blue with less than a minute to go in the first half! 🤘 pic.twitter.com/yebDd5VMGr
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 11, 2025
CFN’s James Fragoza likened Blue to Ronald Jones II, the former USC Trojans running back who was a second-round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While it is unlikely he shares similar capital, Blue could match Jones’ capable pass-catching ability and open-field threat.
Jones had a solid career, with early heights and a quick descent; Blue has his own path in front of him. While he may never get the same immediate opportunities Jones had, he has a chance to further add to the Texas RB room’s legacy.