Jordan Stevenson is a promising playmaker in the class of 2015, and the Texas prospect is garnering some pretty major interest from some high-profile schools.
Jordan Stevenson scouting report: Running back with elite speed
The Dallas (Texas) South Oak Cliff product is one of the fastest prospects in the country.
Stevenson attends Dallas (Texas) South Oak Cliff High School and is projected to play running back at the next level. He is listed at 5’8 and weighs in at 182 pounds.
Stevenson is considered a four-star prospect by 247Sports, Scout and ESPN, but Rivals considers him a three-star. ESPN is highest on the prospect, considering him the 10th-best running back in the nation, while Scout and 247Sports both rank him among the top 20 in the class at the position. The 247Sports Composite rates him as a four-star, ranking him as the 18th-best running back in the nation and the 32nd-best player in the state of Texas.
Stevenson claims offers from Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, SMU and Utah State.
In an extremely talented group of Texas running backs in the state for the 2015 class, Stevenson may be the fastest -- he ran a laser-time 4.37 40 at the Dallas NFTC in 2013, a number that matched Alabama cornerback signee Tony Brown, an elite track athlete.
Stevenson followed up that impressive testing performance by taking advantage of his move from Dallas Skyline to South Oak Cliff, building on a modest sophomore season that saw him almost 900 yards on less than 100 carries by gaining nearly 2,000 yards on 216 carries and scoring 18 touchdowns.
And though he’s considered a pure running back despite standing at less than 5’9, Stevenson also added 18 receptions for 348 yards and two more touchdowns.
On film, Stephenson has visible acceleration from a standstill and a low center of gravity aided by his height and willingness to get behind his pads. As a result, there’s not much surface area to tackle Stevenson -- he doesn’t project as a power back in college, but he should prove difficult to bring down for those reasons.
And despite the fact that he has elite elusiveness because of his stop-start ability, lateral jump cut ability, and a spin move that may not translate to college, Stevenson is willing to press to hole hard when available and not waste any time moving laterally because he understands that his speed makes him nearly impossible to catch in the open field.
When a defender does have enough of an angle to catch Stevenson, he has the ability to fake the inside move to produce space down the sideline, a critical skill for a running back to turn long gains into touchdowns. He can do the same thing with his hesitation move.
So while Stevenson doesn’t have the ideal build to break tackles at the next level, his speed and elusiveness should give him the opportunity to make some big plays.
