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Dynasty Prospect Profile: Benny Snell

Benny Snell, RB, Kentucky

Height: 5’10.5
Weight: 224
Age: 21.1

Combine results:

40-yard dash: 4.66 seconds (19th percentile)
Vertical: 29.5 inches (4th)
Broad: 119 inches (57th)
3-cone drill: 7.07 seconds (51st)
20-yard shuttle: 4.33 seconds (30th)

College career:

The hyper-productive runner leaves Kentucky as the school’s all-time leading rusher despite playing only 3 seasons.

Snell -- whose father, Benjamin, and great-uncle Matt both played RB in the NFL -- split carries with upperclassman Boom Williams as a true freshman but led the team in rushing attempts and ground scores. Snell’s production earned him freshman All-SEC and All-America honors.

He took over the backfield as a sophomore, claiming 57.1% of the team RB carries and scoring 73.1% of the rushing TDs. Snell racked up 7 games of 100+ rushing yards, topping 170 three times. He also delivered 6 games of 2+ TDs.

Snell then averaged 22.2 carries per game as a senior en route to top-10 national finishes in rushing attempts, yards and TDs. He eclipsed 100 yards another 7 times, including 3 straight games of 100+ yards and 2 TDs to close the season. Snell earned 1st-team All-SEC and 3rd-team All-America recognition.

Film review:

Games watched: Georgia, Florida, Tennessee (2017), Georgia (2017)

As you might have assumed from his 76th-percentile weight for the position, Snell wins on power more than anything else. Here are 3 examples from the 2017 clash with Georgia …

via Gfycat

via Gfycat

via Gfycat

But the Kentucky workhorse also displays good hands for his position.

via Gfycat

via Gfycat

Combine that with a decent #33 ranking in pass-blocking efficiency by Pro Football Focus this past season, and Snell has a shot to stay on the field in passing situations with the right team.

But that’s about it for him. The solid 3-cone and broad-jump results for a guy his size don’t translate to above-average agility in the games I watched -- which makes sense, given that the testing results weren’t above-average for the position.

Like plenty of other players in this class, Snell’s a fine runner but not a special prospect.

Fantasy outlook:

Snell’s best bet for fantasy value looks like a goal-line role in a backfield committee. His pass-catching ability should mean spot-start upside when other RBs on his team are hurt, but Snell doesn’t look like a player NFL teams should or will count on to pilot the backfield. That makes him a later-round rookie pick.

Matt Schauf, Editor

Matt has earned two Fantasy Pros accuracy awards for IDP rankings and won thousands of dollars as a player across best ball, dynasty, and high-stakes fantasy formats. He has been creating fantasy football content for more than 20 years, with work featured by Sporting News, Rotoworld, Athlon, Sirius XM, and others. He's been with Draft Sharks since 2011.