This is the first of our NFL Draft Scouting Reports, where we give you a quick rundown of each of the most likely UCF Knights alumni to be selected in the 2020 NFL Draft, or signed by an NFL team afterwards.

We begin with one of the most important players to come through UCF in the last 25 years.

Adrian Killins Jr.

Photo: Derek Warden

AK was Scott Frost’s first recruit when he arrived at UCF, and his impact was immediate. A two-time state champ in the 200 meters at Mainland High in Daytona, he unleashed holy hell on defenses starting with his true freshman year, including an 87-yarder in the Big House against Michigan and a school-record 96-yard TD run against Memphis in 2016.

Killins was listed as the starting tailback for most of his UCF career, although he was really a platoon player under both Frost and Josh Heupel. He led UCF in rushing as a sophomore, and expanded his game as a pass catcher his junior year.

While his outright numbers may not look impressive, they have to be viewed in the context of (1) UCF’s crowded backfield the past three seasons and (2) the occasionally inexplicable use of Killins as a between-the-tackles runner.

Despite playing in the Shrine Bowl, Killins was not invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, and with UCF’s Pro Day wiped due to COVID-19, his tape is largely going to be the determining factor in his draft stock.

Measurables

• Position: RB
• Height: 5-8
• Weight: 162 pounds
• 40 time: 4.37 (per NFLDraftScout.com)

Stats

Highlights

Three Good Things

Speed, speed, and speed. “Ya not gon’ catch ‘em.” - @TJ_LSUDad

Versatility. Killins is equally adept as a runner and a pass catcher, both out of the backfield and split out. He caught 70 career balls for a career 12.3 yard average and 8 TDs, in addition to finishing with almost 2,500 rushing yards. Plus, as you saw above, the special teams.

Route running. Go back and look at his 2018 tape, because Killins became a master at the wheel route. His Shrine Bowl tape was a great example of this, as he caught 7 passes for 91 yards. Anyone that fast is going to be a threat to score in the open field. It’s too bad he didn’t get more looks or line up in more places, because that would have been fun to watch. But he certainly made the most of his limited opportunities in the passing game, averaging 12.3 yards a catch out of the backfield and scoring on almost 10% of his receptions.

One Not-so-Good Thing

Size. At just 164 pounds, Killins will have to put some weight on his 5-7 frame in order to withstand the weekly punishment of NFL competition. There have been some durability questions at times during his four years at UCF

Best-Case NFL Comparison

Tyreek Hill, WR, Kansas City Chiefs. AK has some work to do to fill those shoes (Hill is 5-10, 185), especially by shifting his game to even more of a pass-catching role and bulking up to take a NFL-level beating. But his speed in the open field lends him to a favorable comparison here. Hill’s speed makes him more of a Swiss Army Knife in the Chiefs’ scheme, and should some other team try to replicate that with another versatile speed demon, Killins might be that guy.

Draft Projection

Day three/UDFA. Killins’ size will scare a lot of clubs off of him, but in the later rounds, someone is going to take a shot on him due to his sheer speed. If he lands with a team that has the right scheme (think someone trying to replicate the Chiefs’ offense, like the Ravens, Eagles, Bills or Bears), hits the weight room hard, and further enhances his pass catching game and special teams play, he could find himself as a Swiss Army Knife at the next level.