Henry Parrish Jr. 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Background: 

• Transferred to Miami from Ole Miss program after two seasons with the Rebels

• Rated as a four-star prospect who won the Nat Moore Trophy as the best football player in South Florida his senior year of high school

System: 

• Scheme tendencies: Spread offense
• 2022 projected role: Rotational RB

Pros: Henry Parrish Jr. is one of many new faces with the Miami Hurricanes program this season in Mario Cristobal’s first year as the head coach. Parrish Jr. has quickly endeared himself to the coaching staff and appears to have collected a prominent role for himself in Miami’s offensive attack—which suddenly finds itself short on wide receivers, meaning more volume is likely coming his way. It is a big opportunity for the twitchy Parrish Jr., who is well acclimated to running in a spread offense after spending two years at Ole Miss as a rotational player. Parrish Jr. has good bounce, good open-field vision, and showcased a significant ability as a pass-catcher for the Rebels in 2021 before transferring and potentially taking on a bigger role with the Hurricanes. His acceleration is significant and his ability to cut on a dime allows him to break some pursuit angles and manufacture additional room to run. 

Cons: The exciting flashes of big plays offer Henry Parrish Jr. a clear pathway to getting NFL looks; if you can create explosive plays the odds are high that you’re going to get a crack. But I need to see more development from Parrish Jr. in all phases before I can comfortably forecast him into a large, centered role within an NFL offense. Parrish Jr. has good burst and has been an effective pass-catcher, but can he be a primary passing-down player in the backfield with sufficient work in pass protection? Can he be a more high-volume target and carry the football across a full season and endure the wear and tear that comes with that as a sub-200-pound running back? These are questions that I hold that Parrish can answer this season with the Hurricanes after a promising start. For many teams, his stature is likely to be a disqualifier to play in some down and distance situations, so he’s going to have to continue to give more in the phases of the game that he currently stands out: perimeter runs as a space runner and as a pass catcher in order to sell himself on his skill set. As he’s currently built, Parrish Jr. doesn’t routinely break runs through contact and his contact balance should be considered sufficient.

Henry Parrish Jr. NFL Draft Scouting Report by Kyle Crabbs