STRENGTHS - His combination of size and speed are rare. He has an explosive step to allow him to burst through holes and get to the second level in a hurry to pick up big chunks of yards. He has the strength to break through arm tackles and then once in the open field he can run away from defenders. He shows a short lateral step to avoid tackles and immediately get up field. As a receiver he can be as equally dangerous and is a mismatch to all linebackers in the passing game.
WEAKNESSES - Even with his great strength he does tend to run very upright and is late when needing to lower his pad level especially in goal line and short yardage situations. This also allows defenders to gain the leverage needed to stop his momentum and drive him back. He will need to improve as a blocker to stay on balance which would make him more effective. Another area that he will need to clean up is hole recognition on cut backs, which needs to be quicker at the next level.
SUMMARY - The Cowboys are much more known for their passing game, but in the last few years they have been equally good in the run game starting with Kendall Hunter and now Joseph Randle. Randle Burst onto the college football scene as a true freshman and immediately became a star. He has continued his great play the last two seasons as the featured back on some of the most potent offenses in college football. He is an explosive athlete that is dangerous anywhere on the field but is most effective in the open field where he can use his speed to run away from defenders. But he has also shown the ability and the willingness to play the tough game and grind out yards like the Kansas St game in 2012. Many backs with his skill set tend to shy away from contact where he will take it head on. He will need to drastically improve his pad level if he wants to be more effective scoring touchdowns or grinding out the hard runs in the NFL. The other are that needs work on is being quicker seeing holes open up so he can exploit them before the close up on him which will be much faster in the NFL. Overall Joseph Randle is ideally a second round pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, but I would not be surprised if some team used a late first round pick on him. He can become the lead dog in any running back rotation and will make an immediate impact as a rookie.