Why Undrafted?: Alex Barnes, RB, Kansas State
By Charlie Campbell, @draftcampbell
Five years ago, we started a series of articles on why certain prospects went undrafted. In that series, I reach out to sources with NFL teams to find out why their organizations passed on drafting a given player, and/or, what were the reasons for other teams to pass on that prospect. We got a lot of positive reader feedback about the series, so we decided to expand in the genre to investigate why some prospects slid in the draft. Three years ago, we started the Why the Slide? series, and this year it is back. Feel free to email me requests for Why the Slide? and Why Undrafted? at [email protected]. I can’t promise to get to all of them, but I will do my best and definitely will respond to the email.
Last year, Alex Barnes was one of the more steady and consistent running backs in college football. He totaled 1,355 yards in 2018, averaging 5.3 yards per carry with 12 touchdowns for the Wildcats. After a strong season, Barnes was expected to be selected on the third day of the 2019 NFL Draft, but he surprisingly went undrafted.
Some team sources say Barnes should have been drafted, but he is one of those players who just slipped through to the undrafted ranks. Team evaluators felt Barnes’ draft grade was hurt for being tight and not having much elusiveness as a runner. They said his speed was average and also was not real powerful for a bigger back. Thus, those were problems that led to teams passing on Barnes.
Barnes signed with the Tennessee Titans after going undrafted, which could be a tough team to remain on the roster of. The Titans are set with their top two backs of Derrick Henry and Dion Lewis. That leaves one or two roster spots, at most, for a group of backs. Barnes will have to beat out players like Jeremy McNichols, David Fluellen and Dalyn Dawkins. That definitely is doable, but Barnes will need a strong preseason to end up being the third back in Tennessee. If Barnes does not make the roster, he could be a practice squad target who also ends up getting signed by a team that has a rash of injuries at the position.
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