Pierre
Strong.
Pierre
Strong.
South Dakota St.· 5'11"· 207 lb· 4.37s 40
"A 4.37 back who turned FCS creases into 50-yard touchdowns for four years, and whose NFL value hinged entirely on whether a 207-pound frame could ever be trusted on third down."Pre-draft read
Strong is a one-cut zone runner with track speed and no wasted motion. South Dakota State ran him from single-back and pistol looks, and his mechanics are a flat press to the line, one hard plant, then an immediate jump to full speed. He does not gather or dance; once his shoulders square he outruns pursuit angles most backs only survive.
The secondary trait is home-run conversion. Nine of his 40 college touchdown runs covered at least 50 yards and his scoring runs averaged 27.3 yards, a rhythm-and-space profile, not a short-yardage hammer. In the passing game he is a check-down and screen option, more comfortable running away from linebackers than blocking them, and the signature is simple: he turns creases into scores, not first downs.
A wide zone or outside stretch running game that gives a back defined front-side tracks and rewards one plant and go, paired with a lead back who handles short yardage.
Year 1: 6-8 touch change-of-pace back on early downs plus kick return duty. Ceiling: a 1A/1B complement who takes 10-12 carries a game and hits two or three explosive runs a month.
A gap-scheme, downhill offense that wants the back to press a double team, survive contact at the line and stay on the field for third-down protection.
Best used on first- and second-down zone carries and on the perimeter, never as a between-the-tackles volume runner.
Pierre Strong, RB, South Dakota State University | 2022 NFL Draft Prospect Official Highlights
Full pre-draft cut-up of the 2021 FCS rushing title season, heavy on one-cut zone runs that finish as touchdowns.
Pierre Strong Jr Highlights
Jackrabbits reel showing the long speed and the perimeter screen usage that defined his role.
Patriots Drafted Running Back Pierre Strong to Replace James White
Draft-day breakdown of the complementary third-down role New England envisioned for him.
Strong arrived in Brookings as a lightly recruited Arkansas tailback and left as the third-leading rusher in South Dakota State history. He is a slight, long-striding one-cut back whose identity is speed applied on schedule: read the front side, press it, plant once, finish in another gear. Everything he does well ties to that burst, not to contact balance or creativity in a phone booth.
The production was extraordinary and unusually sustained. He topped 1,000 yards in three separate seasons, led the FCS with 1,686 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns in 2021, and averaged 7.2 yards per carry across a 631-carry career. He also completed all nine of his career pass attempts for six touchdowns out of wildcat looks. The flags were level of competition, a 207-pound frame, and pass-protection tape that showed willingness without technique or anchor.
Boards had him as a top-10 back in the class and a probable third-round pick, and his 4.37 forty confirmed what the tape suggested. The concern was role: a runner who needs clean tracks and cannot be trusted on third down early is a specialist, not a workhorse. New England taking him at 127 was a bet on the speed translating into a James White-style complementary role, and the fourth round was the right price for that bet.
- 01
Track-speed home run threat
his 4.37 forty showed up weekly on tape, and nine career touchdown runs traveled at least 50 yards with his scoring runs averaging 27.3 yards.
- 02
Decisive one-cut footwork
presses the front side patiently, plants once and reaches top speed immediately, which makes him a natural fit for a wide zone or outside stretch run game.
- 03
Sustained elite production
three separate 1,000-yard seasons, 4,527 career rushing yards and 7.2 yards per carry across 631 attempts, all against the best defenses in the FCS.
- 04
Big-game answer
rushed for 506 yards on 6.9 per carry across four career games against perennial national champion North Dakota State, the toughest defense he faced.
- 05
Rare designed-play versatility
completed all nine of his college passes for 208 yards and six touchdowns out of gadget looks, and handled kick return work when asked.
- 01
Thin for the volume
at 207 pounds he wore down when asked to carry a game, and he rarely broke tackles between the tackles or fell forward at the end of runs.
- 02
Pass protection is a projection
willing but late to diagnose pressure, and he lacks the mass and hand placement to stop NFL blitzers, which caps his third-down snaps.
- 03
Level of competition
his tape came against FCS fronts, and the crease width and pursuit speed he feasted on in the Missouri Valley do not exist on Sundays.
- 04
Limited in tight quarters
not a creator when the front side closes, with tempered contact balance and little of the jump-cut elusiveness that saves bad-blocking plays.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.37sp50
- Vertical
- 36inp50
- Broad jump
- 124inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- 16repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Att | Yds | TD | Rec | RecYds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | South Dakota State | — | 117 | 1116 | 11 | 6 | 84 |
| 2019 | South Dakota State | 11 | 143 | 1018 | 8 | 14 | 169 |
| 2020 | South Dakota State | 9 | 131 | 707 | 3 | 20 | 178 |
| 2021 | South Dakota State | 15 | 240 | 1686 | 18 | 22 | 150 |
| Career | — | 35 | 631 | 4527 | 40 | 62 | 581 |
South Dakota State is an FCS program, so cfbstats does not cover it; the 2020 (spring) and 2021 lines are taken directly from the school's official cumulative statistics PDFs, which credit 9 games, 131 carries for 707 net yards and three scores with 20 catches for 178 yards in 2020-21, and 15 games, 240 carries for 1,686 net yards and 18 scores with 22 catches for 150 yards in 2021. The 2018 and 2019 lines come from his official gojacks.com bio, which credits 1,116 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in 2018 and 1,018 yards on 7.1 per carry with eight touchdowns in 11 games in 2019. He redshirted in 2017, so that year is omitted rather than listed as zeros, and the 2018 games-played figure is not published by the school and is left unverified instead of estimated. The four seasons sum exactly to the career line published in his bio: 631 carries for 4,527 yards and 40 rushing touchdowns with 62 receptions for 581 yards and three receiving scores. He also completed all nine of his career pass attempts for 208 yards and six touchdowns.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Fast, light complementary back who survives a decade on special teams value and 60 touches a year.
Slight zone back whose elite speed turns into a 1,000-yard season once a scheme gives him clean tracks.
Speed back who never earns third-down trust and bounces between rosters and practice squads.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
New England drafted him to be a change-of-pace complement and then barely used him. He touched the ball 17 times as a rookie in 2022, though he made it count with a 44-yard touchdown run and a 10.0 yards-per-carry average on 10 attempts, and he was traded to Cleveland before the 2023 season. The Browns gave him the most real work of his career: 17 games, one start, 63 carries for 291 yards and a touchdown, plus a career-high eight special teams tackles. In 2024 he slid back into a low-volume role behind Nick Chubb and Jerome Ford, finishing with 26 carries for 108 yards and 14 receptions while handling kickoff returns. He signed with Green Bay in September 2025 and spent the year on the practice squad, and he entered the 2026 season in the same depth role.
The evaluation of the runner was largely right and the evaluation of the role was wrong. The speed did translate in flashes, but a 207-pound back who cannot protect the quarterback and does not create on his own has almost no path to touches in an NFL backfield. Through four seasons he has 99 carries for 499 yards and two touchdowns with one career start. The fourth round was not an outrageous price, but the pick produced a special teams contributor rather than the complementary weapon New England thought it was buying.