In recent years, general manager Brett Veach has shown a knack for identifying talent among the ranks of undrafted free agents. One of his latest, Deneric Prince, may well continue that trend.
The smoke has literally cleared on the 2023 NFL Draft and now NFL teams are in the process of filling out their rosters with players who went undrafted. At the time of this article, the Kansas City Chiefs have reportedly signed more than two-dozen undrafted free agents in advance of their annual rookie minicamp. One of the most intriguing players in this year’s crop is Deneric Prince, a running back out of Tulsa.
Originally committed to Texas A&M, Prince transferred to Tulsa for his sophomore season. He would finish his career for the Golden Hurricanes with 1,728 rushing yards on 314 attempts (good for an average of 5.5 yards per carry).
In Prince’s senior season at Tulsa, he averaged 91 yards per game and scored 6 touchdowns. Despite missing four games, he led his team in rushing and still finished Top 10 in the American Athletic Conference in rushing yardage. The interesting part about his 2022 production is that roughly 62% of it came in two games: versus Temple and the University of South Florida. Prince had 200-yard outings in both contests. In an effort not to be misled by two massively-productive days, I decided to let his game tape tell its own story.
Four games felt like a reasonable sample size so I chose his two best games (Temple and USF) and two less-than-stellar performances (Southern Methodist and Cincinnati). The key for me was to find what the box score could not tell me about Prince’s game. My observations were both positive and negative, but ultimately left me fascinated with what might be possible for Prince in the Kansas City offense.
Let’s dive into game-by-game analysis, but before we begin, I’d like to clarify that I do not fancy myself a draft expert and would defer my laymen’s judgments to far more knowledgeable football minds. Temper your expectations and watch the tape for yourself. (It’s available on YouTube!)