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Draftanomics
Prospect dossier

Justice Haynes

RB · Georgia Tech · via Alabama · 2027 NFL Draft class

Public Draft Board rank #106·4 contributing sources·Board as of August 31, 2026
Draftanomics scouting
Revised preseason edition · September 6, 20263 min readReport role: RB · Georgia Tech

Master scouting report

Haynes projects as an explosive rushing contributor with lead-back upside. Patient setup, immediate acceleration and quick jump cuts create a strong one-cut foundation. Passing-down technique and sustained availability are less established, and his contact balance should not be mistaken for dependable pile-moving power.

By Draftanomics · Sources & edition · Print report

01Experience and production

Haynes is listed at 5-foot-11 and 210 pounds at Georgia Tech after stops at Alabama and Michigan. His seven-start 2025 Michigan season produced 121 carries for 857 yards and ten touchdowns, plus 13 receptions for 50 yards. He carried 25 times in 2023 and 79 times in 2024 at Alabama, bringing his career totals to 225 carries for 1,473 yards and 19 touchdowns.

02Vision and tempo

Haynes reads the opening patiently and can manipulate a second-level defender before committing. He changes tempo without consistently losing urgency between the tackles. His best runs let the block develop, then attack before pursuit closes the crease.

03Burst and cutting

Haynes accelerates quickly and has the speed to finish a breakaway. Quick jump cuts let him redirect onto a one-cut track without requiring the lane to remain open for long. Efficient changes of direction are central to the rushing projection.

04Contact balance

Haynes maintains useful pad level and balance through the first hit. He can preserve forward momentum through glancing contact, but driving a crowded pile is less dependable. His physicality supports the rushing role without making him a specialist for repeated square short-yardage collisions.

05Receiving and protection

Haynes has limited advanced route experience and needs steadier catching and protection. His blocking can become top-heavy, reducing the balance needed to sustain contact. Thirteen catches in 2025 establish involvement but do not justify a broad third-down assignment. More reliable execution in all three areas would let him remain on the field without narrowing the passing menu.

06Workload and availability

Haynes exited the USC game early and returned against Michigan State during a 2025 season that included a foot injury. The available rushing sample is productive but short of a full season. That calls for a careful workload projection based on current availability and sustained participation, without supplying an unverified diagnosis, recovery promise or explanation for his subsequent transfer.

The case for the player

Strengths

  • Patience, acceleration and useful direction changes create a credible path to explosive rushing production.

  • Pad level and flashes of contact balance help him preserve the value of a crease after the first challenge.

The questions that remain

Concerns

  • Receiving development and protection must progress before a complete third-down role can be assumed.

  • A seven-game 2025 sample and a limited pile-moving projection argue against assuming every-down or specialist power-back usage immediately.

Building the fit

NFL role and scheme fit

Begin with a rushing role that rewards decisive one-cut work and lets him threaten space after the initial read. A complementary back can handle some of the protection burden while Haynes develops the full passing-down assignment. The best version of that plan expands because he earns more situations, rather than keeping an explosive runner permanently confined to predictable early-down calls.

The Draftanomics view

Bottom line

Haynes has an NFL rushing role through tempo, acceleration and efficient cuts. His production supports explosive value, with contact balance sufficient to extend a crease. A complete lead-back projection remains conditional on receiving and protection development and a sustained workload after the interrupted 2025 season. He should begin in a rushing rotation with room to earn additional situations.

Sources & edition

The Draftanomics assessment, synthesized from attributed reporting. Role and development language expresses scouting opinion.

Preseason assessment using college evidence through 2025 and subsequent roster, practice and scouting reporting. This edition does not evaluate 2026 regular-season games or claim a new Draftanomics film study.

Edition reviewed September 7, 2026. Corrects career arithmetic and current measurements, expands the running evaluation and keeps receiving, protection and availability limitations explicit.

The original August edition remains preserved. This is a revised Draftanomics assessment, with supporting sources attached to each statement.

View the 5 referenced sources
Read statement references

Every passage remains linked to its supporting sources. Open a section to inspect the assessment and its evidence.

Sources for overview
  1. House assessment

    Haynes projects as an explosive rushing contributor with lead-back upside. Patient setup, immediate acceleration and quick jump cuts create a strong one-cut foundation. Passing-down technique and sustained availability are less established, and his contact balance should not be mistaken for dependable pile-moving power.

Sources for experience and production
  1. House assessment

    Haynes is listed at 5-foot-11 and 210 pounds at Georgia Tech after stops at Alabama and Michigan. His seven-start 2025 Michigan season produced 121 carries for 857 yards and ten touchdowns, plus 13 receptions for 50 yards. He carried 25 times in 2023 and 79 times in 2024 at Alabama, bringing his career totals to 225 carries for 1,473 yards and 19 touchdowns.

Sources for vision and tempo
  1. House assessment

    Haynes reads the opening patiently and can manipulate a second-level defender before committing. He changes tempo without consistently losing urgency between the tackles. His best runs let the block develop, then attack before pursuit closes the crease.

Sources for burst and cutting
  1. House assessment

    Haynes accelerates quickly and has the speed to finish a breakaway. Quick jump cuts let him redirect onto a one-cut track without requiring the lane to remain open for long. Efficient changes of direction are central to the rushing projection.

Sources for contact balance
  1. House assessment

    Haynes maintains useful pad level and balance through the first hit. He can preserve forward momentum through glancing contact, but driving a crowded pile is less dependable. His physicality supports the rushing role without making him a specialist for repeated square short-yardage collisions.

Sources for receiving and protection
  1. House assessment

    Haynes has limited advanced route experience and needs steadier catching and protection. His blocking can become top-heavy, reducing the balance needed to sustain contact. Thirteen catches in 2025 establish involvement but do not justify a broad third-down assignment. More reliable execution in all three areas would let him remain on the field without narrowing the passing menu.

Sources for workload and availability
  1. House assessment

    Haynes exited the USC game early and returned against Michigan State during a 2025 season that included a foot injury.

  2. House assessment

    The available rushing sample is productive but short of a full season.

  3. House assessment

    That calls for a careful workload projection based on current availability and sustained participation, without supplying an unverified diagnosis, recovery promise or explanation for his subsequent transfer.

Sources for strength
  1. House assessment

    Patience, acceleration and useful direction changes create a credible path to explosive rushing production.

Sources for strength
  1. House assessment

    Pad level and flashes of contact balance help him preserve the value of a crease after the first challenge.

Sources for concern
  1. House assessment

    Receiving development and protection must progress before a complete third-down role can be assumed.

Sources for concern
  1. House assessment

    A seven-game 2025 sample and a limited pile-moving projection argue against assuming every-down or specialist power-back usage immediately.

Sources for nfl role and scheme fit
  1. House assessment

    Begin with a rushing role that rewards decisive one-cut work and lets him threaten space after the initial read.

  2. House assessment

    A complementary back can handle some of the protection burden while Haynes develops the full passing-down assignment.

  3. House assessment

    The best version of that plan expands because he earns more situations, rather than keeping an explosive runner permanently confined to predictable early-down calls.

Sources for bottom line
  1. House assessment

    Haynes has an NFL rushing role through tempo, acceleration and efficient cuts. His production supports explosive value, with contact balance sufficient to extend a crease. A complete lead-back projection remains conditional on receiving and protection development and a sustained workload after the interrupted 2025 season. He should begin in a rushing rotation with room to earn additional situations.

College record & draft context

College production, measurables, experience, and the prospect's place on the sealed Public Draft Board.

Public Draft Board

Public Draft Board rank
#106
Position rank
RB12
Contributing sources
4
Movement since prior snapshot
Down 28

Sealed snapshot as of August 31, 2026 · equal-weight aggregation of public boards, minimum 3 sources for a rank · The Public Draft Board

College production

Receiving
StatisticSeason 2024Season 2025
Receptions1713
Receiving yards9950
Yards per reception5.83.8
Receiving TD00
Long1316
Rushing
StatisticSeason 2024Season 2025
Carries79121
Rushing yards448857
Yards per carry5.77.1
Rushing TD710
Long8575

Seasons of evidence: 2. Games played, snap counts, and usage shares are not in the retained data. An em dash means the value is not in the dataset, not zero.

Evidence notes

  • The retained data contains 2 seasons of receiving, rushing production (2024–2025).
  • Receiving yards decreased in each observed season (99 → 50).
  • The newest college season in the retained data is 2025; the 2026 season is not yet included.
  • No verified athletic testing is included in the sealed dataset for this prospect.
  • 4 contributing public boards rank this prospect; the Public Draft Board places him at #106.
  • The aggregate public rank fell 28 spots between the two most recent sealed weekly snapshots.

Each note restates a displayed fact. None is a forecast of NFL performance.

Experience and measurements

Listed height
5'11"
Listed weight
210 lb
Class
Senior
Age
Not in dataset
Recorded school
Georgia Tech
Former school
Alabama
Hometown
Alpharetta, GA
Jersey
#22
Recruiting stars
5-star
Recruiting rank
#25 nationally

"Not in dataset" means the value is absent from the sealed dossier dataset, not that it does not exist.

Athletic testing

Not included in the sealed dataset. No combine, pro-day, or RAS value is retained for the 2027 class; absence here does not mean no testing has taken place.

Listed roster height and weight (CollegeFootballData); no verified athletic testing is retained. Bio captured August 29, 2026.

Historical comparisons

Historical profile comparisons are being rebuilt.

Sources and methodology

  • Retained bio and measurements: Draftanomics prospect ingest (CollegeFootballData rosters and recruiting), retained seed data/seed/prospects_upcoming_full.parquet.
  • Retained college production: CollegeFootballData season statistics via the retained player cross-reference; position-relevant categories only; all-zero category rows dropped.
  • Age: unavailable — no birth date or age is retained for the 2027 class.
  • Transfer history: not retained — the page shows the current school and, where the frozen id names a different school, the former school.
  • Public Draft Board: sealed snapshot as of August 31, 2026; per-source ranks are not published under the aggregate-only source policy.

Board methodologyDossier methodologyResearch status

Board position reflects aggregated public opinion; the scouting report is a separate editorial assessment.