Name: Dylan Lee
Position: RB
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 200lb
Other Measurables:
NCAA Football 14 Freshman: 71
NCAA Football 14 Potential: 96
Player Comparison: Gale Sayers. Dylan's ability to cut at full speed is unlike anything I have seen with Iowa State prospects. I've only seen it with guys like Gale Sayers and Barry Sanders. He may not have the top speed that Gale Sayers had, but he possesses some of that cutting ability that made Sayers famous.
Significant Impact: RS SO. Iowa State has a pretty thick stable.
Areas of Improvement:
He will need to gain some weight and work on his speed. If he can get to above 20+MPH speed and up to 215lb, I feel bad for the Big 12.
Thoughts:
There is about one prospect every year where I wonder "Why is everyone obsessed with another guy when this guy is special?" We saw it with David Montgomery and Kene, Brock Purdy and Re-al Mitchell, Breece Hall and Jirehl and recently Ben Brahmer and Kenyon Sadiq. Yes, the other guys were very talented, but the main guys were can't miss prospects. The running back that a lot of people in the fanbase focused on was Xavier Robinson. I understand the appeal; Xavier was a 6'2" 240lb touchdown machine. He was a really good prospect. He had the measurables and the statistics to convince anyone that he could play at any level and I would take him on my team in a heartbeat. He was ISU's top prospect, not just for running back, but maybe the whole entire class. I actually really wanted him to be the guy heading into the summer.
And then on May 25th, 2023, the offer came......
While Iowa State was very much involved in the Xavier Robinson recruitment, they offered a relatively-unknown kid from Williams Field HS in Arizona. Xavier Robinson was choosing between OU, Notre Dame and Iowa State with no clear direction as to what he would pick; it would be foolish to show him ANY sign that he may not be our priority... or so I thought. I decided to check out Dylan Lee for the heck of it. I realized he was not nearly the size of Robinson (whose size I fell in love with). Offers weren't great. He looked thin. Had Campbell lost his touch?
I turned on the tape and the rest was history. Xavier Who? I was hooked from the moment I saw the tape. You see... The common misconception is that a big, tall running back will be tough to bring down because they are super physical and it will be tough for safeties to bring them down. They are automatic yards right? wrong. Wanna know what is more effective that breaking an arm tackle? Not getting touched at all.
Dylan Lee will likely never impress you with his speed. He's tall, but he will likely never impress you with his size. He'll probably never truck the mess outta dudes or be super physical. That's not really his game. What I will say is this: I have NEVER seen the elusiveness and cutting ability that Dylan Lee possesses from any other Iowa State prospect since I've followed recruiting. I'm even talking about the five star guys that we offered that eventually went to OU or Penn State. The fluidity, sharpness and speed at which he makes his cuts are second to none. That mixed with good vision and great instincts creates one of the best running back prospects to ever come to Iowa State.
Dylan Lee is special. It stinks that we may need to wait a few years for him to be the feature guy, but get your popcorn ready for when he is.
Check him out and let me know what you think:
