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Israel Abanikanda, RB (No. 143)

LAD_Brooklyn

By LAD_Brooklyn
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LAD_Brooklyn

LAD_Brooklyn

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Round 5

No. 143: Israel Abanikanda, RB, Pitt

How he fits: Zack Rosenblatt’s analysis

The Jets are confident Breece Hall will return to form at some point this season, but history hasn’t been kind to running backs in their first season back after an ACL tear. So drafting Abanikanda was a decision that made a lot of sense, since he can help while Hall returns to form. Abanikanda ran a 4.44-second 40-yard dash and scored 20 rushing touchdowns for Pittsburgh last year.

Dane Brugler’s analysis

A two-year starter at Pittsburgh, Abanikanda was the featured weapon in offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr.’s balanced run attack. After a pass-heavy offense with quarterback Kenny Pickett and former coordinator Mark Whipple, Pitt dedicated the offense to the run game in 2022, and Abanikanda responded with a career-year, finishing No. 2 in the FBS in all-purpose yards (164.1 per game).

 

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Jets4Life1979
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ABANIKANDA FOREVER!!!!!!!!

nycdan
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Anthony Jet
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Kids from BkLyn. Went to Lincoln HS

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68JET11

68JET11

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2 minutes ago, Greenseed4 said:

Imagine if we drafted Calijah Kancey instead of McDeezy IV

Was my pick at 14, but I guess JD didn't listen to me. I think he would have been a much better value because he and Q would be able to create havoc for that DL.

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slimjasi

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18 minutes ago, GreenFish said:

Some of y'all were calling for him. Congrats. He looks explosive

More importantly, he has an amazing last name that gives me star vibes. 

You can just imagine Ian Eagle saying his name as he explodes through the line for a long TD run.  

 

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15 minutes ago, prime21 said:

Carter’s days may be numbered. I can feel for that kid. He plays hard and has a good attitude.


Sent from my iPhone using JetNation.com mobile app

NOt at all.  Hall probably won't be back until 4-5 weeks into the season.  You bring in the new kid and you have Carter as the 1-2 punch.  Now, you might get calls about Carter if he looks goo with Rodgers and turn him into a 2024 asset. 

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Greg555

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Why draft Israel Abanikanda: Very, very fast, he’s got the flash in a good compact frame. Ultra-productive last year for Pitt, he proved he could handle a bigger workload - he ran for 320 yards and 6 TDs on Virginia Tech - and should have moments at the next level when he takes over.

Why not draft Israel Abanikanda: He’ll have to show he can be more of a receiver. He can catch, but he wasn’t used as much in the passing game last year. A wee bit of a one-speed back, there’s not a ton of power to go along with all his quickness.

Israel Abanikanda, from the college perspective: An interesting Day Three get for someone, he’ll be fantastic for an offense that doesn’t have a lot of mobility at quarterback and could use a change-of-pace speed runner. He’ll turn into a dangerous receiver right away - packages will be created for him.

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46 minutes ago, LAD_Brooklyn said:

Round 5

No. 143: Israel Abanikanda, RB, Pitt

How he fits: Zack Rosenblatt’s analysis

The Jets are confident Breece Hall will return to form at some point this season, but history hasn’t been kind to running backs in their first season back after an ACL tear. So drafting Abanikanda was a decision that made a lot of sense, since he can help while Hall returns to form. Abanikanda ran a 4.44-second 40-yard dash and scored 20 rushing touchdowns for Pittsburgh last year.

Dane Brugler’s analysis

A two-year starter at Pittsburgh, Abanikanda was the featured weapon in offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr.’s balanced run attack. After a pass-heavy offense with quarterback Kenny Pickett and former coordinator Mark Whipple, Pitt dedicated the offense to the run game in 2022, and Abanikanda responded with a career-year, finishing No. 2 in the FBS in all-purpose yards (164.1 per game).

 

damn he plays fast

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29 minutes ago, Embrace the Suck said:

Why? Depth is good. Carter is good, and cheap. Breece is still coming back as opposed to already being back.

I didn't say they would get rid of him immediately but he's clearly not in the long term plans he didn't get the bulk of the carries even after Hall got injured and looked pedestrian....I liked the pick at the time but he's been underwhelming to say the least.  He's also a candidate for a Twitter meltdown. lol

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rangerous

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17 minutes ago, Greg555 said:

Why draft Israel Abanikanda: Very, very fast, he’s got the flash in a good compact frame. Ultra-productive last year for Pitt, he proved he could handle a bigger workload - he ran for 320 yards and 6 TDs on Virginia Tech - and should have moments at the next level when he takes over.

Why not draft Israel Abanikanda: He’ll have to show he can be more of a receiver. He can catch, but he wasn’t used as much in the passing game last year. A wee bit of a one-speed back, there’s not a ton of power to go along with all his quickness.

Israel Abanikanda, from the college perspective: An interesting Day Three get for someone, he’ll be fantastic for an offense that doesn’t have a lot of mobility at quarterback and could use a change-of-pace speed runner. He’ll turn into a dangerous receiver right away - packages will be created for him.

One last reason not is pass blocking. IMO one of the hardest things for college players to do right off is pass protect.  Some, like Cumar, were very good. Others struggle.

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nycdan

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10 minutes ago, Smashmouth said:

damn he plays fast

Not so much the top speed, which is good, but he did get caught from behind a few times, but his acceleration to that top gear is incredibly fast.  I also suspect Pitt had a very good OLine because he had some holes to work with. 

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FidelioJet

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Brooklyn’s Israel Abanikanda heads into NFL draft hoping to lift family’s future

April 15, 2023 2:08am

Second of an 11-part series. Coming tomorrow: wide receivers.

The words most commonly associated with Israel Abanikanda are “big” and “fast.”

The numbers speak for themselves: The Pittsburgh running back, 5-foot-10 and 216 pounds, recently ran a 4.41 40-yard dash and completed a 41-inch vertical jump on his Pro Day.

“Izzy is big and he can run,” said Pitt special teams coordinator and running back coach Andre Powell. “He’s only going to get bigger.”

Abanikanda brings a lot of baggage into the upcoming NFL draft — good baggage. 

He acquired several accolades during the 2022 season, his junior year, leading FBS (excluding kickers) with 128 points scored and racking up the most (nine) 100-yard rushing games in a season at Pitt since Dion Lewis had 10 in 2009.

Making it into the NFL has been Abanikanda’s dream since he was little, which has made for “a great experience,” he said, yet a “nervous” one. That’s because this isn’t just a chance for Abanikanda — it’s also an opportunity for his family.

Growing up in Brooklyn and attending Abraham Lincoln High School — at which he won New York’s Gatorade Player of the Year — Abanikanda watched as others around him went down a different path. He witnessed people die or go to prison.

“Just doing the wrong things. Just being out there in the street because how Brooklyn is — a lot of things going on that will lead you the wrong way,” Abanikanda said. “So, you need to have a strong mindset to stick to the right path and do what you got to do.”

Abanikanda, however, was born into a football family: His father, Saidi, played football at Georgia Tech and his brother, Michael, played at Buffalo and Temple. 

Ever since Abanikanda committed to the sport, his family trained him every day, teaching him how to put in the extra work to make something of himself outside of Brooklyn.

It worked, as Abanikanda totaled 1,431 yards over 239 carries and scored 21 total touchdowns this past season. 

Now, he is two weeks away from a life-altering event, the NFL draft.

“I wasn’t expecting this at all,” he said. “I was actually thinking about doing another year.”

But the game was starting to slow down for Abanikanda, which he took as a sign that he needed to move on to keep improving.

“I didn’t want them to continue to live this lifestyle,” he said of his family. “When we were growing up in Brooklyn and how everything is, I wanted to change my whole family life and my life. I felt like this was the year to do it.”

Abanikanda hopes to stay close to his family. 

Maybe he will find his NFL home in New York if he lands on the radar for the Giants, amid their Saquon Barkley franchise-tag dilemma, or the Jets.

Pitt offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Frank Cignetti Jr., who has 11 years of NFL coaching experience, in which he was surrounded by some of the league’s best backs, such as Todd Gurley, Ricky Williams and Frank Gore, noted a player needs the skill set, work ethic, durability, and love for the game, not only to make it, but also to stick around.

“I think his best days are in front of him,” he said of Abanikanda.

In two games last season, Abanikanda outran the opposing team in total yardage — 154 rushing yards against Tennessee’s 91 and 320 yards against Virginia Tech’s 126.

“He could hit home runs as a running back,” Cignetti said. “He could take it the distance.”

Abanikanda noted the need to improve on pass protection, but Powell said his preparation, maturity and vision have improved over the years.

“Prior to this past year, he did not have a full conceptual understanding of what people around him were doing,” Powell said. “For example, on a run play, he did not have a full understanding of where the lines work and who they were working to.”

When drafted, Abanikanda will join the elite company of running backs coming out of Pitt, such as Tony Dorsett, LeSean McCoy, Curtis Martin and James Connor.

“I just want to be the next,” Abanikanda said. “I just want to be the next great running back to leave Pitt to go to the NFL.”

https://nypost.com/2023/04/15/pittsburghs-israel-abanikanda-carries-heavy-load-for-family/

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