MLB Best Bets – Free (Wednesday 5/15)
Josh Gross
Last Updated: 11/3/2023
Audric Estime was a touchdown machine for Notre Dame in 2022, finding the end zone 12 times as a sophomore and adding a team-leading 920 yards on the ground. This season he has seen a significant role increase and has impressed with it. He already has over 900 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns in only nine games.
Estime has a powerful bruiser style of play that will help set the game’s tone. This is best when he gets moving north and south — once he finds a crease, we see him explode downfield and looking to deliver a hit. Now, he finds himself upright more often than not, which can make it hard for him to carry a leverage advantage at the point of contact. If he does manage to get his pad level down, he bounces off the would-be tackler almost every time showing off good contact balance. This physical style is married with great leg drive and strength that allow him to push piles. On the flip side, he has lost some fumbles due to trying to pick up extra yardage.
Although he would appear to be just a bull in a china shop, he is not — he shows some lateral agility and quick footwork prior to getting to full speed. This allows him to be patient behind the line of scrimmage and within the hole helping create opens within the line. In addition, we have seen him flash a hurdle here or there and can leave some defenders grabbing for air. Once he is free and in the open field, he displays surprisingly good speed to run away from some defenders and hit the big plays — At times we see him require somewhat of a runway to get going. We see this often when he runs outside zone blocking schemes as he almost moves laterally until he finds a crease and then explodes through it — this may not transition well to the NFL.
When it comes to the passing game, Estime leaves plenty to be desired. He entered the year with only nine career receptions. He has added 13 this year but continues to be looked over for others when passing situations arise. He lacks the lateral movement to create separation in routes and hasn’t been asked to run anything exotic.
- Quick footwork
- Powerful
- Contact balance
- High runner
- Adjusting laterally
- Receiving profile
- None
- 40-yard dash: 4.71s
- 10-yard split: 1.58s
- Vertical: 38″
- Broad Jump: 10’5″
- Three-cone: TBD
- Shuttle: TBD
- Bench: 23
- Early down bruiser
- Gap/interior zone
Audric Estime will have to land in the perfect system to produce viable fantasy production. He feels like an early down back who will get you the dirty physical yards that garner no real fantasy value unless he constantly finds the end zone.
