Scouting Profile: Cam Skattebo - RB - Arizona State
Sales Pitch: Thick powerful back with excellent contact balance. Lacks the juice to be a true difference maker but a high floor 3-down skill set projects to lead back duties in the NFL.
*Gold Numbers Indicate NCAA Top-25 for 2024*
*Red Numbers Indicate NCAA Bottom-25 for 2024*
Scouting Report
Cam Skattebo was originally a 0-Star recruit from the state of California, starting his career at FCS Sacramento. There he was a two time All-Big Skyy player and the 2022 Offensive Player of the Year before transferring to Arizona State. In 2024 Skattebo was arguably the best non-Ashton Jeanty back in the country, receiving All Big-12 and All-American honors after logging the 2nd most yards in the FBS.
Skattebo is a thick powerful back with excellent contact balance. He was extremely productive in 2024 pushing 1,800 rushing yards and putting on some big time performances in both the Big-12 Title Game and College Football Playoff Quarterfinals. Skattebo is a classic power-back with a dense frame that sends tacklers spinning off him. His combination of contact balance and a low center of gravity allows him to maintain his balance after broken tackles and create chunk plays. Even when defenders are able to stand him up he displays the leg drive to create tough yards. Skattebo projects best as a gap scheme runner. He is very patient working between the tackles and does an excellent job staying close to his blockers as they progress downfield. His quick feet and solid agility allow him to quickly work towards narrow holes when they open. His ability to anticipate lanes in traffic allows him to slip through the cracks even when it looks like there is nothing there. Skattebo is strong pass catcher out of the backfield. He has soft hands with the ball tracking skills and body control to win vertically down the field. Arizona State was comfortable using him as a slot receiver due to his ability in the passing game. Most of his damage as receiver actually came in the scramble drill where he has excellent spatial awareness and never quits on the play.
Skattebo is an adequate athlete but lacks the typical twitch or burst desired at the position. He projects as more of a doubles hitter at the next level due to a lack of ability to separate from defenders at the 2nd level. He will likely not run particularly well during the testing process which may hurt his draft stock. Skattebo can function in a zone run scheme, particularly on inside zone runs between the tackles, but is far less effective attacking the edges. His change of direction limitations hurt his ability to force LB’s to respect him horizontally before hitting cutback lanes. As a result he can get caught cutting back too early because he has to cheat runs in order to get his speed going downhill. While Skattebo is an excellent pass catcher he will need to improve his blocking ability in order to be true 3rd down back. He struggles to ID the correct target when teams send exotic looks with multiple defenders. This hesitancy results in him setting shallow pockets for his QB. Even when he can stick a blitzing defender he lacks the length or lateral quickness to sustain his blocks for long periods of time.
Skattebo profiles as a starting RB in a gap run scheme. His experience, tackle breaking ability and receiving chops create a three down skillset even if he isn’t the most explosive athlete. Skattebo projects as a Day-2 pick who should be able to shoulder the majority of the carries in his offense even if he will need to be paired with a more explosive counterpart.