
Film Don't Lie | Javian Osborne
Notre Dame won a lot during the 2024 season and they’ve stayed winning in recruiting. Things are coming together nicely for Marcus Freeman and his staff.
Running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider landed his first big commitment at his position with the addition of Javian Osborne. He’s one of the top backs in the state of Texas and one of the backs in the country in the 2026 class.
Osborne put up monster numbers the last two seasons with 3,458 yards rushing and 64 touchdowns on the ground.
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 190
Projected Position: Running back
ISD Grade: 92 (4-star)
National Average Grade: 92.5 (4-star)
What he does best:
Osborne has a great jump cut. He does a very good job making second level defenders miss.
He runs bigger than his weight would indicate because he does such a good job of dropping his pad level and finishing runs.
He’s a dangerous player in space with the strength to run through arm tackles and has the peripheral vision to avoid defenders on long runs.
The biggest thing for me is seeing him run with purpose. He doesn’t settle. He can explode out of that first cut and wants to maximize yardage.
What he needs to improve:
He has had limited opportunities as a receiver in high school, so I’d love to see that part of his game expand over the next few years.
Although I think his feet are really good, I do see some false steps mixed in where he can become more efficient with his footwork from a technical standpoint.
What’s his ceiling?
The obvious comparison for what kind of player he could be is current Notre Dame RB Jadarian Price. Osborne has the same kind of lateral explosiveness with jump cuts. I thought Osborne’s sophomore season was when he looked more like Price in terms of his acceleration from 0 to 60. I’m not sure if there was an injury that took a tiny bit of that burst away as a junior, but he looked much more like a consistent home run hitter as a sophomore.
Regardless of that part of his game, I think Osborne has all of the other traits to develop into a very good RB1 at the college level. He has feet, vision, and grit to be a very good inside runner and he can make that first defender miss.
Osborne’s size and skill set reminds me of former Mississippi State/USC RB Woody Marks. He was a 1,000 yard rusher for the Trojans and was one of the best backs in the Big Ten this past season.
Who he could be:
Former Mississippi State/USC RB Woody Marks
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