AUBURN, Ala. – One drill led to another for Peyton Barber at Auburn’s Pro Day a few weeks ago, and in between he tried to catch his breath with his hands on his knees. Just a few minutes later, the Tigers running back was right back at it, dodging through a series of cones.
All around him, NFL scouts with stopwatches in hand watched every step, every move, every shake. They watched Barber, scaned him up and down, timed him and jotted down notes. Every split second mattered to them all.
Every split second mattered to Peyton Barber, too.
“This is what it is now. It’s a big day,’’ Barber said between workouts with a smile on his face. “I want to play in the league, and these guys are going to have opinions about what kind of player I’m going to be. I’ve worked really hard for this, training for the (NFL) Combine, and now this.
“It’s all about being as fast as I can be, and making quick decisions.’’
Being fast. Making quick decisions.
That’s what Peyton Barber’s life has been like the last few months. Everything is happening in a blur. Everything happens fast, even the decisions. The draft at the end of April can’t get here soon enough.
A surprising choice to declare early
As the deadline to declare for the NFL draft approached, Barber’s decision to turn pro shocked some people, even those close to the program at Auburn. After all, he’s only played one full season of college football. He redshirted in 2013 and carried the ball only 10 times in 2014 before becoming the Tigers’ featured back in 2015.
Barber did well, rushing for 1,017 yards and 13 touchdowns. He had five 100-yard games early. Still, that’s not much of a resume. There wasn’t much time to make a decision on whether to stay at Auburn for another year or two, or turn pro now.
The brief career? Barber felt like he’d done enough.
The Marietta, Ga., native considered it a positive, and is more than willing to share that sentiment with NFL teams.
“The way I look at, I’m going to be fresh. I haven’t been banged on for three years like a lot of guys,’’ Barber said. “I have had some scouts tell me that they like that I don’t have many miles on me. It’s a short life for a running back, so where I’m at right now, I think the timing is right.’’
That’s where the quick decisions came in. As the deadline approached, Barber weighed all the factors. He had just rushed for 1,000 yards, which was good. He came out of the season relatively healthy, which was also good. This year’s class of running backs pales in comparison to the 2017 class.
“I think I proved enough this year,’’ he said. “I had some good games and I think what people see on film is that I run hard on every play. I may not be the fastest guy, but I know how to run. I can play in the league, and I can play there now.’’
And that’s the plan. It has to be. He’s got a family to take care of.
Doing it for his ‘homeless’ mother
Barber caught everyone’s attention at the NFL Combine in late February when he said the reason he came out early was because his mother was homeless and he wanted to help her.
Some pictured her out on the streets. That wasn’t the case. But she has bounced around from one family member to another, and hadn’t had her own place live.
Barber wanted to change that.
“Once I was able to make the decision, I was able to help her get an apartment of her own right away. That really meant a lot to me,’’ Barber said. “My agents helped me out with some money, and it really felt good to be able to help her get settled. My mom’s great and I wanted to be able to help her.’’
His mother, Lori Barber, was a bit embarrassed by it all. She admitted they’ve bounced around as she raised Peyton, and there were some nights where they did sleep in the car. But most of the time, they had a place to go.
“Homelessness is a strong definition,’’ Lori Barber told AL.com after Barber’s comments at the Combine. “Do I have a home of my own? I do not. Do I have a bed of my own? I don’t. Where we’re living is a little crowded, but we’re making it work. We’re taking our 50 cents and stretching it out to make it a dollar.
“It touches my heart that he feels so deeply about wanting to take care of me,’’ said Barber, who is on full disability from several car accidents. “Peyton is very quiet. I had no idea he was feeling that strongly as he was feeling until he decided to come out.’’
Barber’s actions didn’t surprise his agent, Michael Perrett of Element Sports in Atlanta.
“Peyton didn’t have it easy growing up, but you wouldn’t know it by how he acts,’’ Perrett said. “He has two loving parents, he has a girlfriend he’s been with for a while, he’s done well academically at Auburn and he has a very stable life. He’s wants to be successful so much, which is why he works so hard. He’s always working.’’
Peyton Barber likes being in a position to help, and he’s glad he’s been able to get his mom settled. He’s looking forward to a long NFL career, but there are no guarantees.
He won’t be drafted the first day, and probably won’t go on the second day either. The third day of the draft, which features rounds four through seven, may be when Barber finally will hear his name get called.
What the NFL people think of him so far
Barber measured in at 5-foot-10 and change and 232 pounds at his Pro Day, and several NFL scouts like the way he’s built. His 40-yard dash times were an average 4.59 and 4.60, but he did well in the other quickness and agility drills.
“The scouts told me a lot of nice things,’’ he said. “I can run, I can block and I can catch. I’ve got things to work on, but that’s always the case, right? I want to work on my explosion, and I want to keep working on my route-running and catching the ball.’’
A few mock drafts have him going as high as the fifth round, but others don’t have him being drafted at all.
NFL.com draft expert Chad Reuter really likes him. He listed Barber as one of six guys who will be “better pros than college players.’’
“He reminds me of (former Washington Redskins running back) Alfred Morris, who wasn’t drafted until the sixth round,’’ Reuter said. “(He has a) sturdy build, impressive lean and strong motor.’’
Morris is a good comparison to Barber in style. He’s had success in the league, too, rushing for 4,713 yards in four seasons and signing a big new deal with the Dallas Cowboys this week.
One AFC scout, who spoke on a condition of anonymity because of team rules, likes what he sees in Barber, but he would like to see more.
“He hits the hole well and he sees the field pretty well,’’ the scout said. “I wish his overall speed was better, but he doesn’t lose yardage either. Once he learns to quit dancing into holes too much, I think he can be a productive player. He’ll have to show something on special teams and he’ll have to be able to catch the ball. We haven’t seen much of that.’’
Perrett’s feedback from NFL people is that Barber has a lot going for him, but it’s all going to depend on the type of back a team needs and who’s available when they might want to pull the trigger.
“People really like what they’ve seen on film, because he had lots of big games against good competition,’’ Perrett said. “They like his vision and agility, and his change of direction. He was the only running back at the combine to do 7 (seconds) or under in the 3-cone and under 4.21 in the 5-10-5 drill. The only one.
“Based on what I’m hearing, he’s going to be a mid-round guy, maybe third round through fifth round, somewhere in there. Sixth round if I was being conservative. But there are a lot of plusses that people like, so I’m thinking it’s going to be sooner (on draft day) rather than later.”
Since his Pro Day, Barber has stayed busy working out. He’s visited with the Carolina Panthers and has a few more visits lined up in April, including one with his hometown Atlanta Falcons.
“The Carolina visit went great. Really great,’’ Barber said by phone Tuesday night. “I met with Coach (Ron) Rivera, the GM, and all the coaches. We went through a lot and they put me on the board and worked through things. I thought I did really well. It was fun, too.’’
Leaving early hasn’t hurt any feelings around Auburn. Everyone is in his corner, including his head coach.
“Peyton is a great kid and we’re really rooting for him,’’ Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “I thought he made a lot of progress this year, really turned into a nice player. And the kid works. We always liked that about him.’’
Barber is confident he will get drafted, and he’s more than willing to take it from there.
“All I want is a chance,” he said.
Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist and author who is covering SEC football for Saturday Down South.
