Christian Rhodes

Physical Profile

Rhodes carries a lean, long-levered frame that 247Sports' Gabe Brooks describes as high-cut with an upright gait, which is unusual for a back and creates some pad-level questions. The athletic testing is legitimate for the position: a reported 4.45 forty, 37-inch vertical, and a 415-pound squat and 450-pound deadlift at 200 pounds show a lower body that converts strength into acceleration. He has already added roughly 10 pounds since commitment (200 to 210 on the SMU roster) without a reported drop in burst, which is the exact trajectory he needs. A track background supports the straight-line speed on film. At 6-1 he has room to play at 215 without losing the second-gear that defines his game.

Play Style

Rhodes is a one-cut explosive runner who wants to get north-south in a hurry. He reads the front, plants once, and accelerates through the alley with the straight-line juice of a track athlete. The senior film shows a step forward as a 'complete back who's more than a one-trick pony,' per 247Sports, with more patience behind blocks and a willingness to bounce laterally when the initial crease closes. He is at his best on outside zone, screens, and perimeter touches where his speed forces safeties to take bad angles. He is not yet a grind-it-out downhill back and does not consistently drop his pads to win short-yardage on power.

Strengths

• Explosive home-run speed: senior tape includes a 90-yard screen touchdown (longest play of his career) and a game-winning 37-yard TD run in a 6A Division I bi-district playoff win, both on a 7.26 yards-per-carry season
• Jump-cut agility that exceeds what his upright build suggests. Brooks specifically flagged 'serious jump-cutting agility and explosiveness' in the October 2025 evaluation, meaning he can win laterally as well as vertically
• Developing receiving value: 30 catches, 413 yards, 13.8 per catch and 3 TDs as a senior, with two touchdowns on screens in one playoff game. The junior-year slotback reps translate to real route and space skills, not just check-downs
• Two-year track record of production against 6A Texas competition: 1,377 yards and 14 TDs as a 2024 District 7-6A Newcomer of the Year, then a more complete 2025 season

Areas to Improve

• Pad level and contact balance: the high-cut, upright running style leaves him exposed to square hits and limits yards after contact against Power Four fronts. Lowering his strike point and finishing runs through the shoulders is the biggest technical project
• Pass protection and full-time-back durability: he was primarily an outside-zone and space runner in high school, and a pulled hamstring in his first college camp underscores the need to manage soft-tissue health and build the between-the-tackles toughness a feature role requires
• Route refinement: he told 247Sports he is working on his receiving skills, and while the raw yards-per-catch is strong, most production came on screens and manufactured touches rather than a full route tree

College Projection

Rhodes projects as a rotational speed back as a freshman and a featured or co-featured back by year two or three at SMU. The near-term timeline is complicated by the reported hamstring injury that has him out through September 2026, and SMU is already thin at the position after losing veteran Link Rhodes for the season, which should open early carries in October once he is healthy. Fall camp reports from On3 noted he physically stood out and was picking up the offense quickly. Expect a change-of-pace and third-down/screen role first, expanding to a 150-plus carry season by his second year in Rhett Lashlee's up-tempo attack.

NFL Outlook

247Sports projects Rhodes as a Rounds 4-7 (Day 3) NFL prospect, and that is a fair ceiling from here. The 4.45 speed, 37-inch vertical, and 6-1 frame give him the athletic profile of a draftable back, and his receiving development adds a third-down value that keeps Day 3 backs on rosters. What separates a Day 3 grade from an earlier pick is contact balance and pad level, both flagged on tape. If he plays at 215 with better pad level and shows he can carry a Power Four workload without soft-tissue issues, a late Day 2 conversation is possible, but the more likely outcome is a Day 3 selection or priority free agent with special-teams and return upside.

Best Fit

An up-tempo spread offense that runs outside zone, uses the running back heavily in the screen game, and manufactures space touches is the ideal environment, which is exactly what SMU's Rhett Lashlee system does. He is a poor fit for a gap-heavy, two-back downhill scheme that asks him to win short-yardage through contact. A committee backfield paired with a bigger power back would maximize him early while he adds mass and refines pad level.