FRISCO, Texas – There was never a high likelihood that Jaydon Blue was going to commit to play at Georgia Tech when Tashard Choice offered him in May of 2020.
Sure enough, Blue, who was ranked as the sixth best running back in the 2022 class, would sign with Texas and continue to play in his home state. Three days after he signed with the Longhorns, Texas hired Choice to be their running backs coach, marking the beginning of what would be a special three years to follow.
"Blue's first day there, just really you could tell he was excited about football, very smart," Choice said. "For me, it was trying to make sure that he was ready to go as far as to getting his body together because he didn't play his senior year in high school."
"I knew just the maturity part, getting him ready to go was going to be a big factor. Because when you watch the tape you could see the speed, you could see the explosiveness, just somebody who wanted to have guidance, somebody who needed structure, but somebody who was willing to listen and be coachable."
Choice, who played running back for the Cowboys from 2008-2011 and is now the running backs coach for the Detroit Lions, knows that he isn't an easy coach to play for. It was especially the case for Blue, who came into a room that had four other future NFL running backs in Bijan Robinson, Roschon Johnson, Jonathan Brooks and Keilan Robinson.
The two would bump heads at times over small details, but Choice slowly began to see his game begin to flourish because of it.
"The same way I coached Bijan and Roschon, guys that were older than him, Jonathan Brooks, Keilan Robinson, I had to make sure Blue had those same qualities," Choice said. "And so once he went through his first year, he didn't play as much, but you can see it at sometimes in practice, he hit his gas or in the game, he'll make a run and you'd be like 'Okay, this kid has something.'"
That "something" revealed itself in Blue's sophomore season during spring camp, where Choice and the Longhorns' staff began to see the reason they recruited him.
"He comes into spring ball, and he's a totally different football player," Choice said. "You can see the explosiveness, you can see the burst, you can see him being more detailed, you can see the route running and how we wanted to use him in the offense. When guys went down, he was able to step up and be explosive."
It was Blue's third season with the Longhorns that set him up to be drafted by the Cowboys in the fifth round of last week's NFL Draft. With starting running back Cedric Baxter injured in the preseason and lost for the year, Blue would go on to finish his final season with over 1,000 scrimmage yards and 14 touchdowns, helping Texas reach the College Football Playoff for the second straight year.
"His maturity really showed during his last year, because he was hurt, knick knack, and wasn't able to be full speed at times," Choice said. "And he never left. Stayed on time, stayed doing the right thing, stayed asking questions, and ultimately, once his body got healthy, you could tell he was actually Blue…"
"We get into this College Football Playoff run, and this is when he's getting healthy, and then he goes off. Every time that I called on him, every time that he was in the game, he was doing something explosive and was making plays for us to win football games, it was pretty cool to see him grow."
Choice has a long track record of success when it comes to producing NFL running backs in college. Blue marked the sixth running back in the last three years alone that Choice coached in college and sent to the professional level. In his eyes, Blue's ability in space combined with his speed is what makes him stand out.
"Super, super fast and really good in space, and can catch the ball out of the backfield, can run routes, he's very smart," Choice said. "Him being put into space with his speed, and his stop and start, and able to make people miss in the open field, I think that's what makes him really, really good."
"He's strong enough to break out of tackles and he accelerates very fast, and once he gets in the open field, if you ain't close to him, you're not catching him."
It's an evaluation that sounds familiar to another NFL running back that Choice coached at Georgia Tech and is now reunited with in Detroit: Jahmyr Gibbs. Blue told the media after he was drafted that he felt he and Gibbs were similar in terms of play style and build, and Choice sees the resemblance too.
"They're very similar," Choice said. "Both are very explosive, make plays out of the backfield, and very smart. I think Blue is very, very smart, I think Jah[myr] is the smartest running back I've ever coached."
Just because they may have similar styles of play doesn't mean they're comparable, and Choice knows Blue has to prove himself at the NFL level if there want to be comparisons brought up between the two.
"He's got to live up to being Jah, Jah is an animal," Choice said. "And so he's going to have to perform and perform at a high clip so that can be comparable. So now he's got to prove himself to see who he is in the NFL."
That work starts now for Blue, who will report to the Cowboys' rookie minicamp later this week and begin his NFL tenure. The next step in trying to reach NFL success is mirroring his on the field speed with his processing speed.
"Blue being able to learn, being able to know what all 11 doing on offense, that helps him," Choice said. "Fast guys, when they're very cerebral, that helps them be even faster when they know what dues are doing, and then they play with a fast play speed."
Hearing Blue's name called was the latest full circle moment that Choice has had as a coach, as each player he's sent to the NFL Draft has taught him the real reason why he got into the football profession.
"I thought my whole life was to be a football player, and I was wrong. It was to be a coach," Choice said. "And now, to have an opportunity to help and facilitate guys on their journey to be a shepherd, it's pretty cool to help. So for me, I'm totally thankful. A whole lot of gratitude to get a chance to see guys that you coach on the other side and to see them doing well, that's what it's ultimately about."
The next full circle moment for Choice? Seeing Blue later on this season when the Cowboys play the Lions, playing for the same team that he suited up for 17 years ago.
"It's pretty cool to see him where he's at, being in Dallas, being number 23, full circle for me," Choice said. "I'm having my last guy before I left and went to the NFL, him being in Dallas in 23, so he's got to go rep for me."
Blue won't be wearing 23 to begin, as linebacker Buddy Johnson currently holds the number, but is hoping to leave a similar and even better kind of impact on the organization as Choice did during his playing days.
