Matthew Dayes (born September 3, 1994) is a former American football running back. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at NC State. He was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the seventh round of the

2017 NFL draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

Early life

Dayes attended and played high school football at Cypress Bay High School.

College career

Dayes attended and played

at NC State from 2013–2016. He had a particularly strong collegiate debut against Louisiana Tech with 17 carries for 84 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns in the 40–14 victory. Overall, in his freshman season, he had 63 carries for 252 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns to go along with 10 receptions for 173 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. In the 2014 season, he showed off some versatility by finishing with 104 carries for 573 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns to go along with 32 receptions for 321 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns. He handled some kick return duties with 21 kick returns for 384 net yards. In the 2015 season, he had 134 carries for 865 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns to go along with 24 receptions for 172 receiving yards. In his final collegiate season in 2016, he had 249 carries for 1,166 rushing yards and ten rushing touchdowns to go along with 32 receptions for 271 receiving yards.

Statistics

Professional career

Pre-draft

Coming out of NC State, Dayes was projected to be selected in the fifth or sixth round by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts. He received an invitation to the NFL Combine, but was limited to only the vertical jump, broad jump, and

bench press The bench press, or chest press, is a weight training exercise in which the trainee presses a weight upwards while lying on a weight training bench. Although the bench press is a full-body exercise, the muscles primarily used are the pectorali ...

. On March 20, 2017, he participated at NC State's Pro Day and completed all of the positional drills and required combine drills he missed at the combine. Scouts and team representatives from 22 NFL teams attended NC State's Pro Day, to scout Dayes,

Jack Tocho Jack Zephania Tocho (born November 2, 1995) is an American football safety who is a free agent. He played college football at North Carolina State University, and was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft. ...

, Josh Jones, and nine others. Dayes was ranked as the 16th-best running back prospect available in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com.

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns selected Dayes in the seventh round (252nd overall) of the

. He signed his four-year rookie contract with the Browns on May 10, 2017, a deal reportedly worth $2.46 million. He competed with

Brandon Wilds Brandon Wilds (born July 22, 1993) is a former American football running back. He played college football at South Carolina Gamecocks football, South Carolina and was signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2016. High school ...

and

Terrence Magee Terrence Tyler Magee (born March 16, 1993) is a former American football running back. He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent following the 2015 NFL Draft. He played college football at LSU. Professional career Baltim ...

throughout training camp for the Browns' third running back job on their depth chart. Head coach

Hue Jackson Hue Jackson (born October 22, 1965) is an American football coach who is the head football coach at Grambling State University. An offensive assistant at both the collegiate and professional levels, he held coordinator positions in the Nationa ...

named Dayes as the Browns' third running back to begin the regular season, behind veterans

Duke Johnson Randy "Duke" Johnson Jr. (born September 23, 1993) is an American football running back for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round (77th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft. ...

and

Isaiah Crowell Isaiah Hassan Crowell ( ; born January 8, 1993) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Georgia and Alabama State. Crowell was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2014. High school ca ...

. On September 10, 2017, Dayes made his regular season debut and had three carries for seven yards and two receptions for nine yards during a 21–18 loss to the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

. Overall, he had five carries for 13 rushing yards to go along with four receptions for 29 receiving yards in his rookie season. On September 1, 2018, Dayes was waived by the Browns.

San Francisco 49ers

On October 9, 2018, Dayes was signed to the San Francisco 49ers' practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on November 12, 2018. He was waived on May 6, 2019.

New Orleans Saints

On May 28, 2019, Dayes signed with the New Orleans Saints. He was waived/injured on August 8 and placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

the next day. He was waived from injured reserve on September 10.

References

External links

NC State Wolfpack bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dayes, Matthew 1994 births Living people American football running backs Cleveland Browns players NC State Wolfpack football players Players of American football from Fort Lauderdale, Florida New Orleans Saints players San Francisco 49ers players