Here's another story about Schrader, filled with overly dramatic descriptions of his negatives. Well down in the article the 800 pound elephant in the room is identified, but of course it's a black dude who has to say it:
So why didn’t the 49ers — or any of the NFL’s 31 other teams — make Schrader one of the 257 players selected in April’s draft?
Luper, a former skeptic who became a true believer, gets it. Schrader isn’t particularly big (202 pounds) and ran a plodding 40-yard dash (4.61 seconds) before the draft. At the combine, his arm measurement (28-1/8 inches) was the shortest among 29 running backs and raised questions about his catching radius and ability to block blitzing linebackers.
Luper thinks those deficiencies helped obscure elite traits such as lightning-fast feet and X-ray vision. Those qualities explain why a back lacking blazing speed ranked second in FBS with 11 runs of 30-plus yards and was one of three players with 230-plus carries to average at least 5.9 yards an attempt.
Luper, who is black, also has said he believes Schrader’s skin color was a factor. Schrader was the first white running back to lead the SEC in rushing since Alabama’s Johnny Musso in 1971, according to ESPN.
He also was just the second SEC rushing leader to go undrafted in the past 33 seasons (the other being Alabama’s Shaud Wiliams, 2003).
“He has a great story,” Luper said. “A phenomenal story. But he has a tremendous skill set.”