Marcus Lattimore, Jr. South Carolina
It he healthy? When he’s 100% he has No. 1 overall draft pick, revolve-the-franchise-around-him sort of talent in a day and age when the role of the top running backs have been diminished. But there’s a big, giant if surrounding his health.
The 6-0, 210-pound junior has been overused with 412 carries and 48 catches in his 20 games of action, and for good reason. When the offense needed him – really, really needed him – he carried the load with 40 carries in the SEC East clinching win over Florida in 2010, and with 37 carries for 246 yards and three scores in the too-tough victory over Navy last year. He stepped right out of high school and scored ten touchdowns in his first six games, including a brilliant 37-carry, 182-yard day against Georgia in just the second game of his career, but he was beaten, battered and bruised, finishing off his true freshman campaign by getting blasted in the mouth on a huge hit against Florida State in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Last year he was rumbling along before suffering a knee injury against Mississippi State that knocked him out for the season. Fortunately, the injury happened in mid-October, giving him just enough time to potentially come back and produce, but it’s asking a lot to have the same blend of speed, power and quichnes than a year after the injury
http://cfn.scout.com/2/1193883.html
It he healthy? When he’s 100% he has No. 1 overall draft pick, revolve-the-franchise-around-him sort of talent in a day and age when the role of the top running backs have been diminished. But there’s a big, giant if surrounding his health.
The 6-0, 210-pound junior has been overused with 412 carries and 48 catches in his 20 games of action, and for good reason. When the offense needed him – really, really needed him – he carried the load with 40 carries in the SEC East clinching win over Florida in 2010, and with 37 carries for 246 yards and three scores in the too-tough victory over Navy last year. He stepped right out of high school and scored ten touchdowns in his first six games, including a brilliant 37-carry, 182-yard day against Georgia in just the second game of his career, but he was beaten, battered and bruised, finishing off his true freshman campaign by getting blasted in the mouth on a huge hit against Florida State in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Last year he was rumbling along before suffering a knee injury against Mississippi State that knocked him out for the season. Fortunately, the injury happened in mid-October, giving him just enough time to potentially come back and produce, but it’s asking a lot to have the same blend of speed, power and quichnes than a year after the injury
http://cfn.scout.com/2/1193883.html