NFL.com writer names 2 running backs as best SEC players who turned down NFL
By Andrew Olson
Published:
For healthy, starting football players, whether to stay in college or enter the NFL Draft can be a tough call. The risk of injury looms large over many players’ hopes of playing on Sunday, and that risk is especially worrisome for running backs. One leg injury can significantly hurt a ball-carrier’s draft stock or even his chances of making a roster (and his career). Not every SEC running back can take out eight-figure insurance policies like Leonard Fournette.
Ahead of the 2017 season, NFL.com’s Chase Goodbread recently looked at underclassmen who opted to return for another season of college football rather than enter the NFL Draft and forego any remaining eligibility. Two players from the SEC made his top 17, and interestingly enough, both were running backs. In Goodbread’s opinion, Alabama RB Bo Scarbrough and Vanderbilt RB Ralph Webb are the top players from the SEC who came back for another season.
Scarbrough has only had a partial season in the spotlight, but had shown his potential draft-ability in Alabama’s postseason, according to Goodbread:
Scarbrough told College Football 24/7 in January that he had decided to return to Alabama in 2017, describing the decision as an easy one. Perhaps it was — after all, he didn’t even play much over the first half of the season — but in his breakthrough game (180 yards vs. Washington in a College Football Playoff semifinal) he looked readily capable of making the jump. At 240 pounds, he brings thunderous power to the Crimson Tide backfield. He’ll be a fourth-year junior this fall, but comes off a broken leg suffered in the title game against Clemson.
While the news of Georgia running backs Nick Chubb and Sony Michel returning for 2017 certainly grabbed more headlines than Webb’s decision, Goodbread gives his second SEC spot on the list to the Vanderbilt running back:
Vanderbilt doesn’t often lose underclassmen to the draft, but it happened in January when LB Zach Cunningham made the jump, and he nearly had company. Webb, who already has broken Zac Stacy’s school record for career and single-season rushing yards, announced his decision immediately after VU’s Independence Bowl loss to N.C. State. Webb ran for 1,283 yards last year and his 3,345-yard career total already ranks 21st in SEC history.
Goodbread’s full list can be found here.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
