Running Back

Temple

6-0 218

Draft board overall prospect rank: #101

Draft board overall running back rank: #7

Overall rating: 66 (3^rd/4^th round)

40 time: 4.50

Games watched: Ohio/Temple

Positives

·         3 year starter

·         Good production (2009: 1361 yards and 16 touchdowns on 236 carries, 2010: 728 yards and 10 touchdowns on 154 carries, 2011: 1481 yards and 27 touchdowns on 273 carries)

·         Powerful runner

·         Tough to tackle

·         Excellent short yardage back

·         27 touchdowns as a senior in 11 games

·         Good vision

·         Excellent inside runner

·         Instinctive and shifty

·         Good downhill runner

·         Solid 40 (4.50) for his size

·         Good pad level

·         Solid blocker for his age

·         Tough and gritty

·         Played through injury

Negatives

·         Not as fast as his 40 time

·         Not that explosive

·         Not dangerous in space

·         Doesn’t have game breaking speed

·         Subpar outside runner

·         Only 19 catches in 3 years

·         Durability and injury problems

·         A lot of tread on his tires (663 carries in 3 seasons)

·         Level of competition

·         Lack of positional value

NFL Comparison: Cedric Benson

There’s a growing cliché in the NFL that you can find solid tandem/rotational backs in the mid rounds. This cliché is largely true and contributing to the decline of the positional value of the running back position. Pierce looks like one of those solid mid round picks. He’s expected to go in the 3^rd or 4^th round and should be a solid power back at the next level.

He doesn’t have a whole lot of explosiveness or speed to burn and he isn’t going to break the big gain. However, he’s the type of back who will turn a small gain into a medium sized gain and is close to a sure thing on short yardage plays. He had a whopping 27 touchdowns last season in just 11 games. The rest of the team combined for 22 touchdowns. He’s also not much of a pass catcher, but he’s a pretty good blocker for a college kid. He’s also a small school kid with an injury history.

He compares to Cedric Benson. He doesn’t compare as a prospect, obviously, because Benson was a top 5 pick, but he should have a similar career. Benson battled injuries early in his career in Chicago, but resurfaced as a solid, but spectacular back in Cincinnati. Pierce could also have some injury problems in his career, but when healthy, he should be a solid, but unspectacular back. As a lead back, he’d be a pretty cookie cutter 300 carry, 1200 yard back like Benson was in Cincinnati, but he’d probably be best off as part of a running back tandem. The same could have been said about Benson when he was younger.