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You know what, I can deal with 4 or 5 picks.� Reggie Smith at 27, whatever they pick for NT and ROL and this guy in the later rounds:
Jerome Felton....FB/RB hybrid.
Watch him truck stick a guy for a pancake while standing: (he's the tailback, and the block is at 5 seconds, with the replay at 15....
)
Jerome Felton....FB/RB hybrid.
Watch him truck stick a guy for a pancake while standing: (he's the tailback, and the block is at 5 seconds, with the replay at 15....
Overview
Felton has quietly developed into one of the most dominant scoring machines in college football. Blessed with the quickness and lateral agility of a tailback, this bruising runner inside the red zone has outstanding body lean, as he was tackled behind the line of scrimmage only 15 times during his career for minus-22 yards on 575 rushing attempts while scoring 63 times on the ground. The school's all-time record holder in scoring with 414 points, he also excels in the classroom, twice earning Southern Conference academic accolades with a 3.25 grade point average in Political Science.
Born in Duren, West Germany, where his mother, Sabrina Felton-Curtis was a former professional gymnast, Jerome took the ACT as a seventh grader as part of Duke University's Talent Search program. His score was high enough to allow him to enroll in summer and night courses at Hiwassee College, where between the seventh and 11th grades he completed 19 hours of college credit courses.
At Class AAA Sequoyah High School, Felton excelled as a fullback and middle linebacker,
Earning team Offensive Most Valuable Player honors three times. He was also a three-time All-County and All-Region choice, rushing for more than 3,000 yards and recording more than 300 tackles in his three-year career.
Felton served as team captain as a senior, rushed for 1,300 yards and finished second on his team with 104 tackles. He was named an All-American Scholar and an Outstanding African-American Student of Tennessee, in addition to receiving the 2001-02 United States National Minority Leadership Award. He is listed in the Who's Who Among American High School Students and was the recipient of Sequoyah High School's Academic Excellence Award.
Felton enrolled at Furman in 2004, turning down scholarship offers from Tennessee Tech and Duke. That year, he appeared in every game, starting the final seven at fullback. He shared Furman Freshman of the Year honors with strong safety Andrew Thacker, as Felton ranked fourth on the team in rushing with 300 yards on 66 carries (4.5 avg), led the team with 10 touchdowns on the ground and finished second in scoring with 70 points. He snared five passes for 51 yards (10.2 avg) and a score and also posted an assisted tackle.
In 2005, Felton garnered Academic All-Southern Conference honors, adding first-team overall accolades. Despite suffering a right index fracture early in the season, he ranked 13th nationally and second in the league in scoring with a school season-record 124 points, an average of 8.86 points per game. He ran for 18 touchdowns and caught two other passes for scores, as he rushed 182 times for 940 yards (5.2 avg). He also made 18 catches for 144 yards (8.0 avg) and averaged 77.4 all-purpose yards per game while recovering one fumble.
As a junior, Felton broke his own school season-record and ranked fourth in the nation in scoring with 140 points, an average of 11.67 points per game. He appeared in 12 games, sitting out the Appalachian State game after suffering a right ankle sprain the week prior vs. Chattanooga. He finished second on the team with 707 yards on 162 carries (4.4 avg), including 23 touchdowns. He gained 85 yards on 13 catches (6.5 avg) and had one solo tackle. He also averaged 66.0 all-purpose yards per game.
Felton was the only Division 1-AA player listed on USA Today/Sports Weekly's preseason All-American team in 2007. He went on to lead the team in rushing with 705 yards and 12 touchdowns on 165 carries (4.2 avg). He also caught 11 passes for 59 yards (5.4 avg) and a score, finishing with 80 points for the season.
The Furman fullback started 43 of 48 games for the Paladins. He holds the school rushing records for fullbacks with 2,652 yards on 575 carries (4.6 avg). He set the Furman career-records with 63 touchdowns on the ground, 67 total touchdowns and 414 points scored. He snatched 46 passes for 334 yards (7.3 avg) and amassed 2,986 all-purpose yards on 621 touches, an average of 60.94 yards per game. He also recorded a pair of tackles and recovered two fumbles.
Analysis
Positives: Has a compact frame, with a well-defined upper body, muscular trapezoids, chest and arms, tight waist and hips, thick arms, thighs and calves and an overall strong physique with minimal (8.1%) body fat...Quite nimble for a player of his size, showing fluid change of direction skills as a runner, and shows good arm extension going for the ball as a pass catcher...Has good quickness, feet and balance for his position...Has a sudden burst going up the middle and natural acceleration past the line of scrimmage... His balance allows him to keep his feet after initial contact and his leg drive sees him consistently push past the pile and make upfield cuts that will generally see the tackler miss...The thing you see on film is his ability to make sharp cuts when the rush lane is clogged...Picks up stunts and blitzes quickly when blocking in the backfield and has no problems digesting a complicated playbook, as he has played a variety of positions for Furman...Has a very good feel for the creases and cutback lanes, showing vision and urgency getting through trash...Has a determined nature attacking the rush lanes and while he could use a little technique refinement as a drive blocker, he has a take no prisoners approach when asked to block in pass protection...Demonstrates the ability to quickly gain advantage into the crease, showing the suddenness to make the initial tackler miss...Has the pad level to stay square through his runs and shows a fluid step on his lateral movement...One of the things that set him apart from other big backs is his ability to stay low in his pads, which allows him to generate leg drive needed to run through small seams...Sudden out of his stance and hits the holes with power consistently to clear the line of scrimmage...On 575 rushing attempts, he has been stopped for negative yardage just 15 times, totaling 22 yards in losses...Fluid strider who can accelerate to the second level and shows that pull away burst and top-end speed needed to beat the slower linebackers when operating in space... While he is more quick than fast, he shows good acceleration getting to the outside... Might not try to wiggle and shake off a defender, but with his balance and body control, he can make the sharp cuts, showing the vision to spot the cutback lanes without having to throttle down or gather...It is very rare to see him miss the cut back, as he will hit the holes, spin and bounce off tackles...If the rush lanes are clogged, he is quick to improvise, showing the instincts and vision to power his way through even the smallest of seams...Has very good inside running strength and quick feet to accelerate past trash... His vision allows for him to bounce off tackles, much like Jerome Bettis did in his prime... Is a load to bring down one-on-one and has that body lean that allows him to get good movement after the initial hit...Powerful runner inside who has the ability to carry tacklers on his back for additional yardage...Shows good field vision and is even stronger than his frame indicates...Runs at the proper pad level and is crisp making his cuts, showing balance and power to move the pile and get the tough inside yardage...Has outstanding power and balance after initial contact and has made a living out of being the best runner possible to carry the ball in goal-line or short-yardage situations (converted 93 goal-line runs for first downs during his career, including all 29 attempts in 2006)...Possesses good knee lift and bend to sidestep low tackles and consistently moves the pile while staying low in his pads... Bounces off arm tackles and when gang-tackled, ball protection is his top priority...With his upper body strength, when he carries the ball high and tight, defenders have problems trying to dislodge the ball from him...Prior to 2007, he needed to do a better job of staying on his blocks when leading through the hole and attempting to widen the rush lanes, but he refined his blocking technique as a senior, showing good hip snap as a blocker and a strong hand jolt to push the linebackers out of the lanes, coming up with 15 touchdown-resulting blocks in his final season.
Negatives: Has the speed and cutback agility to reach the edge and turn the corner, doing a nice job of bouncing outside when the rush lanes fail to appear, but needs to square his shoulders better as he will run too wide and end up out of bounds at times...More of a move-oriented runner who will lower his pads and secure the ball with both hands, using his knee lift to step over ankle tackles and generate power to move the pile rather than try to shake and bake his opponent...Needs to work on making crisper cuts and staying in his patterns better (tends to drift)...More comfortable catching underneath tosses, as he will struggle some to adjust to the ball in flight and track it over his outside shoulder.
Compares To: JEROME BETTIS-ex-Pittsburgh...Felton is much quicker than Bettis, but both display the powerful frame that allows them to break tackles and drag multiple defenders in attempts to gain additional yardage. Felton is a devastating scorer when near the goal line and has shown decent receiving skills out of the backfield. He might be a better fit in a one-back offense, but he has enough hip snap to play tailback and the upper body strength to play fullback, making him a valuable prospect due to his versatility.
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