Kudos to you if this name rings a bell: Broderick Green.
He was one of the top running backs for the high school class of 2007. He went to USC. You don't get those kudos if you're a USC fan.
You know who else went to USC in 2007? Joe McKnight and Marc Tyler. Guess what McKnight and Tyler have in common? They were both five-star running backs. McKnight being the No. 1 RB prospect in the country and Tyler being No. 3.
I'll admit, I was an English major in college, but I was never bad at math. In my years of watching college football I've noticed this trend when the offense is on the field: Coaches usually feature one running back. Sometimes there's two, but that's rare.
Green, McKnight and Tyler all went to USC in the same class one year after blue chip running backs C.J. Gable, Stafon Johnson, Emmanuel Moody and Stanley Havili arrived on campus. If you're keeping score, that's seven blue chips in two seasons... for one position (Havili plays fullback, but gets his fair share of carries). All of this does not take into the account the guys who were on campus before 2006, such as Chauncey Washington (195 carries this year). This is a good problem for a football coach to have, not an uber-talented, young running back looking for carries.
Confidence is one thing, but going to USC with that kind of depth chart really isn't smart. It may have been smart for McKnight, assuming Pete Carroll told him something along the lines of "If you verbal, I will play you as a true freshman and you will be the next Reggie Bush." But I can assure you he didn't tell that to every RB who decided on USC. Carroll has been around the block and knows how to recruit.
I understand Green was the first of the lot to commit, but there's no rule that says you can't look around if the boat you're on starts to sink from all the other talent climbing aboard.
Rumors are that Green is looking to transfer, and I can't blame him. Coming out of Little Rock, he had all the talent and his choice of colleges. The promise I assume McKnight received from Carroll probably could have been demanded by Green from almost any other school in the country. At 6'1", 230 lbs., he has that rare combination of size and speed for a running back. Watch the film for yourself. Any college would love to have him.
Word is that he's looking at Texas A&M, Arkansas and Penn State -- some of the schools he considered while he was a senior at Pulaski Academy. But Penn State appears to be out of the question. I was told today he put a call into Joe Paterno who replied with a simple, "No." JoePa is old school and believes transfers come with baggage, and you can't blame him.
So new coaches Bobby Petrino and Mike Sherman are left to battle for Green's services (assuming he's down to just those two).
Green will have plenty of time to arrive on campus, learn the offense and have three years of eligibility to make a name for himself.
But wouldn't have been so much easier with five years in the same location?
Comments (3)
So how does a team with so much depth lose to Stanford?
I'm with JoePa on this one. I'm sure Broderick is a nice guy and all... and Penn State pursued him mightily last year... but that was then and this is now. Penn State will have four talented running backs competing for playing time next year (Evan Royster, Stephon Green, Brandon Beachum, and Michael Shaw)... a fifth would be a waste of a scholarship that the Lions could use on a wideout or defensive back.
Maybe he could declare his eligibility for the NFL and play for Pete in Atlanta... nah.... :-)
Of course, Rutgers could use him to as a follow on the Ray Rice.
Seriously, His best choice would be a Big Ten team that would use his strengths as a power back effectively. Maybe Wisconsin? Looks like they could use a little help at RB over the next three years.