Scouting The Draft: Darius Marshall, RB, Marshall
by David_Wyatt on Feb 28, 2010 12:45 PM EST
48 comments
Not the player that I am currently focusing on but a guy I wanted to get out there with the departure of Thomas Jones. Having watched nearly every Marshall game for the last two years, I really don't need to go and watch tape on him, but if you are looking for a late round back, then Marshall will probably be available in round 6-7. Maybe a little bit of bias on my part with Marshall, but he reminds me so much like another former Marshall late round RB draft pick, Ahmad Bradshaw, who was drafted in round 7 of the 2007 draft out of Marshall, and just rushed for nearly 800 yards in 2009.
There are some concerns with Darius, he missed games after being charged with possession of marijuana, and has had some nagging injuries. However he is a 1,000+ yard rusher for the previous two years. Granted Conference USA is not full of premier talent, but we are not talking about taking a flyer on a player with a high value pick. I know people have mentioned a lot of backs, and there is value there in the 3rd or 4th round, problem being we don't have any picks there, and if you can get a guy who is nearly a carbon copy of Bradshaw in the 6th or 7th round. I think you have to take a serious look at that.
CBS analyst during East Carolina/Marshall half time show:
"Well he is such a tremendous talent, one of the things he does so well is he uses his vision, and his ability to break tackles, he's a play maker every time he touches the ball"
Career Stats
2007- 123 attempts, 631 yards, average of 5.1, 3 TD, 14 receptions 119 yards, 8.5 average
2008- 224 attempts, 1099 yards, average of 4.9, 5 TD, 16 receptions, 98 yards, 6.1 average
2009- 227 attempts, 1131 yards, average of 5.0, 11 TD's, 12 receptions, 27 yards, 2.3 average
Career Achievements
2008- Conference USA 2nd Team Selection
2009- Conference USA 2nd Team Selection
2007- Conference USA All-Freshman Selecion
What does Darius Marshall do well?
Marshall is a very tough back with good vision, he spots the holes and he has a nice burst through them. Although he doesn't have great size he is an inside presence, and even though he doesn't have the best speed he can bounce it to the outside if he needs to. Not a burner but does have open field speed, and can make players miss, can pick up extra yardage after contact. This is his biggest area of strength, he keeps his legs moving, he stays low, he puts the shoulder on you, remains balanced and keeps on churning. Competent on pass blocking, and puts his body on the line. His pass catching is fine, the Herd suffered from some sloppy QB play over the last year or so, so he really has not been given chance to prove himself. With someone like Mark Sanchez who can make a quick read and get the ball in his hands quickly, he could be a viable pass catching back.
What Does Darius Marshall not do well?
His size is always going to be questioned, and that's where he draws comparison to Bradshaw. His charge on possession of marijuana could trouble people. Doesn't have elite speed, and won't blow people away in the open field. Can sometimes suffer ball security issues, but not to a great deal. Although he is competent in pass protection, he will have to work on this at the next level. Being undervalued coming from C-USA.
Final Word
I would love to see Marshall on the Jets next year. He is a great compliment back, not a guy who is going to demand 20 carries a game but a great guy to bring in to give Greene a rest. We have a space with the running backs, and this is great value in the later rounds. Would like to see how he could do with a good QB, even though a lot of teams didn't respect the passing game of Marshall last season, which allowed them to cheat up on the run, Darius still did some damage and this was with missing games. He compares very favourably to Ahmad Bradshaw, same school, same qualities, likely same draft stock.
Video Highlights
Will leave the choices out here, because this is a 6th or 7th round selection.
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rd1-kyle wilson
rd2-jordan shipley
rd3-toby gerhart
rd 5-best edge rusher stil on the board
rd6-nickel corner
rd7-back up lb
by servantofchrist on Feb 28, 2010 1:07 PM EST reply actions
How are we taking Toby Gerhart in the 3rd with no 3rd round pick?
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I think you are completely wrong but it wouldn’t be the first time we have disagreed. Over 100 yards per game average with a less than steller run blocking offensive line and not much from the QB position. People said similar about Bradshaw and I disagreed, Giants got a bargain in the 7th. Let’s see if history repeats itself.
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4.56 and 4.62 were his two 40 times, thought he would be around 4.58, so right on target there. Very decent for a guy with his vision. Guys going to be an absolute steal.
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Maybe he would be a steal for another team, but for us he wouldnt be a good fit. If Greene goes down, we would be stuck with Marshall and Leon. 2 small scat-back types. I prefer another banger. Someone that can wear down a defense. Having 2 healthy bangers that can share the load is all the more better.
He’s not a scat back, he can really lower his shoulder, not sure if you have actually watched him, but how many times over the last two years, has he put his shoulder into someone and laid them out. Just because he isn’t 230lb’s doesn’t mean he can’t wear defences down. Like all scouting reports will tell you, he will not go down on first contact, which means he is wearing down multiple defenders. He is a perfect compliment for us in the later rounds, Greene is the pounder, Leon is the scat and Marshall would be the mix, just like the Giants, Earth/Wind & Fire compliment.
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I havent seen him, and i can’t find any video, but he’s not even 200 pds. He might have been able to lower the boom in the MAC, but can we really expect a sub-200 pounder to rip thru arm tackles and punish defenders in the NFL? I just don’t see it. He’s not even ranked on a lot of sites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3MkLCRkPIM
Here we go, they play exactly the same game, what was Bradshaw when he came into the league 195lb’s?? I’ve watched this guy for a while, and I truly think that he can make a impact, and he will, just like Bradshaw did. Look at a pre 2007 draft scouting report of him and a pre 2010 scouting report of Marshall. Identical, speed the same, height, Marshall is bigger, Weight Bradshaw around 3-5 lb’s heavier. That video shows Bradshaw, but it’s a carbon copy of Marshall, and I doubt you will find anyone who disagrees if they have watched both play. 6th-7th round….were talking value.
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Dave i’ve agreed with most of your assessments. And i trust your judgment morethan any other analyst when it comes to the Jets and their needs. But i can’t go with you on this one.
Saying a guy is a carbon copy of another is precarious enough in itself. The fact that Bradshaw is shorter and heavier tells me that he’s a more powerful package. You told us that Marshall had some injury concerns (thats while playing in the MAC) and some character concerns.
And even if taking your assessment as true (ie Marshall is Bradshaw), Bradshaw is a small, scat back in the NFL. He is incapable of taking on a lot of carries over a long period of time. He’s a change of pace guy. We have a scat-back change of pace guy in Leon (whose 5’8" 195-200 btw).
With our Ground & Pound philosophy, I think it would be better to go with a bigger back in the 220+ range. Especially since i dont think Greene can stay healthy over the course of an entire season.
Well sorry Crack but I think you are 100% wrong about this guy and although you say you trust my judgement, we disagree a lot, and when trusting a judgement that usually comes when someone has seen a player more than you have, like I would trust John’s judgement over my own on any BC product.. However not thinking this is a good idea in the 6th or 7th round is madness IMO He had an ankle injury which made him miss two games, nothing to do with playing in the MAC, I think he did it on the turf, that’s the BS that I hate, oh it’s MAC, let’s not even look at this player, something that has been going on for years.
Bradshaw carried over 160 times this year, if a guy can take 10 carries a game and give you 800 yards, which is where I expect Marshall to sit in the NFL when all is said and done, you take that in the later rounds. Leon and Marshall may sit similar, there builds are completely different, there games are not even close to being the same.
How long is this ground and pound philosophy going on though, with Sanchez improving, I think you have said yourself it will change over time. I hate the notion of picking off size, I pick off talent, and sorry to say Crack but your analyse of Marshall sounds like someone who has never seen him play. Taking vitals and presuming his play off that base, which is an awful way to evaluate talent IMO.
Agree to disagree most definitely here, but the Jets would be wise to select Marshall if he is there in the 6th-7th round.
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Just saying, what 5-9 193lb doesn’t tell you, about his patience and vision. That’s something that you won’t get from a tape measure or scales. Who was it who said there is no substitute for on field performance…….can’t remember but it’s true. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover and all that jazz.
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Agree to disagree then. Sorry Dave but I think you have the homer bias in full swing on this one. 5’10" 195 can mean only one thing in the NFL: scat-back. You don’t have to see the guy to know that. Would Bradshaw be a good fit on the Jets? No.
Ground & Pound is a core philosophy according to the HC. Although I agree that as Sanchez develops, the offense will be more balanced, I think Rex wants bigs in the back-field that can wear defenses down.
No homerism, just the same analyse that I always do on a player I have had the pleasure to watch. We will wait and see this one, not a big fan of the ‘I Told You so’ thing, so will let it fall when you get a chance to actually watch the player go.
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Also just for arguments sake, you have said yourself there is no guarantee that Leon comes back healthy. So say he is, and can give you around 600-800 yards of production getting 10 carries a game, your not taking that with a 7th round pick? find that strange. No risk, a fair bit of rewards. Vision/patience and burst……..pretty important with backs, low risk, very high reward.
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He might have been able to lower the boom in the MAC, but can we really expect a sub-200 pounder to rip thru arm tackles and punish defenders in the NFL?
If a guy’s lower body is built well, he can break tackles. MJD isn’t much bigger than 200 pounds, and he’s pretty bruising between the tackles.
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Honestly I couldn’t tell you. I can’t really remember watching him play at all. Just saying in general that a smallish back potentially could be decent at running between the tackles.
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Crack, first watch some film on him and then say he isn’t an inside runner….he is know as a inside runner, has been doing it for years. Say what you want about whether at his size he shouldn’t be, he does, plain and simple.
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There’s no film i can find. Not saying he’s not an inside runner. Just saying he can’t run inside and hold up in the NFL. He probably won’t be able to run effectively inside in the NFL due to his size. The NFL is not the MAC.
Fully understand that but just saying that he has a ton of great attributes, and we are talking a 7th round selection here. I think he will be able to run inside in the NFL, especially with this O-line, he breaks arm tackles, that’s what he does, regardless of who it is, he will be the same in the NFL. I’m just saying that for a 7th round selection your not gna find too many guys like Darius Marshall. I will take football instincts, vision and burst and production, even in the MAC, over 1100 yards in 10 games with what he had to work with is very good, over the basic intangibles that say he shouldn’t be successful. That’s what I’m saying.
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If you want a Marshall player I would wait for Dion Lewis
I don’t usually follow college ball, but I saw him in the bowl game and was very impressed.
As A Marshall fan, I can’t say as I have ever heard of a Dion Lewis playing for us. Are you thinking of the Freshman from Pitt Dion Lewis??
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I was very surprised to see Bradshaw’s 40 time was in the 4.5 range when I looked it up. I figured it would have been a lot faster.
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He definitely plays faster doesn’t he, same as someone else ;-)
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How’d you end up becoming a Marshall fan? Pennington?
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Yer pretty much, love college football, so was looking for a smaller school as well.
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Gotcha, reason I asked was I can’t imagine there are too many Marshall fans over in the UK ;-)
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Ha I doubt it, being a history guy as well, when researching college football, obviously the plane crash cropped up.
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Yeah, my second thought was maybe We Are Marshall.
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Was before that, but do love the film. Never really talked about following Marshall, following two teams is something people can rarely understand. With no affiliations to either though, just said why not.
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Yeah, especially in a college sport where the teams are in different conferences. My family’s originally from Pennsylvania so I rooted for Penn State when I was a kid. Couldn’t just give that up when I went to BC so I root for both. When they play though, I have to root for my school.
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You know who I have heard absolutely nothing on is Arthur Jones. During the season he was a borderline 1st round player and over the past month Ive heard nothing on him! Is his stock dropping that quickly?
Your not wrong, He was the first player I looked at back during the season and his stock was low first round, but since then, heard nothing about him, and when he has been mentioned it has been in a negative light. To be truthful with you, I have no idea where his stock is right now.
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I’m not saying I like him more than Odrick but if we go McCourty or corner first and trade down, he will probably be available later. May be its worth taking a flyer on him. I looked at your post in that article about he won’t be available 2nd. Well, he may be available 3rd! lol.
NO RB's!!
we had the best rushing game last year in the NFL there is no reason as to why we should pursue a running back, unless if TJ is let go which i strongly doubt will happen.
by LostOnRevisIsland24 on Mar 1, 2010 11:15 AM EST reply actions
Chancellor, Jerry Hughes, etc..
David,
Chancellor is too slow to make it as a corner but might make it as a S. He has excellent size at 6’3" and 232 lbs. I haven’t seen him play and it would be interesting to see what you thought of him on film.
According to Steve Muench of Scouts, Inc. Jerry Huges is ‘showing that he is athletic enough (the all important " is fuid opening his hips") to transition to outside linebacker’ in the pros at the combine. This is the only part of his game that I think scouts weren’t sure about and now I am worried he won’t be available at the Jets first pick.
With Jones gone what $$$ do you think he will sign for? I hope for him (he did a good job for the Jets) and the Jets he gets the price he is looking for. It would be a good blog to speculate on the free agent we could get for the same $$$’s.
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