Scouting The 2014 NFL Draft: LaDarius Perkins, RB, Mississippi State

Introduction

I'm staying with the seniors here with Perkins who has been a productive back in the SEC with the Mississippi State bulldogs. Now running back is probably not a massive need for us considering we have Powell and Ivory. A receiving 3rd down back may be on the agenda, and while Perkins is hardly outstanding in this area, he has had some success receiving in college. The Jets did meet with Perkins at the East/West shrine game, but we'll meet with over 100 prospects over the course of the process and will only draft around 8 of them. So I don't get too caught up on this kind of information.

Rated as the 24th best prospect in Mississippi following his senior year in high school, Perkins decided to stay close to home committing with the bulldogs. After sitting his freshman year, he burst onto the scene in his redshirt freshman year and never looked back. Although his production wasn't quite as good this year thanks to the emergence of Dak Prescott, he still started all 12 games for the bulldogs and will be an interesting prospect to watch.

Measurables

Height: 5"8

Weight: 189lb's

Class: Senior

Projected 40: 4.35-4.45

Statistics

Positives

• Build: Got a very strong core, big thighs and broad shoulders. Distributes his weight well and has a very powerful lower body that allows him to break through arm tackles.
• Acceleration: He may not look like a burner, but he gets up to top speed very quickly, and when you are bursting through a hole in the line, having that quick acceleration will serve you well.
• Vision: He can be a very patient runner, who uses his vision to spot cut-back opportunities, has a great stop-start move that everyone talks about, leads to a lot of misses tackles.
• Soft hands: Quite simple, Mississippi State should have used him more as a receiver, he has very soft hands and secures the ball before turning up field.
• Open Field: Although he isn't a burner, he has quickness, pace and good feet to make cuts in the open field. This makes him dangerous as a runner and as a receiver.

• Doesn't run as fast as his 40 time would suggest. I expect him to be at that 4.4 mark but doesn't always translate to game speed.
• Motor: In 2012 he had a lot of carries, in 2013 I thought he ran out of a steam towards the end of the season. He was being caught from behind and he wasn't able to extend those long runs into scoring runs.
• Pass Protection: I didn't see him pass protect a lot in college, but when he did he seemed to dive into the oncoming pass rusher, with quicker more agile pass rushers in the NFL, he could be a liability when it comes to keeping the QB upright.
• Too hesitant?: This is based on his inability to get the ball in the end-zone as a runner this season, sometimes I want him to just follow the blocker, but sometimes he wants to bounce it outside, and gets caught on the edge.