Here is the full article, just in case you don't want to give more traffic to SI.
I must admit I am a little disappointed that Toby has said he would play FB if a team wanted him to, even though he believes he should be a TB. Being a team first White RB usually leads to being a FB or occasional runner/receiver at best. There are some inaccurate caste terms used to describe him, but not bad overall. I sure hope he doesn't go to Denver. I can just see a repeat of the Peyton Hillis saga. Maybe he'll end up with the Patriots. There really isn't any great team to go to. All we can do is hope that for once, NFL coaches will give a White RB a legitimate, long term chance at being The Man.
<div>
Don Banks></span>INSIDE
THE NFL</div><div><t></t><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><t><tr><td><h1>Stanford's
Gerhart one of most intriguing prospects in NFL draft</h1></td><td><div><div>
Story
Highlights</div><h2>Will Toby Gerhart play running back,
fullback or both?</h2><h2>At 6-foot, 235 pounds, Gerhart is likely to go
in the second round</h2><h2>Teams that make sense for Gerhart:
Chargers, Broncos, Eagles and Patriots</h2></div></td></tr></t></table></div><t></t><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><t><tr><td><div><t></t>
Labels and
stereotypes can persist in the NFL as they do in society, and that's why
the biggest obstacle standing between Stanford's
Toby Gerhart
and the pursuit of a career as a featured NFL running back -- emphasis
on the "running'' -- might be the specter of
Tommy Vardell, the
former Stanford rusher who was wildly overdrafted by Cleveland in 1992.
"Touchdown
Tommy,'' who was taken ninth overall by none other than
Bill
Belichick and the Browns that year, never remotely lived up to the
hype created by his successful collegiate career. He spent most of his
eight NFL seasons as a plodding fullback who cleared holes for others,
topping 500 yards rushing in a season just once.
It may not be
fair to ask of last year's Heisman runner-up, but in order to get NFL
scouts to see his potential as a No. 1 running back, the 6-foot,
235-pound Gerhart has to first make them not see Vardell, whose Stanford
career rushing records he obliterated. Gerhart's task is to push back
against the prejudical notion that a big white running back is destined
to play fullback, which in and of itself is a bit of a dying position in
the pro game.
"When I met him, I was expecting the next Tommy
Vardell,'' said one NFL personnel man who has scouted Gerhart this
spring. "But this guy's a better player than that. He's got way more run
skills, with pretty good feet. You have this impression of a big,
sluggo of a white running back. But he's got more ability than that.
"I
remember Vardell had those heavy feet and he sounded like a damn
Clydesdale when he ran by," the personnel man went one. "But this kid
isn't heavy-footed at all. He's a good player, and he's been very
productive in high school and in college. At worst, he's a rotational
back, and I think he's better than that, and can do more than that. It's
just that he doesn't fit the typical NFL perception at the running back
position.''
The question of what exactly Gerhart will be in the
NFL and which team sees him as he sees himself makes for one of the most
intriguing storylines of this year's draft. Watching where he lands
should make for some must-see TV, and not just because he's something of
a throwback prospect in an era where speed reigns supreme and power
runners are relegated to the short-yardage and goal line packages.
COMPLETE DRAFT PROFILE OF TOBY GERHART
In
an informal mini-poll of NFL decision-makers this week, I discovered
plenty of enthusiasm for Gerhart as a lead running back, with many
expressing their pleasant surprise at the amount of athleticism he
exhibits. That's basically code for: He runs pretty good for a white
running back, which helps explain how he won the Doak Walker award last
season as the top collegiate back, and led the nation in rushing (1,871
yards) and touchdowns (28). He also finished second behind Alabama
running back
Mark Ingram in the Heisman voting.
The
consensus seems to be that Gerhart carries a second-round grade in the
draft and there is a growing level of excitement about his ability to
potentially front a team's rushing attack.
"I see no fullback,''
said one NFL general manager who has evaluated this year's running back
crop. "I see a running back. I've heard the fullback stuff, especially
in the past three weeks. But I think he's a unique talent with unique
skills. Based on his production, he was a running back in high school,
he was a running back in college, and he'll be a running back in the
NFL. Now, how successful? We don't know that yet. But I don't think he
poses any challenge to anybody in how to use him. He's a big back, but
he's a running back. We're looking at him and I'm not interested in
fullbacks.''
In a league that worships at the altar of speed,
Gerhart has enough of it to get the job done. He ran 40s in the mid-4.5s
this spring, and teams were also impressed with his 38-inch vertical
leap, 22 reps on the bench press, and his score of 30 on the Wonderlic,
best among running backs in this year's draft. What he lacks is wiggle
and top-notch elusiveness. Gerhart's running style is fairly straight
forward, with the key word being forward.
"The key question is, Is
he moving the chains,'' the NFL G.M. said. "He's got good enough speed
but he's clearly not a home run guy. If he kicks it in space and goes,
he's going to get you a chunk of yards. But he's not going 78 or 88. And
don't forget, the trend now in the NFL is to have a 1-2 punch (in the
backfield). A lot of (teams) have it, and a lot of (teams) will continue
to seek it.''
TOP 10 RB PROSPECTS IN THE DRAFT
Gerhart's
stock is on the rise, said NFL Network draft analyst
Mike Mayock,
because the more teams see of him, the more rock-solid every facet of
his game appears. Mayock, who I consider the best of the draft-season
talking heads, envisions a team selecting Gerhart with the added value
in mind of filling two positions with just one player.
"What I
like about him is that I think he can play two positions for you,''
Mayock said in a Wednesday conference call. "He reminds me a little bit
of [
Le'Ron]
McClain from the Ravens, where he could play
some fullback for you if you needed him to because he's tough enough and
I think he'll block. But he can also be an I-tailback that can push the
pile. And to me the I-tailback that can push the pile has more value.
"I
don't see him making a living just trying to knock down defensive ends
and linebackers (as a fullback). I think his feet are too good for that
for his size. You're talking about a 235-pound guy with great feet. So I
like him athletically. I like him playing tailback. I think he's a real
solid second-round value.''</div></td></tr></t></table>
It's not
real tricky to figure out the teams most intrigued by Gerhart's skill
set. He has visited running back-needy San Diego, as well as
Philadelphia and Baltimore in recent days, and conducted private
workouts for Denver and the New York Jets. I think New England has him
on its radar screen too, maybe if only to allow Belichick to finally get
past that Vardell pick of 18 years ago. Former Pats linebacker
Tedy
Bruschi said recently that Gerhart is Belichick's type of player.
"He's
a guy that runs hard,'' Bruschi said. "The way Bill likes to see
running backs run is 'Get yardage. Just get what you can get and then
get out. So run straight up the field.' This is what this kid is. You
see him running through guys, straight up the field, north-south. Get
the yards. Stop dancing and then here we go: Second-and-2, second-and-1.
That's what everybody wants.''
My hunch is the Broncos and
Chargers are higher on Gerhart than anyone, and are hoping he's there
for them in the second round--especially Denver, which now owns an extra
second-rounder (43rd overall) thanks to Wednesday's
Brandon Marshall
trade. How cool would it be if the Broncos were to take a player who
wore No. 7 at Stanford, just like an ex-Denver quarterback named
John
Elway?
Gerhart has stated a preference for where he plays,
and it's anywhere that gives him the ball in lead-back formations. He's
not ruling out that he might pull some fullback duty, but he's intent on
proving that the label of plowhorse-type back doesn't remotely fit.
"I
see myself as a running back at the next level,'' Gerhart said at the
NFL Scouting Combine in February. "If (fullback) is asked of me I'll do
it. The team's above all else. But I firmly believe I have the skill set
to play running back at the next level.''
Ever since the
breakthrough success of black quarterbacks in the NFL, we like to think
the league has come a long way on the whole matter of racial
stereotypes. Then along comes a player like Gerhart, and makes us
reconsider the issue from a different perspective.
"I was talking
to (ex-NFL safety and fellow Stanford man)
John Lynch and kind of
joking around, because he was kind of in the same situation as a
safety,'' Gerhart said in Indianapolis. "I've been compared with the
other white guys that have played my position. I get compared to (
John)
Riggins, (
Mike)
Alstott, and stuff like that. But
I'm color blind. I'm a running back. I compare my running style to the
likes of
Eddie George or
Corey Dillon, those types of
guys.''
Baltimore coach
John Harbaugh actually doesn't buy
Mayock's comparison of Gerhart to Ravens running back Le'Ron McClain, a
swing player who has excelled at both fullback and lead back at times in
Baltimore. Harbaugh said you can't peg Gerhart's multi-faceted game to
that limited of a scope.
"There's not a better pure running back
than Gerhart in this draft,'' said Harbaugh, whose younger brother,
Jim
Harbaugh, was Gerhart's coach at Stanford the past three years.
"He's way faster than Le'Ron. Le'Ron's 270 pounds and is truly a
fourth-quarter type back, a downhill runner. This guy is much more of a
runner. He's a big powerful back, but he can move well. And he can slip
tackles and is more elusive than people think. He's hard as hell to
tackle, and that's the bottom line.''
Gerhart's running style is
more upright than most NFL scouts prefer, but he gets high marks for
running with good, low pad level, and as he acknowledges himself, he's
going to have to learn to avoid some contact in the NFL without
abandoning his physical style of running.
"This is a kid in
college who proved he can dominate and take over a game by himself,''
John Harbaugh said. "That's pretty impressive. Any scout worth his salt
can see through the stereotypes and all the negative stuff you hear.
Woody
Hayes always said you evaluate a back by how many tackles he makes
people miss, and how many guys he runs over. That what Gerhart does.
Watch him. This guy leaves a lot of guys in his wake.
"And they
didn't throw it to him much at Stanford, but Jim swears he's got great
hands, and is just a beast in pass protection. This is a guy who can be
on the field all three downs for you. He won't have to ever come off the
field.''
On whose field will Gerhart be playing this fall, and in
what role? A starring one, or merely a complementary capacity? Next
week's NFL draft should at least start to answer the intriguing
questions that surround Gerhart.
Edited by: Colonel_Reb 
