Oct 20, 2012; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Temple Owls running back Montel Harris (8) carries the ball during the third quarter against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA. Rutgers defeated Temple 35-10. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Height:  5’10″

Weight:  207 pounds

Position Rank:

Drafted By:

40 Yard Dash:  N/A

Bench Press:  N/A

Vertical Jump:  N/A

Broad Jump:  N/A

20-Yard Shuttle: N/A

Career Stats  (**2008-2011 with Boston College)

Scouting Report/Player Notes

Video Highlights (via YouTube)

Sep 24, 2011; Boston, MA, USA; Boston College Eagles running back Montel Harris (2) runs the ball against the Massachusetts Minutemen during the first half at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-US PRESSWIRE

The country’s active leading rusher at the FBS level (in case you didn’t know) is former Boston College running back Montel Harris, and he will play the 2012 season as a member of the Temple Owls. Harris has had multiple knee injuries in his career, most notably last year when he was coming off of two straight 1,000 plus yard seasons and a 900 yard year as a freshman, and the wear and tear on his body finally took its toll. The 5-foot-9, 208 pound back finished school at Boston College, and is eligible for graduate classes at Temple.

Harris missed much of last year with a knee injury and then he re-injured his knee this past Spring, and was kicked off the team for violating team rules repeatedly. He finished his career with Boston College with 3,735 yards and 30 total touchdowns, and he will be an immediate contributor to the Temple offensive attack.

The Owls lost star running back Bernard Pierce to the NFL Draft this year, where he was selected to the Baltimore Ravens in the third round. Harris is considered a mid-late round prospect, but obviously his injury and character concerns are the biggest reason why. He will be 23 at this point next year, and teams will have to do some digging into his background to make sure he is worth a selection in the draft. I think he will be really productive for Temple, but that will give him even more carries at the collegiate level where he has definitely taken a beating.

Dec. 17, 2011; Albuquerque, NM, USA; Temple Owls running back (30) Bernard Pierce runs the ball in the second quarter against the Wyoming Cowboys in the 2011 New Mexico Bowl at University Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Temple running back Barnard Pierce is a guy that when I watched him play, I thought he reminded me a lot of Matt Forte but I didn’t think he had the same kind of straight-line speed.

Turns out, he’s faster.

Pierce had a fantastic pro day for the Temple Owls, turning in a 40 yard dash time of 4.34 seconds, which is absolutely incredible. Pierce left school a year early much to the chagrin of his former head coach, but he should be a second or third pick almost guaranteed now after that kind of showing.

Last season, Pierce ran for 1,481 yards and 27 touchdowns, and while he is a big back, he’s not considered much of a power back, which is why some scouts have him in the third or fourth rounds.

Here is my scouting report:

Scouting Report

Pierce is the type of guy who could come out after this year, his junior season, and make serious noise at offseason workouts. He is a physical marvel at about 6’1″ 220 pounds, and he reminds me a lot of Matt Forte with his ability to cut and his straight-line speed. I am not sure he has 4.4 speed like Forte, but he is definitely quick and a former track guy who can definitely burn defenders. Runs hard, will remind a lot of people of James Starks of the Green Bay Packers. Has had a huge career with Temple to this point, rushing for over 1,000 yards in two of his three seasons with 45 career touchdowns through 11/9/11. Needs to improve in his pass catching skills, but definitely has the ability to make plays in the open field. I am not willing to say he is a poor power back for his size, but he is definitely better suited to make plays on the outside and in the open field (similar to Forte).

Sometimes he will go down a little too easily on initial contact, but he is one of those guys who will have carries of 3, 4, 3, 2, and 3 yards and then just bust off a 30 or 40 yard rush. Nice agility, will at times try to do too much. Will have to make an adjustment to higher level of competition for sure, as he will not physically dominate most everyone like he does now at Temple. Good patience, doesn’t let the fact that defenses key on him on every play get to him as the game progresses. Solid balance, always looking for the open lane which can sometimes burn him as he will abandon initial gap read and try to reverse field.

PROS: Size, agility, big play ability, upside, hard runner, potential as a receiver, nose for the end zone

CONS: Lack of adequate competition, sometimes over-anxious, tends to rely too much on ability to dominate opposition with measurables, lack of receptions.

Player comparison: Matt Forte/James Starks

Nov 09, 2011; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Temple Owls tight end Evan Rodriguez (88) carries the ball during the fourth quarter against the Miami RedHawks at Lincoln Financial Field. Temple defeated Miami Ohio 24-21. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE

This is our 2012 NFL Full back rankings.

1. Chad Diehl, Clemson
2. Emil Igwenagu, UMass
3. Evan Rodriguez, Temple
4. Cody Johnson, Texas
5. Brad Smelley, Alabama
6. Ryan Houston, North Carolina
7. Drake Dunsmore, Northwestern
8. Bradie Ewing, Wisconsin
9. Joe Suhey, Penn State
10. Broderick Green, Arkansas
11. Bruce Figgins, Georgia
12. Eric Lair, Minnesota

Bernard Pierce, RB, Temple Owls is the Highlight of Saturday's Bowl Games

Happy Bowl season everyone. Today the bowl season opens up with three semi-lackluster games with some really great bowl names. Temple will play Wyoming in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl, Ohio takes on Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato bowl, and San Diego State University plays Louisiana Lafayette in the R + L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. All three games will be on ESPN. There aren’t a ton of draft prospects to know from these games but there are enough for the die-hard draft fans,a lot of  late round guys for the most part, but a few day two guys as well.

Temple-

RB Bernard Pierce

Temple has one really nice running prospect, Bernard Pierce who is probably the top prospect on display on Saturday. Our Pierce scouting report is here. Pierce has really nice athleticism, pretty good size, and can even catch the ball out of the backfield as well. Pierce has a really good chance of being drafted on day two. Pierce is one of the few running backs in this class who can be an every-down back in the N.F.L.

OLB Adrian Robinson

We haven’t gotten to an Adrian Robinson scouting report yet, but he’s another nice prospect for the Temple Owls. Robinson looked like one of the top pass rushers in the country in 2009 when he had 12 sacks an 14 tackles for loss. He had a bad 2010, but as bounced back nicely here in 2011 with 6 sacks and 11 TFL. He’s a defensive linemen at Temple, but he doesn’t have the size to play defensive line in the N.F.L. (6’2 250 pounds) so he’s a 34 projection rush linebacker.

Lastly for Temple is Offensive linemen Derek Dennis. A big linemen at 6’5 316 pounds. I haven’t focused enough on him to give you anything in depth, but he’s one I’ll be watching him today.

Wyoming-

Wyoming has an intriguing defensive back Tashaun Gipson Sayre wrote a scouting report on the other day. Gipson is a late round, undrafted guy who could make a team and play some special teams and play on some sub-packages.Gipson has played cornerback and safety and has pretty good size.He doesn’t have the kind of interception numbers you’d like to see though facing non-elite competition.

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Measurables:

6’0″ 218 pounds, 31.5 inch arms, 9.25 hands

40 yard dash: 4.49 at combine 4.34 at his Proday

17 bench press reps, 36.5 inch vertical, 123 inch broad jump, 7.07 3 cone drill, 4.28 20 yard shuttle

Scouting Report

Pierce is the type of guy who could come out after this year, his junior season, and make serious noise at offseason workouts. He is a physical marvel at about 6’1″ 220 pounds, and he reminds me a lot of Matt Forte with his ability to cut and his straight-line speed. I am not sure he has 4.4 speed like Forte, but he is definitely quick and a former track guy who can definitely burn defenders. Runs hard, will remind a lot of people of James Starks of the Green Bay Packers. Has had a huge career with Temple to this point, rushing for over 1,000 yards in two of his three seasons with 45 career touchdowns through 11/9/11. Needs to improve in his pass catching skills, but definitely has the ability to make plays in the open field. I am not willing to say he is a poor power back for his size, but he is definitely better suited to make plays on the outside and in the open field (similar to Forte).

(more…)

Here we are again gearing up for another very exciting weekend in College Football. Below is a link to a Podcast put together by NFL Mocks writer Jason Madson and features NFL Mock’s Jon Dove and In the Bleachers Michael Felder.  The podcast touches on several hot topics in every conference in College Football.  This week we discuss the legal troubles at Florida, talk about the big stories in each conference in The Breakdown, make our selections in the PGWU Pick’Em segment and finish the show off with the World Famous Prospect Quick Fire.

Pregame Warm-Up Podcast