Prospect of the Day: Trent Richardson, Alabama, RB

Last year Mark Ingram was drafted in the first round by the New Orleans Saints, which is fine because he’s a talented player, but if you ask many draftniks he wasn’t even the best running back on his team last year at Alabama. Trent Richardson is a more dynamic player than Mark Ingram and has an opportunity this year to really prove that he could be worth a top 10 pick in the N.F.L. draft.

Richardson is off to a roaring start this year having already scored five touchdowns and carried the rock 39 times for 148 yards (3.8 yards per carry) while catching the ball 5 times for 35 yards. That doesn’t sound great, but considering he just had a 26 carry 111 yard game with 2 touchdowns and 19 receiving yards vs Penn State, Richardson is proving early why he’s worth first round consideration. This year he’ll have to show he can handle more carries (145 and 112 the past first seasons) and still maintain that high yard per carry (6.3 last year) to stay in that conversation as a top 20 pick in the first round of the 2012 N.F.L. Draft.

This is the building block for our scouting report which will become more and more evolved as we approach draft day.

Sayre’s intial scouting report:

Trent Richardson (Junior), RB, 5’11″ 220

Keep an eye on Richardson as a potential Heisman trophy candidate. After pairing with Mark Ingram the last two years, Richardson is ready for a full load and could be one of the nation’s most powerful and dominant running backs. In fact, I wouldn’t be shocked to see him finish a fully healthy season with more than 2,000 yards on the ground, and I would put him right behind Andrew Luck as the top Heisman candidate as of right now. This is a guy who is relentless, and not just on the field, but off. Richardson is an absolute beast in the weight room, and consistently puts in the time and effort. He averaged over six yards per carry last year, and really developed as a receiver as well. He is one of the best players in the country, and has the potential to be a top 10 pick in the 2012 draft if he declares. He might be the best RB prospect to come along since Adrian Peterson in the class of 2007.

A couple of Highlight Films

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