Marcus Lattimore, RB, South Carolina Gamecocks: 2013 NFL Draft Player Profile

Height:  5’11”

Weight:  221 pounds

Position Rank: 3

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

Scouting Report/Player Notes

Marcus Lattimore is one of the top running backs in all of college football–when healthy. Lattimore missed over half of the 2011 season after tearing his knee up in October. Prior to missing time, Lattimore was having an up-and-down 2011 campaign after completely taking the college football world by storm as a true freshman in 2010. As a frosh, Lattimore had 1,197 yards and 17 rushing touchdowns, but that’s not the extent of his game. He looked well beyond his years in terms of his pass catching abilities, hauling in 29 passes for 412 yards and two more scores. Because of his size, he is very hard for defenders to take down, especially on initial contact, but he’s not as powerful of a back as you would expect for someone who is over 230 pounds. He is elusive in the open field and able to make defenders miss pretty easily, which is impressive at his size. He has excellent burst and is very decisive with his cuts and with the hole he is hitting. His quickness to the edge is elite, and he can make something out of nothing in a hurry. There are times when you are watching him where he makes a busted run up the middle look like it was designed to go outside because of how quick he is. I don’t see him running in the 4.3 or maybe even 4.4 range, but his quickness and agility are up there among some of the best backs I’ve seen.

Very good student and has those intangibles that you look for. Going to have to work really hard to get back to full strength from that ACL injury, but for a prospect, that’s not the worst thing because you can come back from those types of injuries bigger, better, stronger, and in better shape and with more time to dissect things off the field. For his position, it’s not a good injury to have on your resume’, especially because there is a decent chance of it potentially happening again, and that could drive down his status if he is unable to stay fully healthy for a season. South Carolina needs to do the right thing for his future and not rush him back just so they can compete in 2012. If he is rushed back before he’s ready, it could be a very short NFL career for him.

If he is healthy, he is a no-brainer first round prospect in my opinion. There are virtually no flaws to his overall game. He has the potential to be a 25-30 carry workhorse back in the NFL, and do it for a long time provided his knee holds up. I think the sky is the limit for Lattimore, who will go down as one of the best backs to play in college football.

2011 Notes:

I don’t care that Lattimore is not eligible until 2013 at the earliest, he is so freaking special that he needs to be written about. This man missed a game in 2010, and had one game where he had one carry for negative one yard, and he still managed a true freshman campaign that included 1,197 yards on 249 carries highlighted by 17 rushing touchdowns. He also showed that he is a man among boys in the passing game, where he caught 29 passes for 412 yards and two more touchdowns. He should be a leading Heisman Trophy candidate for the 2011 season, and is arguably the best overall running back in the country. He is the most complete back I have seen coming out since Adrian Peterson. He is very well built, powerful, and hard to bring down. Lattimore also has deceptive speed for his size, and he is a hard worker off the field. Just a big back with excellent power, who will be a very high draft pick in 2013 or 2014.

Career Highlights (via South Carolina athletics site)

2012: Gamecocks’ leading rusher with 662 yards and 11 touchdowns despite playing just nine games… named honorable mention All-SEC by the Associated Press… earned SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the fourth time in his career after rushing for 110 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries in the season-opening win at Vanderbilt… tied the school record for career touchdowns with his 33rd when he went in from six yards out against East Carolina… carried 12 times for 85 yards and a touchdown against UAB… the touchdown was the 34th of his career, establishing a new school record… became the school’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns when he had a pair of short TD bursts against Missouri while carrying 21 times for 85 yards… also caught a career-high seven passes for 60 yards… carried 23 times for 120 yards and two touchdowns in the win at Kentucky… 108 of his 120 yards came in the second half… logged 109 rushing yards and a touchdown against Georgia… it was his third 100-yard rushing game against the Bulldogs… earned a spot on Phil Steele’s first-team Midseason All-SEC squad… scored the 40th touchdown of his career at LSU… did not make the start at Florida due to an injury that kept him sidelined during the week of practice… it was the first game of his collegiate career that he played in and did not start… suffered a severe right knee injury in the win over Tennessee which ended his season prematurely for the second year in a row… prior to the injury had rushed 11 times for 65 yards, including a 28-yard scoring burst, his 41st career touchdown and 38th career rushing TD… underwent knee surgery on November 2… ranks sixth in school history with 2,677 rushing yards, fourth in rushing attempts with 555, first in both rushing (38) and total (41) touchdowns, third in points scored (246) and tied for second with 11 career 100-yard rushing games… was especially impressive in leading the Gamecocks to three-straight wins over Georgia with 88 carries for 467 yards and four touchdowns rushing against the Bulldogs… named the Dr. Harris Pastides Scholar-Athlete for football at the 2012 Garnet & Black Spring Game… invited to the NFL Combine.

2011: Heisman Trophy candidate before his season ended prematurely when he suffered a knee injury in the win at Mississippi State… finished his second campaign with 818 yards on 163 carries, an average of 5.0 yards per carry… had 10 rushing touchdowns… also caught 19 passes for 182 yards and a score… ranked among the SEC and national leaders in rushing at 116.9 yards per game, scoring at 9.4 points per game, and in all-purpose yards per game at 142.9, but did not play in enough games to qualify for the national rankings… had four 100-yard rushing games (East Carolina-112; Georgia-176; Navy-246; Kentucky-102)… his 246-yard performance against Navy set a career high and was the fourth-highest single game total in school history… had a 52-yard touchdown reception right before the half that was a key play in the win over Vanderbilt… despite playing just seven games, still was named second-team All-SEC by both the Associated Press, the SEC Coaches, Rivals.com and Phil Steele… a member of the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll.

2010: True freshman who electrified South Carolina, the SEC and the nation… named first-team All-American by CollegeFootballNews.com, second team by Walter Camp and fourth team by Phil Steele… unanimous choice for National Freshman of the Year… also a unanimous selection as SEC Freshman of the Year and a first-team All-SEC choice by both the league’s coaches and the AP… named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week twice after performances against Georgia and Florida… was the SEC Freshman of the Week on four occasions: honored after the Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and Troy games… led the Gamecocks with 1,197 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns on 249 carries… also had 29 receptions for 412 yards and two more scores… became the school’s freshman record-holder in rushing yardage, passing Thomas Dendy’s 28-year-old record of 848 yards… notched the third-best single-season rushing total in Carolina history, behind only George Rogers’ 1,681 yards in 1979 and 1,894 yards in his Heisman Trophy-winning 1980 season… became SC’s all-time single-season leader in touchdowns with 19, breaking Harold Green’s record of 16 set in 1987… had 114 points, setting the school record previously held by PK Collin Mackie with 113 in 1987… fell one TD shy of the SEC record for TDs by a freshman, set by Tennessee’s Reggie Cobb in 1990… finished third in the SEC in rushing yards (92.1) and all-purpose yards (123.8) per game… was fifth in the league in scoring and third among non-kickers… started all 13 games in which he appeared… career debut was a 14-carry, 54-yard, two-touchdown effort versus Southern Miss… had a breakout game with a 37-carry, 182-yard, two-touchdown effort against Georgia in his second career game… the 182-yard effort was the most for a Carolina back since 2000… rushed 19 times for 97 yards with a long of 28 yards and one touchdown in the win over Furman… rushed 23 times for 93 yards and two scores and caught two passes for 16 yards and another score in the win over No. 1 Alabama… accounted for 204 yards of offense in the first half at Kentucky, carrying 13 times for 71 yards and catching four passes for 133 yards but suffered a sprained left ankle early in the third quarter and sat out the remainder of the game after logging two carries for eight yards in the second half… tied his career high with three touchdowns in the game, scoring on a 30-yard run, a 10-yard run and a 47-yard pass reception… scored a dozen touchdowns in his first six games as a collegian… named second-team Midseason All-SEC by Phil Steele… sat out the Vanderbilt game while nursing the ankle injury… had a 29-carry, 184-yard outing against Tennessee and scored a touchdown for the seventh straight game… rewrote the Carolina record books with a school-record 40 carries for 212 yards and three TDs in win over Florida that clinched Carolina’s first SEC Eastern Division title… combined with 31 yards on two catches, he outgained and outscored the Gators by himself (Lattimore: 243 yards, 18 points; Florida: 226 yards, 14 points)… became the first Gamecock to have three games with 180+ rushing yards in the same season… ran for three touchdowns on just seven carries vs. Troy… racked up 102 rushing yards, including a 58-yard run, and did not play in the second half… had 84 yards on 16 carries in SEC Championship Game… injured early in the Chick-fil-A Bowl against Florida State… had a 53-yard reception before his early departure.

Video Highlights (via YouTube)