Buccaneers find undrafted gem in RB Russell Hansbrough
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may have found an undrafted free agent gem in Missouri RB Russell Hansbrough. Can he crack the roster?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a really intriguing group of young skill players, and former Missouri Tigers running back Russell Hansbrough hopes to earn a spot in the rotation.
Hansbrough slipped through the cracks after an underwhelming and injury-riddled senior campaign, but prior to last year, he appeared to be one of the best up-and-coming running backs in the SEC.
He’s not a big back at 5-8, 192 pounds, but he’s a burner in a straight line and if he finds a crease, you can forget about it — you won’t catch him. He’s going to have to return to the form we saw in 2014 when he was a junior and ran for over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns. This past season Missouri’s rushing attack was only able to come up with five touchdowns total.
Mizzou may have struggled running the ball this past year, but the potential is there for him to be an impact change of pace back in the NFL.
What Hansbrough brings to the table is speed, quickness, the ability to make people miss in the open field, and versatility as a pass catcher though he wasn’t used a ton in that regard at Missouri.
Despite a 4.38 second 40-yard dash, Hansbrough’s pro day wasn’t a resounding success. He struggled with dropped passes and slipping on the surface as NFL teams watched him work out. Despite a personal-best 17 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press (phenomenal for a back under 200 pounds), teams decided to hold off on drafting the Missouri speedster and the Buccaneers came calling after the draft was finished.
Our friends over at Pewter Plank opined that despite his lack of experience in this area, Hansbrough would be an intriguing kick or punt return candidate because of his shiftiness, quickness, and open field speed.
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“Even though he only recorded one kickoff during his college career (which went for 56 yards), it could help set him apart from the pack. Flexibility is key on this new team, and if Hansbrough is able to be a special teams return ace and the third string running back, don’t be surprised if he makes the 53 man roster.”
The Buccaneers didn’t have an overwhelming undrafted free agent crop this year. Hansbrough stands out because of his speed and how he translates that to the field. He’s not a pile driver as a running back, but he’s able to break tackles because of his low center of gravity, and he has better strength than advertised.
The Buccaneers just might have found an undrafted gem in this kid.