Toby Gerhart NFL Draft projections don't match his resume

NFL Draft projections for Toby Gerhart don't seem to match his college results, but for big money he could fall back on baseball. Flickr photo.

Toby Gerhart NFL Draft projections have him being selected in the second or third round. But not everyone agrees with the NFL Draft experts. Conventional NFL wisdom says Gerhart, who led the nation in rushing yards and touchdowns playing for Stanford in 2009, isn’t fast enough or elusive enough to make big money now at the pro level. One columnist even suggested that the doubt about Gerhart’s NFL Draft potential is based on the fact that he’s a white man at a position dominated by black players.

Is Toby Gerhart the next Jim Brown?

Toby Gerhart, a 6-foot, 231-pound power back who ran for 1,871 yards and 27 touchdowns last season, has received the highest praise from Zenni Abraham at sfgate.com. Abraham calls him the “NFL’s 21st Century Jim Brown.” Jim Brown dominated the NFL from 1957 to 1965. In nine 14-game seasons with the Cleveland Browns, he ran over and around people to set a career rushing record (12,312 yards). Years later, it took Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears nine 16-game seasons to break Brown’s record.

NFL Draft: racial stereotypes?

Toby Gerhart NFL Draft projections are colored by racial stereotypes, according to Michael Silver at Yahoo Sports. In Gerhart, Silver said NFL Draft analysts see a white guy trying to make a pay day in the league as a feature back, an achievement rarely made anymore. In 2009, Gerhart won the Doak Walker Award, an honor awarded to the nation’s top college running back. He was runner-up for the 2009 Heisman Trophy to Alabama running back Mark Ingram (who happens to be black) in the closest vote in Heisman history. In Michael Silver’s Trippin Tuesday, Gerhard said:

“One team I interviewed with asked me about being a white running back.They asked if it made me feel entitled, or like I felt I was a poster child for white running backs. I said, ‘No, I’m just out there playing ball. I don’t think about that.’ I didn’t really know what to say.”

Toby Gerhart stats: hard numbers

Toby Gerhart told Silver that as a college junior he ran through tackles attempted by USC’s Brian Cushing and Clay Matthews, two players who made the Pro Bowl as rookies. Toby Gerhart stats from the NFL combine show he is a top pro prospect among college running backs. He tied for third in bench press repetitions, fifth in vertical leap, sixth in shuttle and seventh in cones. His 4.50 40 yard dash time was good for a 230-pound bruiser, but 10 players were faster. C.J. Spiller from Clemson had a 4.27 and Auburn’s Ben Tate and Cal’s Javid Best had a 4.34.

Toby Gerhart stats: intangibles

Toby Gerhart did score number one in his Wonderlic score of 30–the equivalent of about a 118 IQ. That result that isn’t surprising, considering he was valedictorian of his high school graduating class. Gerhart’s intelligence and the fact that he recovered from a 2007 knee injury to lead the nation in rushing and touchdowns last season should give NFL Draft analysts a clue about his work ethic and determination to achieve his goals as a professional athlete.

Toby Gerhart NFL Draft projections

Toby Gerhart’s bruising running style leads NFL Draft anayalsts to assume that he won’t hold up to the savage pounding of an NFL season. “The best case is that he gets picked late in the second round, but I don’t see him dropping out of the third round,” ESPN analyst Todd McShay said. “He’s never going to be a great third-down player, and it’s hard to justify drafting someone like that in the top 50 or 60.” If he doesn’t get drafted high enough for a big pay day, he need not consider getting personal loans to survive. There’s always the easygoing sport of baseball. After all, he was one of Baseball America’s top 50 prospects for the 2006 season.

Mike H

None of you understand. I wrote an article before the draft for Bleacher Report advising the Vikings to go this route, although not necessarily with Gerhart. Think of power back Toby Gerhart as Jonathan Stewart with power-scat back AD as DeAngelo Williams. The power back is used to help wear down the defense so the power-scat back can break off long runs later in the game. The Vikings are training Darius Reynaud as a scat back to run ellusively on third and longs. This is the way successful running teams operate today while also delying wearing down their feature power-scat back.
socalfan

I was fortunate enough to have first-hand knowledge of this kid. Been watching him since he was a sophomore in high school. He dominated then and went on to become an All American. In college, some people forget that he missed his entire sophomore season. Had that not happened he'd be their all-time leading RB. Everyone has an opinion of this kid, but I can tell you from experience, provided he stays healthy, he will have a fantasctic NFL career. I will also say that Adrian Peterson is a great back and will have his hands full in challenging TG to become the go-to guy at Minnesota. I know that's a big statement, but this kid has heart, determination, and work ethic unlike any athlete I've ever heard of. He's the Michael Jordan of football in terms of preparing himself for excellence. I sent an email to his dad at Norco when the Pac-10 analysts listed him at 5th or 6th best PAC-10 back in preseason last year and told his Dad…..don't be surprised if you accompany him to NYC in December. And..that's exactly what happened.This year, it would not surprise me in the least if he's chosen rookie of the year in the NFL. THIS KID IS THE REAL DEAL!
- http://personalmoneynetwork.com/ Steven Tarlow
  
  I'd love to see Gerhart do well, I would. But I have to call you out when you say that Peterson will have his hands full challenging Gerhart to BECOME the go-to guy in Minnesota. That's utter madness, sorry. Peterson is an established All-Pro. He doesn't have to prove ANYTHING.
  - socalfan
    
    I worded it wrong. I agree that AP does not have to prove anything to anybody. But, as time progresses and if TG stays healthy, it won't be a cakewalk for Adrian simply "show up" and be the guy…….. Not that he ever would, but my point is that TG could very well develop into a star much like Adrian Peterson. I'm an old school guy and Toby reminds me of a Larry Czonka with speed. With a true sharp passing attack to keep defenses honest, these two backs could both have over 1,000 yards rushing in a season.
GerhertsBiggestFan

They need to stop hatin' on Gerhart. He WILL be great. Just look at his mentor: Adrian Freakin Peterson. He could make an orange an elite running back. Not even mentioning the all-star quarterback, Bret Favre and their explosive receiving core. All Gerhart is doing is making them that closer to the Super Bowl. I bet if they had him last year, Your superbowl-winning saints would have lost, and the Vikings would have won.
- Steven Tarlow
  
  OK, GerhertsBiggestFan, let's use an example from another sport to show that the specific mentor a young player works with can have little or no bearing on the young player's success.
  
  In the NBA, there was a center in the late 1980s-early 1990s named Benoit Benjamin. Look him up. He came out of Creighton and was hyped to the nth degree. The Clippers drafted him and he turned out to be a waste of a roster slot. And WHO was Benoit Benjamin's mentor? That would be NBA Hall of Fame center Willis Reed, who was all about heart. Isn't "heart" what Toby Gerhart fans are so happy to attribute to their own hopeful superstar?
  
  Gerhart's makeup appears to be good, but just because Adrian "Freakin" Peterson is his mentor doesn't mean he's guaranteed to be successful. Toby Gerhart will have to make the plays, or be a Benoit "Freakin" Benjamin.
Dman

Its the fact that he's a HARD NOSE RUNNER. He has decent break away speed, and is tough to tackle in the open field. He's the type of runner that will wear defenses down late in the game. When you run the ball effectively, you control the game. Thats exactly what the vikings will be able to with A.P, and Toby Gerhart in the backfield. Toby's a beast!
J. Taylor

I wish him a very successful future both on & off the field.
Dman

Most of these analyst out there are ridiculous. Most of them dont even have half the heart and determination that Toby Gerhart has. He was taking 27 units at Stanford, and still managed to lead the nation in rushing and touchdowns in the PAC 10. How many of these other running backs can say that for themselves? Give Toby the respect he deserves. Hes's a tough bruiser running back, and he will continue do that successfully in the NFL. It doesnt matter what his race is. He's an athlete. He was very successful in baseball and football, and good enough to play at the professional level in each of those sports. I'm tired of hearing hes not fast enough. Theres plenty of running backs that people did not consider fast and have done well in the NFL. For example look at Jerome Bettis, how fast the did the wheels on that bus move? Not what you call blazing speed. Brandon Jacobs is another one, not the fastest, but he runs hard and is very hard to tackle. Shonn Greene from the jets, wouldnt say hes very fast but did a pretty good job last season. I could go on forever but i hope some of these "analyst" get the point. Im sure Toby will do his talking on the field once he gets to the NFL. Whoever drafts him is very lucky, and will be so much better for it. He has a tremendous work ethic, and determination. He is not going to have problems off the field. He's very smart, and knows how to be a leader. He is going to have a very successful career in the NFL.
- Steven Tarlow
  
  Many are saying that he lacks breakaway speed and elusiveness, Dman. Since the NFL is shifting toward receiver-based offenses, I can't imagine why a team would want to use a high pick on this guy, regardless of how determined he is.
  - daniel
    
    because you have teams spread out, defenders are becoming smaller to account for other teams speed, so speed backs are often negated, look how Reggie Bush has turned out, only like 2 or 3 20+ yard runs, yes he can receive but thats it. Look at the best backs right now, bruisers like Jackson, and now Blount and Hillis have had good seasons this year and are in the top.. A big powerback to counter that would create a great running game, there are usually at least 5 dbs on the field now with teams at least using 3 wide receiver sets, or undersized linebackers to account for the faster tight ends. A powerback like Toby could break through those tackles. It makes no sense to have these smaller backs in a spread formation. Look at what Zach Line is doing for June Jones at SMU, 1300 rushing yards, the most a back has had under Jones in his spread run and shoot, its for the same reasons i stated, the guy is 235 pounds with a similar style to Gerhart