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On paper, It looks like the Jets did a really nice job late in the draft. One guy who could turn into a excellent value is Balyor tailback Terrance Ganaway . . .
There are two players I want to focus on the next two nights – running back Terrance Ganaway and safety Antonio Allen.
I personally think these two guys could turn out to be major steals.
Today were are going to get into Ganaway, who the Jets picked in the sixth round. The DeKalb, Texas-native is a 5-11, 241-pound back, who ran in the low 4.5’s at Baylor’s Pro Day.
He was a first team All-Big 12 performer this past season, and it was Ganaway, not RG III, who won the MVP of the Alamo Bowl with 200 yards rushing and FIVE touchdowns.
He is a monster around the goal line, setting a Baylor-record this year with 16 touchdowns.
I will get to his shortcomings in a second, but it’s very hard to find 241-pound backs that run in the 4.5’s. To grab a guy like this in the sixth round is a terrific value.
But a couple of things we need to consider about the guy – he is a terrible blocker. I found it laughable that there was talk yesterday that he could replace John Connor.
At the Senior Bowl practices, Ganaway looked awful blocking. He is going to need a lot of time with Anthony Lynn to get this straighten out. It’s going to take a while.
Also, while he can run a sub-4.6 forty, he has stiff hips, and his speed is straightlinish.
And with RG III as his quarterback, and Baylor running a very effective spread passing attack, he was running through a lot of colossal holes. He is not going to see that kind of running room very often on the NFL level.
So he has a lot of work to do, but has the raw tools and the attitude to make this work.
“The clock doesn’t stop now,” Ganaway told seniorbowl.com. “As long as I’m breathing I’ll be the hardest working guy.”
It’s interesting who draft guru Nolan Nawrocki, of Pro Football Weekly, compared him to.
“Ganaway is a poor man’s Shonn Greene and really came on as a senior,” said Nawrocki. “He has tools to contribute on first and second downs and in a rotation.”
Mel Kiper was awfully impressed with what Ganaway did this past season.
“Ganaway put it all together this year, and made you standup and take notice of his accomplishments,” said Kiper. “For a guy his size, he can move fairly well.”
This guy is going to needs some time to develop. In the NFL, you can’t put a tailback on the field who can’t block.
But he does have the size and determination to become a much better blocker. Spending a lot of time with Lynn this spring and summer will help a great deal.
The bottom line is this. We are talking about a back, like Greene, who defenses get tired of trying to tackle. Clearly the University of Washington defense, in the Alamo Bowl, wanted nothing to do with him.
He’s like a bull in Pamplona.
And a really nice value late in the draft.
(A premium article on Antonio Allen will appear on this site by 9 pm on Monday.)