SUTTON PROJECTED LATE

[Riffer X]

http://www.ohio.com/sports/40044107.html

 

Sutton has big plans for NFL

 

The star running back at Hoban, Northwestern short on size, not talent

 

By Marla Ridenour

Beacon Journal sports writer

 

Published on Sunday, Feb 22, 2009

 

INDIANAPOLIS: When they were 8-year-old little leaguers, Tyrell Sutton and Chris Wells battled it out on the basketball courts of Akron, although it was never really much of a battle.

 

''He was probably like 6-4 then, so that's like LeBron playing against Spud Webb,'' Sutton said. ''It's not even fair.''

 

Wells never actually reached that stature, but he was a man among boys even before he got to Garfield High School. Sutton, Ohio's 2004 Mr. Football from Archbishop Hoban, refers to himself as ''a little bowling ball.''

 

Now 6-foot-11/2 and 235 pounds, Wells is leaving Ohio State after his junior season as the fourth-leading rusher in Buckeye history. Sutton, 5-foot-8 and 211 pounds, finished four years at Northwestern second on the Wildcats' career rushing, touchdown and all-purpose yardage lists.

 

 

In high school, Sutton's Hoban team went 2-0 in its season-opening Thursday night games against Wells and Garfield. Today in Lucas Oil Stadium, Sutton hopes to level the playing field against Wells again.

 

The two running backs will go through position drills at the NFL Scouting Combine, including the 40-yard dash.

 

And who will be faster on one of the most important days of their football lives?

 

''I don't know. I'm not going to answer that question,'' Sutton said Saturday.

 

Wells is a certain first-round pick, but analysts see Sutton as a sixth- or seventh-rounder. So arguably the workout means more for Sutton. He'll have to skip the bench press because of Oct. 28 surgery for a broken left wrist, but said he'll be ready to hoist 225 pounds at the Wildcats' March 12 pro day.

 

''He's a late-round kid, especially because of his pass receiving skills,'' NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said. ''He was nicked the last couple years. He has to make it on special teams. He has a chance to play as a third-down back.''

 

Sutton missed four games because of the wrist in 2008 and six in 2007 with a sprained right ankle. But he still led all running backs nationally in career catches per game (3.7) and receiving yards per game (31.1). He finished with 149 career receptions for 1,244 yards, to go along with 3,886 rushing yards, third among the Big Ten's active rushing leaders.

 

''I think it's a big asset with the running back drills we'll have to do,'' Sutton said of his receiving skills. ''It gives me a chance to showcase my abilities.''

 

Ohio State linebacker Marcus Freeman believes there's a place for Sutton in the NFL.

 

''When you watch film on him, especially this year, he may not be the biggest guy,'' Freeman said. ''But you see guys like Darren Sproles or other littler guys in the NFL making huge impacts. [sutton] may be short, but he has big legs and he's hard to bring down. I know he'll be successful.''

 

Sutton is thankful that the San Diego Chargers' Sproles (5-6 and 181 pounds), the Jacksonville Jaguars' Maurice Jones-Drew (5-7, 208) and the New York Jets' Leon Washington (5-8, 202) have made names for themselves in the pros. Last week, the Chargers put the franchise tag on running back/returner Sproles, which means he will earn $6.62 million in 2009.

 

''We may be little, but we definitely play big. I think we are making a comeback,'' Sutton said.

 

Sproles especially gives Sutton hope.

 

''You can't measure the intangibles,'' Sutton said. ''He has great heart, he's very competitive. He does a great job of competing every single day and using his size for his advantage. He can hide behind those 6-foot-9, 320-pound guys and see the end zone from there.''

 

But Sutton will have to play special teams to break in, meaning he'll return kicks for the first time since high school, as well as cover kicks. In the East-West Shrine Game, Sutton totaled 82 kick return yards for the winning East team, and rushed for 37 yards.

 

As for making tackles, Sutton said: ''I kind of have a linebacker's mentality. I grew up a defensive player until I got to high school and I'd love to go down and hit somebody. It's been a long time since I've actually gotten to deliver a full blow.''

 

Sutton has a lot on his plate right now because he's still enrolled at Northwestern, on track to graduate in June with a communications degree.

 

''I wake up, work out, go to class, go back to work out, go to sleep and start the day all over,'' Sutton said. ''The biggest thing is to keep everything in order.''

 

Although there's pressure at the combine, Sutton enjoyed his time with Wells, whom he said is ''like a brother to me.''

 

He also reveled with pride that two players from his hometown were invited.

 

''We also have Antonio Pittman playing for the St. Louis Rams; we all played together,'' Sutton said. ''It's showing the talent the city of Akron produces.''

 

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.

 

INDIANAPOLIS: When they were 8-year-old little leaguers, Tyrell Sutton and Chris Wells battled it out on the basketball courts of Akron, although it was never really much of a battle.

 

''He was probably like 6-4 then, so that's like LeBron playing against Spud Webb,'' Sutton said. ''It's not even fair.''

 

Wells never actually reached that stature, but he was a man among boys even before he got to Garfield High School. Sutton, Ohio's 2004 Mr. Football from Archbishop Hoban, refers to himself as ''a little bowling ball.''

 

Now 6-foot-11/2 and 235 pounds, Wells is leaving Ohio State after his junior season as the fourth-leading rusher in Buckeye history. Sutton, 5-foot-8 and 211 pounds, finished four years at Northwestern second on the Wildcats' career rushing, touchdown and all-purpose yardage lists.

 

 

In high school, Sutton's Hoban team went 2-0 in its season-opening Thursday night games against Wells and Garfield. Today in Lucas Oil Stadium, Sutton hopes to level the playing field against Wells again.

 

The two running backs will go through position drills at the NFL Scouting Combine, including the 40-yard dash.

 

And who will be faster on one of the most important days of their football lives?

 

''I don't know. I'm not going to answer that question,'' Sutton said Saturday.

 

Wells is a certain first-round pick, but analysts see Sutton as a sixth- or seventh-rounder. So arguably the workout means more for Sutton. He'll have to skip the bench press because of Oct. 28 surgery for a broken left wrist, but said he'll be ready to hoist 225 pounds at the Wildcats' March 12 pro day.

 

''He's a late-round kid, especially because of his pass receiving skills,'' NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said. ''He was nicked the last couple years. He has to make it on special teams. He has a chance to play as a third-down back.''

 

Sutton missed four games because of the wrist in 2008 and six in 2007 with a sprained right ankle. But he still led all running backs nationally in career catches per game (3.7) and receiving yards per game (31.1). He finished with 149 career receptions for 1,244 yards, to go along with 3,886 rushing yards, third among the Big Ten's active rushing leaders.

 

''I think it's a big asset with the running back drills we'll have to do,'' Sutton said of his receiving skills. ''It gives me a chance to showcase my abilities.''

 

Ohio State linebacker Marcus Freeman believes there's a place for Sutton in the NFL.

 

''When you watch film on him, especially this year, he may not be the biggest guy,'' Freeman said. ''But you see guys like Darren Sproles or other littler guys in the NFL making huge impacts. [sutton] may be short, but he has big legs and he's hard to bring down. I know he'll be successful.''

 

Sutton is thankful that the San Diego Chargers' Sproles (5-6 and 181 pounds), the Jacksonville Jaguars' Maurice Jones-Drew (5-7, 208) and the New York Jets' Leon Washington (5-8, 202) have made names for themselves in the pros. Last week, the Chargers put the franchise tag on running back/returner Sproles, which means he will earn $6.62 million in 2009.

 

''We may be little, but we definitely play big. I think we are making a comeback,'' Sutton said.

 

Sproles especially gives Sutton hope.

 

''You can't measure the intangibles,'' Sutton said. ''He has great heart, he's very competitive. He does a great job of competing every single day and using his size for his advantage. He can hide behind those 6-foot-9, 320-pound guys and see the end zone from there.''

 

But Sutton will have to play special teams to break in, meaning he'll return kicks for the first time since high school, as well as cover kicks. In the East-West Shrine Game, Sutton totaled 82 kick return yards for the winning East team, and rushed for 37 yards.

 

As for making tackles, Sutton said: ''I kind of have a linebacker's mentality. I grew up a defensive player until I got to high school and I'd love to go down and hit somebody. It's been a long time since I've actually gotten to deliver a full blow.''

 

Sutton has a lot on his plate right now because he's still enrolled at Northwestern, on track to graduate in June with a communications degree.

 

''I wake up, work out, go to class, go back to work out, go to sleep and start the day all over,'' Sutton said. ''The biggest thing is to keep everything in order.''

 

Although there's pressure at the combine, Sutton enjoyed his time with Wells, whom he said is ''like a brother to me.''

 

He also reveled with pride that two players from his hometown were invited.

 

''We also have Antonio Pittman playing for the St. Louis Rams; we all played together,'' Sutton said. ''It's showing the talent the city of Akron produces.''

[Solon16]

Didn't run well at all...4.69 40

[VaporTrail]

Man, I had the pleasure of lining up right next to him in a track meet in the 110 hurdles in high school. I wasn't very good at them, but somehow they put me in the third lane, next to him. Mother xxxxer is fast, and I ran a 4.6 40, then. He burned the hell out of me. As for how much weight he's put on since then and that poor forty time... I dunno, but the dude's a baller. I wouldn't mind using a late pick on him to get a running back bc I think JL needs to go.

[Oldcrow1945]

Didn't run well at all...4.69 40

 

Wow...Did he run a 4.69?!

 

[Flugel]

Wow...Did he run a 4.69?!

 

Interesting discussion. I see where Riff is coming from though. I think the kid looks like a football player.

 

Did anyone hear Marshall Faulk say that Terrell Davis told him he only ran a 4.7 at the combines? I don't think Emmitt Smith ever ran under a 4.6 for the scouts and Ernest Byner had to wait 12 rounds because he could only run a 4.65.

Mike Oliphant could run 4.3s but I would have rather kept the football player. Once the times become official, Knowshon Moreno is prolly going to slip into the 4.6s like Greene and I think they'll both be solid pros. If a guy looks like a powerhouse and plays like one - you can forgive anything in the 4.6s.

 

Like Mayock says if you're 5'10 and around 185-195 pounds (ie: Lorenzo Booker) - you better run a GOOD 40. If someone like that runs in the 4.6s and can't fall back on strength or power, he's running out of assets required at the next level.

 

One poor guy had to run 3 times because there was range of 4.49 to 4.63 so his 3rd run was 4.62 and they cancelled out his 4.49. It was the kid that transferred from Pitt after starting there as a true freshman at RB. Can't remember his name - ANOTHER senior moment. That Ian Johnson kid from Boise State ran in the 4.3s. Yowsa! Another kid that looked impressive was Kory Sheets from Purdue. To be honest, I think Beanie Wells is faster than he ran today but they made him do the freakin standing broad jump about 6 times and he finished that #1 They shouldn't have had all the RBs doing ALL their jumps before they ran the most important 40 yard dashes of their lives. That didn't make ANY sense. If anything, they should have done that format with the QBs where the 40 doesn't matter as much with. Maybe that's just me being me but I find it out of whack.

- Tom F.

[heckofajobbrownie]

I'd think Sutton was intriguing if we didn't already have Harrison. Then again, we don't play Harrison much, so what the hell?

 

Disappointing 40 time, sure. But I think he's an interesting 5th or 6th rounder for a team that uses the back in the passing game a lot, like the Eagles or the Colts.

[heckofajobbrownie]

Yeah, I'm only talking about Sutton as a third down back. And with that time we might even be able to bring him in as a RFA.