Former UCLA Football RB Paul Perkins named a top year two player by NFL.com
On Thursday lead NFL Draft buff and former NFL scout, Daniel Jeremiah, named former UCLA Football and current New York Giant RB Paul Perkins to his “Top 3 Second-Year Players that Will Break Out in 2017”.
The New York Football Giants did well this offseason to give QB Eli Manning more help including signing a couple free agent offensive linemen to shore up protection and drafting an explosive offensive weapon in TE Evan Engram in the first round.
However one of their best players on offense wasn’t added to the team this year. That player is RB Paul Perkins who before he ran for over 450 yards in limited time last season, was one of the better backs in recent UCLA Football memory.
UCLA Football fans and media remember Perkins for his ability to cut on a dime, pick his way through traffic and his excellent balance after contact that allowed him to fall forward after almost every tackle. For the Bruins Perkins was an every down back but there was concern about his less than prototypical frame. Measuring in at five-foot-ten and 208 pounds, people in the NFL wondered if he could hold up to the punishment at the next level.
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Perkins helped silence those worries by carrying the ball 112 times while maintaining a 4.1 ypc average including 21 carries for 122 yards performance in week 17 against a physical Washington Redskins front seven.
Engram wasn’t the only offensive skill player added this offseason because the Giants also went out and signed Brandon Marshall who has played the past few seasons with major rival the New York Jets. Also lest we forget, phenom athlete and big play receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is still terrorizing defensive backs for this Giants squad.
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Between all of the weapons on this team and the talent that Perkins brings it will be a pick your poison when it comes to a defensive gameplan. My gut says teams will focus on stopping those big time receivers and Perkins will do what he did at UCLA, slip through the cracks for big yards.