RB Da’Rel Scott, New York Giants, Maryland Terrapins — 2011 Fantasy Football Draft Guide
The more that I watch Da’Rel Scott on tape, the more it makes sense why the Giants took a 7th Round flier on him. Looking at him from a purely statistical standpoint, Scott doesn’t “jump out” of our computer analysis, and rated very low among the 2011 “speed RB” class in our system. In Scott’s final year at Maryland, he wasn’t even the main RB…he was part of a split with Davin Meggett, and Meggett led the team in rushing (by 12 yards on 4 extra carries).
Scott had an underwhelming Senior campaign in 2010, which followed up an even worse/disappointing Junior season in 2009. At the NFL Combine in 2011, Scott ran some blazing times in the 40-yard dash (especially given his 211 pound frame); but he also had disappointing measurements in the agility drills, broad jump and vertical leap. In total, Scott didn’t have a ton going for him in our system to get himself “noticed” (on paper).
On a tip from a friend, I watched more of the Da’Rel Scott scouting tape…and I can see why why my friend was excited. I’m not a fan of tape dictating player scouting. The eyes can be deceiving and hard to balance and compare several players from one year to the next to the next…how do you accurately balance all that up in your mind. I/we have all been led down a bad road relying on 10-second highlight plays and memories on ESPN. When I watched the Da’Rel Scott tape more in depth, and happen to be comparing it to fellow 2011 rookie Daniel Thomas’s (2nd Round, Dolphins) tape — Scott was the far superior RB of the two; again all on tape/clips.
However, something didn’t balance — if Scott looks so good on tape, why were his Junion/Senior seasons so poor?
More of the back story on Scott — Scott was 2nd in the ACC in rushing as a Sophomore with 1,133 yards rushing, with 8 TDs. Coming off that great season, Scott was a preseason 2009 “whisper” candidate for the Heisman; and was a Doak Walker and Maxwell award watch list RB. Scott sprained a knee in the preseason, and later broke his wrist…thus the weak 2009 campaign.
On the down-side, Scott has had fumble issues in his college career (small hand measurement is an issue). Scott also has not had over 19 carries in a game in the past 2 seasons/20 games…and only went over 20+ carries just 4 times in his 41 game career at Maryland.
Da’Rel Scott has some negatives, but there are some positives as well. I wouldn’t make plans around him in the preseason for Fantasy Football 2011, but I would keep an eye on him mid-season if things change in the Giants backfield. I would also have Scott on my watch list in a Dynasty Draft, for the later rounds as a low-risk gamble pick.