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Jerome Felton - Lions Rookie (1 Viewer)

goodyear pimps

Footballguy
With the Lions RB situation still somewhat unclear, anyone think this guy has any chance of making a run for carries? Seems like an intelligent kid with a nose for getting into the end zone. The Lions did invest a 5th in Felton, even after investing a 3rd in Kevin Smith.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/profiles/jerome-felton?id=230

Overview

Felton has quietly developed into one of the most dominant scoring machines in college football. Blessed with the quickness and lateral agility of a tailback, this bruising runner inside the red zone has outstanding body lean, as he was tackled behind the line of scrimmage only 15 times during his career for minus-22 yards on 575 rushing attempts while scoring 63 times on the ground. The school's all-time record holder in scoring with 414 points, he also excels in the classroom, twice earning Southern Conference academic accolades with a 3.25 grade point average in Political Science.

Born in Duren, West Germany, where his mother, Sabrina Felton-Curtis was a former professional gymnast, Jerome took the ACT as a seventh grader as part of Duke University's Talent Search program. His score was high enough to allow him to enroll in summer and night courses at Hiwassee College, where between the seventh and 11th grades he completed 19 hours of college credit courses.

At Class AAA Sequoyah High School, Felton excelled as a fullback and middle linebacker,

Earning team Offensive Most Valuable Player honors three times. He was also a three-time All-County and All-Region choice, rushing for more than 3,000 yards and recording more than 300 tackles in his three-year career.

Felton served as team captain as a senior, rushed for 1,300 yards and finished second on his team with 104 tackles. He was named an All-American Scholar and an Outstanding African-American Student of Tennessee, in addition to receiving the 2001-02 United States National Minority Leadership Award. He is listed in the Who's Who Among American High School Students and was the recipient of Sequoyah High School's Academic Excellence Award.

Felton enrolled at Furman in 2004, turning down scholarship offers from Tennessee Tech and Duke. That year, he appeared in every game, starting the final seven at fullback. He shared Furman Freshman of the Year honors with strong safety Andrew Thacker, as Felton ranked fourth on the team in rushing with 300 yards on 66 carries (4.5 avg), led the team with 10 touchdowns on the ground and finished second in scoring with 70 points. He snared five passes for 51 yards (10.2 avg) and a score and also posted an assisted tackle.

In 2005, Felton garnered Academic All-Southern Conference honors, adding first-team overall accolades. Despite suffering a right index fracture early in the season, he ranked 13th nationally and second in the league in scoring with a school season-record 124 points, an average of 8.86 points per game. He ran for 18 touchdowns and caught two other passes for scores, as he rushed 182 times for 940 yards (5.2 avg). He also made 18 catches for 144 yards (8.0 avg) and averaged 77.4 all-purpose yards per game while recovering one fumble.

As a junior, Felton broke his own school season-record and ranked fourth in the nation in scoring with 140 points, an average of 11.67 points per game. He appeared in 12 games, sitting out the Appalachian State game after suffering a right ankle sprain the week prior vs. Chattanooga. He finished second on the team with 707 yards on 162 carries (4.4 avg), including 23 touchdowns. He gained 85 yards on 13 catches (6.5 avg) and had one solo tackle. He also averaged 66.0 all-purpose yards per game.

Felton was the only Division 1-AA player listed on USA Today/Sports Weekly's preseason All-American team in 2007. He went on to lead the team in rushing with 705 yards and 12 touchdowns on 165 carries (4.2 avg). He also caught 11 passes for 59 yards (5.4 avg) and a score, finishing with 80 points for the season.

The Furman fullback started 43 of 48 games for the Paladins. He holds the school rushing records for fullbacks with 2,652 yards on 575 carries (4.6 avg). He set the Furman career-records with 63 touchdowns on the ground, 67 total touchdowns and 414 points scored. He snatched 46 passes for 334 yards (7.3 avg) and amassed 2,986 all-purpose yards on 621 touches, an average of 60.94 yards per game. He also recorded a pair of tackles and recovered two fumbles.

 
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In the Sporting News post-draft recap issue last week, they mentioned Felton as someone who the Lions might groom for possible short-yardage and goal-line situations. If true, this is not good for Kevin Smith's fantasy top-line (ceiling).

I wouldn't read too much into it, though on draft day I thought it was odd that the Lions would spend a draft pick on a FB like this unless there was more than meets the eye.

If anything, it's something to watch out for during this summer's camps and into the preseason.

 
In the Sporting News post-draft recap issue last week, they mentioned Felton as someone who the Lions might groom for possible short-yardage and goal-line situations. If true, this is not good for Kevin Smith's fantasy top-line (ceiling). I wouldn't read too much into it, though on draft day I thought it was odd that the Lions would spend a draft pick on a FB like this unless there was more than meets the eye. If anything, it's something to watch out for during this summer's camps and into the preseason.
I agree on the it bears monitoring thought. Just noticed there are several rookie drafts going on right now and this guy could really provide decent value late. With his impressive stats and not having a 1st day pick invested in Smith, I wouldn't completely rule him out of a decent role in Detroit.
 
FBG Bloom's Rookie 100 post draft.....55 out of 100.

55) Jerome Felton - RB - Detroit

I would list Felton higher, except you can probably get him in the last round of your rookie draft because of the "FB" next to his name. Don't let that fool you - he was a feature back in college, his idol is Jerome Bettis, and he scored TDs by the dozen at Furman.

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I recently took a shot at him at 4.10 (14 team league)....probably will amount to nothing, but worth a shot at that point.

 
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i would not be surprised to see him have more TDs than Kevin Smith this year.

 
• On fifth-round pick Jerome Felton, a fullback from Furman: "This guy is smart, which helps, but instincts and concentration are still just as important. He's been a runner also and he's got the feet to feel that zone (blocking scheme) -- they've got to read the zone play and that's good vision and good feet to feel it and make those cuts with the tailback. He's also a guy that, if he comes in and earns it, you have a fullback who also will play tailback and close the game out for you, too. Another runner and a very good special teams player." Marinelli on Felton

Another quote from Marinelli - but talks fullback...

Lions coach Rod Marinelli indicted that several rookies -- Dizon, right tackle Gosder Cherilus, running back Kevin Smith, fullback Jerome Felton and defensive end Cliff Avril are all possibilities - could start next year. "]http://www.dailytribune.com/stories/050508/spo_sports02.shtml"]

 
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I'm holding on to him in a dynasty league. Seems to be impressing the coaches. Definite starter with Bradley out.

Jerome Felton fitting in nicely as Lions' fullback

by Tom Kowalski

Wednesday August 20, 2008, 12:15 AM

ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions need a fullback a lot more than the world needs another lawyer, so things are working out pretty well for everyone involved.

Jerome Felton, Detroit's fifth-round draft pick out of Furman, was going to enter law school if he couldn't land a job in the NFL.

Not only is Felton going to land on the final roster, but he's expected to be in the starting lineup for Detroit at fullback when the Lions open the regular season Sept. 7 against the Atlanta Falcons.

With Jon Bradley (shoulder) being placed on injured reserve Tuesday, it's possible Felton will be the only fullback on the roster. If he is, the Lions likely will opt to keep four tight ends; in Detroit's system, a tight end can shift into a fullback role.

"All of those possibilities are there, but what we want to do right now instead of looking at that part, is find out who are our best football players,'' Lions coach Rod Marinelli said. "We'll find out who are the best players and then you start shuffling them around."

Coming out of college, the knock on Felton was whether he'd have the ability and tenacity to be a blocker at the NFL level. At Division I-AA Furman, Felton was a runner, not a blocker, and carried the ball 575 times during his collegiate career.

And then there's the fact Felton is an extremely bright kid, as one of the Lions' coaches put it: "We're talking Johnny Genius stuff here.''

As a seventh grader, Felton took the college entrance ACT exam as part of Duke University's Talent Search program. Felton completed 19 hours of college courses before he entered 12th grade in high school. While no one questioned his intelligence or athletic ability, there were concerns of whether he'd knock heads in the NFL.

As the draft approached, Felton knew all about the whispers.

"Yeah, I did. You hear things, but a lot of the (coaches) I talked to said they didn't have a doubt what I could do physically,'' Felton said. "What people have to understand is that my role was a lot different. I had to run the ball a lot. When I got my opportunities to block, I think I did well. They needed to see me snap after snap after snap.

"I knew that was one of the things that was on me and I knew it wasn't true, so I wanted to come in here and show them from day one that I'm a really physical blocker. It was important for me to come in early and show them that's not a concern they should have.''

Veteran quarterback Jon Kitna was sold on Felton as soon as he saw him in the organized team activities in the offseason.

"When he first came in here, he caught everything in sight and that was exciting for me because when you have a fullback who can catch the ball out of the backfield, that's something defenses really have to honor,'' Kitna said. "We got into the pads and in his first couple of games, he showed that he understands the game and he's not afraid to go in there and bang it around. He's answered that question, no doubt.''

In a starting role against the Cincinnati Bengals, Felton impressed Marinelli on the game's second play.

"He blocked very well. He got his hat on the right guy, that's No. 1, but he's been physical. That's not an issue with him,'' Marinelli said.

The other thing that Kitna noticed about Felton was that he didn't notice him.

"You know a guy is smart is if you never have to correct him -- or if you notice him,'' Kitna said. "Typically, if you notice a fullback, he's doing the wrong thing. He always seems to be in the right place.''

So, just how many mistakes has Felton made?

"You mean since the start of training camp?'' Felton asked. "I'd say five, six or seven.''

Tight end Michael Gaines, who was at a nearby locker, scoffed at that remark. Felton spun around.

"I have five MA's,'' Felton said sternly, referring to missed assignments. "Five. That's it.''
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