Size really doesn't matter. That's always been Maurice Drew's mantra."I'm not small," he has said over and over again during his college career. "I'm just short."A smidgen under 5-7, to be exact. But the UCLA star has 209 pounds packed on that squat frame and can put it in motion in a hurry -- 4.39 4 Brett Favre Purple jersey
yards over 40 yards. If Jerome Bettis was The Bus, Maurice Drew is The Motorcycle.He's also feisty. Asked if it put a chip on his shoulder that he wasn't picked (by the Jacksonville Jaguars) until the second round of the NFL draft, the UCLA Bruins star running back told Jake Collier of the San Francisco Chronicle: "Man, I've got a whole Pringles can on my shoulder."Certainly, Drew couldn't have done any more as a college player to prove himself. In 2005, his junior season, he rushed for 914 yards and 13 touchdowns, gained 453 yards and scored four more times on pass receptions and set an NCAA record by averaging 28.4 yards on 15 punt returns (hauling three back all the way).OK, so he'd make a good punt returner. But a feature back?Maybe none of the teams that passed on Drew had a representative watching in 2004 when this Little Big Man turned in perhaps the most electric performance by a running back in Pac 10 history. In a 36-31, come-from-behind victory over Washington, Drew darted and danced and exploded for 332 rushing yards and touchdown runs of 42, 62, 58, 15 and 37 yards.He's known as "The Poor Man's Reggie Bush," and that will probably be somewhat accurate when the NFL cash is handed out to rookies. But Drew is conceding nothing to his Heisman-winning crosstown rival."My goal," he said after being selected by the Jaguars," is to be the best running back in the NFL."Not the best small running back -- the best.And second-round pick or not, he's stepping into an intriguing situation. Fred Taylor is the incumbent starter at running back in Jacksonville, but he's been prone to injury and is on the outs with team management. Greg Jones and LaBrandon Toefield are power backs, leaving Alvin Pearman -- the team's fifth-leading rusher and incumbent punt returner -- as Drew's chief competition. Meanwhile, though, Drew can also play wide receiver.Being short can sometimes be an advantage for a running back, making him hard for a defense to 36 Bettis Black Jersey
locate him among the bigger bodies, and Drew wouldn't be the first 5-7 back to succeed in the pros. At the combine, he did 18 reps with 225 pounds and had a 36-inch vertical leap.More than anything else, however, it could be Drew's "Pringles" that propel him into a starring role."All those other teams passed on me," he mused on April 29, "and I don't know why."He can't wait to show them what they missed.
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