Lets Be Blount, There's Potential

By now everyone has heard about Oregon Junior Running Back LeGarrette Blount and his bruising and punishing style of running the football. Blount has drawn comparisions to ex-Ducks Reuben Droughns and Jonathan Stewart and both players larger size and punishing running style.

Blount quickly caught the eye of the die hard fans who attended spring practices in the early weeks of April. He quickly made an impression with his running style and the chance to use his abilities inside the spread option Offensive Coordinator Chip Kelly installed last spring.

After his first scrimmage of spring Blount officially caught fire on the message boards all over the Internet and throughout the newspapers covering the Oregon spring practices.

Going into the second scrimmage the Duck's coaching staff moved Blount up the depth chart to face tougher competition as it was clear Blount was better than third on the depth chart.

Facing better defensive players Blount struggled at first but by the end of the scrimmage Blount was able to adjust and to continue to shine.

Going into the spring game fans and coaches alike were anxious to see how Blount would respond to the lights coming on, 10 thousand fans or more watching, and the TV cameras rolling.

Blount shined. He ran hard, straight, and over people before carrying defenders on his back before going down to the ground.

After the spring game Blount got the approval of Ted Miller from ESPN.com and Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated.com as a future star in the Oregon offense and a player many defensive coordinators will fear.

Blount has most certainly shown he has potential to be a great player in Oregon's spread option offense.

However, I'm really starting to get worried that Blount is building up to becoming a player who won't be able to live up to the hype.

Blount has potential, but right now thats all that it is. He hasn't played a single down for the Ducks and is already starting to make people forget who Jonathan Stewart was and instead what Blount can't do.

The fact that he hasn't played a down and yet his production on the field is being dubbed as the "Thunder" to Senior Jeremiah Johnson's "Lightening" is a tad too early.

Lets see what he does when the pads come on and Oregon faces a team not known as "Oregon Defense" and the cameras are rolling.

When I try to predict how good Blount will be for Oregon I think back to the history of Oregon and Junior College players during their first year. Oregon typically gets a good solid year from their JC guys in their first year and then the second season is where the player really takes off production wise.

Now when you look at Oregon and the JC RB players who have come through Oregon the production level really takes off in their first year. Maurice Morris and Droughns come to mind as players who stepped right in and excelled.

So what will make a first season a success for Blount?

In my opinion if he runs for over 500 yards and gives Oregon a running back who can run between the tackles inside the 20-yard line and give the Ducks a bruiser type back he will have a great first season.

The potential is there, but right now I am going to stay back from the bandwagon thats circling up on Blount being a star.

I will gladly eat crow if Blount proves me wrong and runs for over a thousand yards or some other number that he rushes for.