After looking at both the quarterback and wide receiver positions, let's take a look at another one of the more glamorous positions on the football field and see who will be shining brightly in the 2009 season. Here is a list compiled by Greg Riddle of The Dallas Morning News and Barton Simmons of Rivals.com, with a little special touch by yours truly.
4. James Sims, Irving MacArthur HS - On a not-so-good team, Sims found a way to shine for the 3-7 Cardinals. The 5 foot 11, 190-pound dual-threat back racked up 1,141 yards and 15 touchdowns on 206 carries, while also catching 21 balls out of the backfield for 363 yards and three more scores. Sims' abilities would fit in nicely with the advent of even more spread offenses in the college game and he's getting recruiting interest from such schools. So far, he has no offers but he's got plenty of high-profile schools talking to him. He has garnered interest from Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas. But he's not just a spread back, as he's also getting interest from traditional run-based teams such as TCU, Michigan State (whose RB had more than 300 carries last season), and Wisconsin.
3. Ja'Terian Douglas, Arlington Lamar - Again, on just a .500, non-playoff team, Douglas was a star for the Vikings. At 5 foot 11, 175 pounds, Douglas is more of a run threat than a dual-threat like Sims, but there's no doubt he does that one thing well. In 2008, Douglas rushed for 2,036 yards and 28 touchdowns on 259 carries (7.9 yards per carry). Simple math tells me if you can get eight yards per carry, you should be a pretty successful team. Douglas has an offer on the table from Texas Tech but has not given an oral committment yet. He also has interest from Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma, with some more interest surely to come by the 2009 season.
Adam Boedeker is a sports writer/blogger for the Denton Record-Chronicle. He felt bad for Mickey Rourke last night.
