NFL Draft: Cougars’ Running Back Darius Kinney Hopes To Hear His Name
By Ryan Gaydos
@KUTowerSports
This year’s NFL Draft is loaded with talent in the trenches and on the defensive side. Positions like quarterback and running back are not high on any insider’s draft board this year and that may hinder a chance for Kean University senior running back Darius Kinney getting drafted this season.
“I’m feeling great man,” said Kinney. “I can’t complain. This process taught me that I don’t have to be the man but I do have to become a man.”
Kinney is hoping that one team will take a chance on him with one of the more than 200 picks in the draft. He is coming off one of his best seasons as Kean’s starting running back. Kinney was awarded as the New Jersey Athletic Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year leading the conference with 128.6 yards per game and 7.3 yards per carry.
He also became the second Cougars’ running back to eclipse the 1,000-yard rushing mark this season finishing with 1,157 yards on 158 carries and seven rushing touchdowns. Kinney was an all-around threat for the Cougars that managed to win just five games after coming off a 2011 season where the team was 10-2 and the NJAC champions.
According to NFL Draft Bible, Kinney is the 52nd best running back on the list of potential running back prospects. He ran a 4.40 in the 20-yard dash and has a vertical jump of 33 inches. If any team were to draft him it would not be until the later rounds of the draft, which would come at least on Sunday.
Kinney is the best Division III running back player on the board and has the potential to be used in a few spot if a team drafts him.