Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Nick Fitzgerald-prodigy or prayer?
By Rob Leeds
Fitzgerald is one of the best football players that you have likely never heard of unless you were a fan of SEC football. While he broke records as a runner that Tim Tebow set, the Mississippi State Bulldogs were never in the limelight long enough to really let Fitzgerald’s talents leave a mark, and that is a true shame.
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In addition to his speed and versatility as a player, Fitzgerald’s passing ability is nothing to shrug at. While at Mississippi State he had 6,207 passing yards and 55 passing touchdowns. While his accuracy and efficiency as a passer were not great, Bruce Arians could be the perfect coach to fix the mental problems, as Fitzgerald has already proved that physically he belongs in the NFL.
With 578 rushing attempts Fitzgerald accumulated 3,480 rushing yards averaging six yards per carry. For a comparison, second round pick and running back Ronald Jones II had 591 attempts for 3,619 yards averaging 6.1 yards per carry while at USC.
This led Fitzgerald to acquiring the all time rushing yards record by a quarterback in the SEC. Unfortunately for Fitzgerald, like Tebow his passing ability was nothing to write home about. Unlike Tebow on the other hand, Fitzgerald is willing to play any role on the team and not just quarterback.