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Fumbles hurt Foster's draft value Posted: Wednesday April 17, 2002 4:25 PM
The correlation is obvious. The quickest way for a running back to drop down the NFL's draft board is to drop the football. Of all the sins that are forgivable at that position, fumbling is not among them. Coaches are funny that way. They prefer you create first downs for your team exclusively. That's why UCLA's DeShaun Foster -- a remarkably productive running back -- may find himself lasting until late in the first round or even early in the second in this weekend's NFL draft. For months now, Foster has been filed away under the letter "F" in this draft, and we're not talking about his surname. In a draft that will be the first since 1997 without a running back selected in the top five, Foster could have been the glamour name with the franchise-back contract. But his baffling propensity for putting the ball on the ground likely will result in him being the third back chosen, behind Michigan State's T.J. Duckett and Boston College's William Green. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear he had a gambling problem and was throwing games with some of his fumbles last year," said one NFL club official. "You watch the film and some of them were just amazing. He wasn't even hit and the ball would come flying out of there. He's a good running back, but the fumbling is a big problem." Though Foster's fumble totals aren't official and vary depending on the source, he fumbled anywhere from seven to 10 times last season in just eight games. He had four fumbles against Ohio State in 2001, dropped another in his Senior Bowl appearance, and committed at least 12 fumbles over the course of his final two collegiate seasons.
When it comes to maximizing his draftability and first-round value, Foster basically dropped the ball. "It just started happening," Foster said of his fumbling. "Maybe it was more mental or something. It was just a situation where I started dropping the ball. ... I just hold the ball loose. I've got to hold it high and tight and cover all the pressure points and I'll be all right." The irony is, while Foster's fumbling is such a glaring flaw, it's practically the only one in his game. When he manages to hang onto the football, he can hang up some eye-popping numbers. Despite being suspended for the final three games of last season -- he violated the NCAA's code against extra benefits -- Foster led the Pac-10 in rushing last season (1,109 yards), averaged 5.1 yards per carry and scored 13 total touchdowns. That gave him 44 touchdowns in his 39-game, four-year collegiate career, ranking second all-time at UCLA. With 3,194 yards, Foster finished third among the Bruins' career rushing leaders (just one yard behind second-place Freeman McNeil ), and he's the only UCLA back to ever record three 1,000-yard seasons. But which Foster is an NFL team getting? The one who ran for a school-record 301 yards and four touchdowns against Washington last season, or the one who gained just 66 yards and put on fumbling clinic against Ohio State? A well-rounded talent, Foster caught 58 passes for 548 yards and four touchdowns at UCLA, and he's big enough and quick enough at 6-feet-0½, 222 pounds, to run both around and through tacklers. "It just depends upon the situation, really," said Foster, who as a high-school senior in 1997 amassed the mind-boggling totals of 3,398 yards rushing and 59 touchdowns. "If I have to run for one yard, I can be a power back. If it's first and 10, I'm trying to take it to the house. I can do that too. I'm just a situational runner." Teams like Cleveland, Carolina, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, New England and Detroit are believed to be in the market for a running back somewhere in the draft's early rounds. But the Browns at No. 16 are somewhat scared off by Foster's fumbling, and will likely chose between Duckett and Green if they take a first-round back. That could result in Foster going in the late stages of round one or early in round two, to the Patriots, Texans, Panthers, Lions or Cowboys. While Foster is at a loss to explain his fumbling to NFL officials, on another subject he has received high marks for his candor. At the Scouting Combine in February, Foster didn't try to run away from the topic of his 2001 NCAA suspension, or his $250 fine in 2000 for the possession of a small amount of marijuana. Foster acknowledged that his reputation has taken something of a hit from both incidents, and he didn't try to blame anyone else for his troubles. "They're going to find out about those things anyway, so it's best if it's coming from me," Foster said. "I just let them know the whole situation. I was responsible for my situation. It was a mistake I made. If [the NCAA] felt like I broke the rule, I broke it. I could have avoided that bind by doing otherwise. But I didn't. "I'm man enough to let [teams] know I made a mistake. I've talked to a lot of the coaches and a lot of people make mistakes. I'm just going from there." But just where he goes -- and how high -- is probably a matter of how much faith any one team has in his ability to come to grips with his fumbling problem. Because he couldn't seem to hold on for much of last season, Foster may be forced to do so on draft day. Don Banks covers pro football for CNNSI.com.
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