The Leading Authority of the NFL Draft

College Football Insiders begins it's series of Pac-10 players to watch for the 2010 college season starting with the offensive side of the ball. Checking in at the lead-off spot is this Oregon State Beaver.

James Rodgers is not a typical wide receiver. In his freshman season Rodgers had more than twice as many rushing attempts as receptions (50-19).  Even stranger, with all those attempts he still averaged more yards per rushing attempt than reception (11.7 per rush to 10.9 per catch). This can be explained by Oregon State coach Mike Riley’s awareness; the coach realized he needed to get Rodgers the ball, and also recognized Rodgers was not a polished enough receiver to get it in his hands as often as he would like. Riley’s solution was running the end-around to Rodgers multiple times a game. None of these runs was more memorable than the 25-yard touchdown run in double overtime to upset Oregon in Auzten Stadium.

Rodgers’ sophomore season saw a bit more of the same. While he saw an increase in his reception numbers, the offense continued to feature the end-around. Rodgers also began to show more of his versatility as he scored four times though the air, five times rushing the ball, and one more time on an 86-yard kick return.

College football is full of receivers who make more impact in the running and return game, but James separated himself from that class of receiver when he hauled in over 91 receptions for over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns last season, ranking him on top of all three categories in the Pac-10. Almost as impressive is that he took that large jump in production in the passing game while still taking over 50 handoffs, returning kickoffs, and becoming one of the top punt returners in the conference. While he may check in at just 5’7” (188 pounds) not many players around the country play as big when the lights are turned on.

Opposing defenses will likely key on stopping little brother Jacquizz Rodgers, but it is “big brother” James Rodgers who led the conference in all-purpose yards in 2009 and is likely to do so again this season.

Photo Courtesy of Dennis Wolverton, Oregon State