Michael Dyer, Junior, Running Back, Arkansas State
Overview:
Michael Dyer was a phenomenon at Auburn. He made people forget about Cam Newton….okay not really. But Dyer was tremendous in his two seasons as a Tiger. He ran for 1000 yards as a freshman behind Newton’s lead, which broke Bo Jackson’s school record for freshman rushing yards. He tallied another 1200 yards in his second year where the entire offense revolved around him in the time recovering from Cam’s departure. Averaging over five yards per carry that season, he was named to the All-SEC first team. Other than his complete lack of production in the passing game (perhaps attributed somewhat to Auburn’s offense and the presence of Onterio McCalebb) things were going well for the young man.
Then stuff hit the fan. Dyer was suspended indefinitely prior to the team’s 2011 bowl game for undisclosed violations. He was subsequently released from his Auburn scholarship and chose to transfer to Arkansas State. Having to sit out a year because of the transfer will do nothing but hurt his NFL prospects but those are the rules.
Final Projection:
Entering the NFL draft after such a tumultuous offseason seems like a terrible choice to make. Coming off of an infamous scholarship release and forced transfer without being able to play in football games hurts Dyer’s progress as well as teams’ feelings about his off-field conduct. No one questions his running ability but that will hardly be enough to propel him anywhere close to the first two rounds of the draft if he chooses to enter.
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