College Football: Nevada's Stephon Jefferson to Forgo Senior Year for NFL Draft

The second-leading running back in the NCAA, Nevada's Stefphon Jefferson, has elected to forgo his senior year and has declared himself eligible for the NFL draft.

Jefferson, a 5'11", 210-pound junior led the nation in rushing for most of the 2012 season. His production was just astonishing as he was mostly unstoppable. 

For the season, Jefferson had 375 carries for 1,883 yards and averaged 5.0 yards per carry. He scored 24 rushing TDs. His longest run was 63 yards. Jefferson averaged 144.8 yards per game. He also doubled as a receiver with 22 receptions for 170 yards and one TD.

For his career at Nevada, Jefferson had 448 carries for 2,338 yards and 30 TDs.

Despite these stats, Jefferson does not even appear on ESPN's draft page, while NFLDraftScout.com ranks him as only the sixth-best RB in the draft.

Most "experts" think he might be drafted in the later rounds or sign as a free agent.

The NFL draft experts are dead wrong, again. Jefferson is a superb RB who ran through some pretty decent defenses. Against Cal, Jefferson had 147 yards and three TDs. Against USF he ran for 135 yards. Against MWC champion San Diego State he ran for 108 yards and one TD. He torched Boise State for 139 yards and two TDs and had a huge day against Arizona rushing for 180 yards and two TDs.

Can someone explain to me how a guy who led the nation in rushing for most of the year and racked up 327 yards and five TDs against two Pac-12 teams isn't even on ESPN's draft board?

The last time the draft "experts" overlooked a Nevada player, it was a fellow by the name of Kaepernick. 

Just as the San Francisco 49ers benefited from the "experts" overlooking Kaepernick, someone in the NFL will pick up one heck of an overlooked running back in Stephon Jefferson. He definitely belongs in the early rounds. He is not a late-round-caliber player.