After all seven rounds of this year's draft, several college hopefuls are left to be signed as scout players, or maybe make the practice squad. The Oakland Raiders signed one of those undrafted players: University of Washington RB Louis Rankin.
Rankin was a graduate of Lincoln High School in Stockton, CA where he made fans silent as he tore up California's division-one high schools all over the state. He continued his career at the University of Washington, where he didn't see much playing time until his senior year.
In 2007 Rankin rushed for 1,294 yards on 233 carries, taking in six of those for scores.
His most notable game was Nov. 3 against Stanford, in which he carried the ball 36 times for 255 yards, averaging 7.1 yards per carry, only recording one touchdown.
Three weeks later he tore up the University of California for 224 yards on just 21 carries. He also got one touchdown.
If he were given the ball more often in the red-zone his numbers would have been staggering, but luckily for the Raiders they were not. This led most teams to believe that he was just another mediocre talent.
I saw him play many times and can tell you this kid is special. Hopefully we can retain him as a kick-returner, or keep on the practice squad for a couple years until Fargas is out of gas.
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5 months ago
Good call. RB Louis Rankin does have talent. The word on him at the college level was that he was a Hit-or-Miss back looking for consistency. I always felt he was being down graded due to the O-line being questionable. The Huskies had inexperience at guard and freshmen filling in. He was a good undrafted free agent pick up. I think he has a shot to earn a roster spot special teams or the practice squad. Another solid undrafted free agent pick up was LT Brandon Rodd who is 6'4" 303 lbs. and started 25 games for Arizona State.
from 5 months ago
very true
5 months ago
I gotta say that when I watch him run, especially up the middle, I sometimes get confused whether I am watching football or dancing with the stars. He the kind of back that makes you fall in love with him one game, and then he breaks your heart the next. And as a student of UW, my heart got broken a lot in the last three years.
5 months ago
why are we discussing the raiders and ANOTHER RUNNING BACK? now i must confess that i have barely seen the kid play, but i cant imagine he will see much if any time behind vargas, dmc, and michael bush. but, having said that, injuries occur and if bush cannot come back healthy maybe the kid will make the field.
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