Louisville's Bilal Powell Has a Chance To Open Eyes in the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl

Coming into the 2010 college football season, it was a bit of a mystery as to really deserved to be called the top senior running back prospect for the 2011 NFL Draft. The early declarations of the two best prospects in the class, Ryan Mathews and Jahvid Best, left a big hole that needed to be filled.

Oklahoma’s DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma State’s Kendall Hunter and Kansas State’s Daniel Thomas, who all happen to hail from the Big 12, were the three senior running backs getting the most publicity going into the season along with other notable names such as West Virginia’s Noel Devine, Penn State’s Evan Royster and Miami’s Graig Cooper, who came into the year rehabbing a torn ACL.

While the high profile Big 12 trio of Murray, Hunter and Thomas did their best to live up to the hype—the three combined for over 4,000 yards on the ground—most of the other running backs in the 2010 class like Devine and Royster had considerably down seasons which will most likely impact their draft stock come next April.

One player who could benefit the most from the not-so-top-heavy senior running back group is Louisville’s Bilal Powell, who had a breakout campaign in his final season suiting up for the Cardinals.

Powell, who had mostly lived in the shadow of junior backfield counterpart Victor Anderson in the last two seasons, took his game to another level in 2010. The 6'0" 215 lb. senior became the backbone of the Louisville offense, rushing for over 1,300 yards and 10 TDs.

Powell, a native of Lakeland, Florida, entered his final collegiate season with just one 100-yard rushing game on his resume, yet he was able to accomplish that feat a whopping seven times in 2010.

Even though a knee injury kept him out of an early November matchup with Syracuse and somewhat slowed him during the season’s stretch run, Powell should be at full strength for Louisville’s postseason tilt with Southern Miss in the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl, which takes place tomorrow night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN at 8 pm ET which finally allows Powell the chance to show off his talents on a primetime stage in front of a national audience after performing largely out of the limelight for most of the season.

A big showing tomorrow night against a strong Southern Miss run defense could be the catalyst that Powell needs for a big postseason climb up NFL draft boards.

The speedy, powerful rusher has already been invited to the annual Senior Bowl, an all-star game played in Mobile, Alabama at the end of January which pits the best senior pro prospects from the North and South against each other for scouts to evaluate. Powell will also likely get the opportunity to show off his skills at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis at the end of February.

With no senior having a strong hold on the top running back spot and with no underclassmen throwing their name in the ring yet, it’s very possible at this point that Bilal Powell could be one of the first five running backs to come off the board in the 2011 NFL Draft.

Some other notable Louisville prospects to keep an eye on tomorrow night are cornerback Johnny Patrick (No. 19), who will be joining Powell at the Senior Bowl, tight end Cameron Graham (No. 83) and offensive tackle Byron Stinigly (No. 78).

Check out some highlights of Powell's senior season here.