NFL Draft 2011: How About Home-Grown Help for the Buccaneers From Bilal Powell?

Watched a running back last season that made some truly amazing runs for the Louisville Cardinals.

Watched this guy do things that were reminiscent of Barry Sanders. My immediate reaction was, "Who is that guy?"

That's probably what you're going to be asking yourself when I mention the name Bilal Powell, running back, Louisville Cardinals.

Hailing from neighboring Lakeland, Florida and having played in high school for Lake Gibson, Bilal Powell is a good, solid guy—he's also an interesting story.

He grew up in a bad part of town, one of those places full of guns, gangs and violence. He met Rusty and Julie Bulloch, who had a boy his age, and he spent one night on their 25-acre ranch. The peaceful environment led him to this question: "How long can I stay here?"

It ended up like a local version of The Blind Side and Powell played well enough in one season of running the football to earn himself a scholarship to Louisville.

He virtually did nothing until his senior year. Last season, he ran for 1,405 yards on 229 carries, scored 11 touchdowns and made some runs that were simply spectacular to watch.

He produced runs of 85, 80 and 74 yards during the season and he can get the tough yards inside. He's 6'0", 215 pounds, and he can get to the corner.

Should the Bucs even draft a running back?

Well, all you have to do is look at the poster man—notice I didn't say poster child—for NOT drafting a running back, and that would be LeGarrette Blount.

Even with that in mind, this is the type of runner that could help this football team.

With just one year of nice production, this is a guy who might slip through the cracks a bit and if he's still on the board in the later rounds, who knows, he could be one of those steals.