2011 Florida Gators Football: Jeff Demps Has Options

It must be nice being Jeff Demps.

After all, following the 2011 college football season, he will have more options than mid-1990s Nebraska did when the ball-carrying choices were Tommie Frazier, Lawrence Phillips and Ahman Green (sorry to bring up that bad memory, Gator fans).

Once Demps, college football's fastest player, finishes his senior season playing tailback at the University of Florida, he's going to have to make a decision. And here's the kicker: Each potential answer should be quite lucrative, and each will fulfill a lifelong dream.

Does he:

A- Continue his football career in the NFL, where, at just 5'8", 181 pounds, he probably won't be a full-time back, but he would be a very viable change-of-pace third-down runner and return man? Also, don't count out him being looked at as a slot receiver, where his elite speed would provide at times an ugly mismatch for safeties, linebackers and nickel cornerbacks.

or

B- Take his talents full-time to track and field, where the current NCAA champion in the 60-yard dash could be a candidate to represent the United States as a sprinter in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London?

Demps has talked in the past about how he would love to do both. However, due to the time needed to excel at each sport, that may not be possible.

Whichever NFL team drafts him might be getting the guy who finally breaks Chris Johnson's 40-yard dash combine record of 4.24 seconds. But being fast, while wildly helpful, isn't necessarily a guarantee a player will be a star (or even make a roster).

Remember Rondel Melendez?

Didn't think so. A wide receiver from Eastern Kentucky, he ran the first 4.24 at the combine, in 1999, nine years before Johnson did so.

Melendez was the seventh-round selection of the Atlanta Falcons that April, but he never played a down in the league.

Not surprisingly, the Oakland Raiders fell in love with Darrius Heyward-Bey and his 4.25 in 2009. Al Davis and Co. picked the former Maryland receiver seventh overall in 2009, and Heyward-Bey has only seen limited action since.

That said, Champ Bailey (4.28) will be a Hall of Famer, and Johnson may be on his way. Jerome Mathis (4.28) is a quality pro, and and Jacoby Ford (4.28) just finished up a nice rookie season.

Demps is more than just a "speed guy"—he couldn't be a multi-year starter at running back for a program like UF if he was. But to make it in the NFL, an athlete can't be a part-time football player.

It is a full-time job, and the team forking out a six- or seven-figure salary to Demps will want a commitment with no distractions. Sure, the PR would be nice, but there only are a certain amount of roster spots available, and those need to go to guys in uniforms and pads, not tank tops and spandex.

The track option could be tricky.

Demps probably only has an outside shot of making the 2012 team, unless he earns his way on as part of a relay. And just as much as it matters with football, part-time sprinters usually get left behind by those who make running their primary focus and sole occupation.

However, with four years of training in track and track only, what's to say he won't be one of the 100- and/or 200-meter favorites in 2016?

None of this really matters right now.

Demps has said he will be a Gator in 2011, and how he does next season will go a long way in foreshadowing what round an NFL team will choose him.

And if he runs for 1,500 yards and earns All-SEC honors, then we'll really have something to talk about.

And Demps will have a lot to think about.