When South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore suffered a terrible knee injury this season, there were questions about whether he would ever play football again. If he does, it will likely be in an NFL uniform.
According to ESPN.com and writer Joe Schad, sources say that Lattimore will enter the 2013 NFL Draft and will make an official announcement later in the week.
Lattimore suffered a serious injury in late October against Tennessee after a players helmet hit him directly on the knee. He hurt his anterior cruciate ligament and lateral collateral ligament and was taken off the field on a stretcher.
The idea of going to the NFL is to start working with league doctors on rehabilitation and to have the longest professional career as he possibly can. Many other running backs have recovered from this type of injury and missed extensive time before returning to the football field, including Willis McGahee and Frank Gore.
According to Schad, Lattimore has suffered no setbacks in his rehabilitation and is not on crutches anymore. He has dealt with injuries in the past, but nothing this serious. Lattimore missed part of the 2011 season with a torn ACL in his left knee, but was able to return for the start of this season.
Lattimore was one of the prize recruits for head coach Steve Spurrier while at South Carolina, but the two never combined to win an SEC title. The junior was one of the best running backs in the conference and rushed for 662 yards and 11 touchdowns in nine games this season. He was also a threat out of the backfield, making 26 receptions for 173 yards.
Against Vanderbilt in his first game back from injury, he rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns. He had back-to-back 100-yard games against Kentucky and Georgia and scored at least one touchdown in every game but one this year.
In his final game with South Carolina, he rushed 11 times for 65 yards and one touchdown in the 38-35 win. South Carolina was ranked 86th in rushing and gained 142 yards per game in part because of Lattimore. He helped the Gamecocks to be one of the most efficient rushing attacks in the SEC over the past three years.
Against SEC teams this season, Lattimore rushed for 537 yards and nine touchdowns and averaged nearly 5.0 yards per carry. He was at his best in crunch time, rushing for 144 yards and three touchdowns with a 5.4 yards per carry average in the fourth quarter this season.
South Carolina opened this season with six straight wins, but then lost two straight to LSU and Florida. The Gamecocks finished with four straight wins and will play Michigan in the Outback Bowl.
In his career, Lattimore rushed for 2,677 yards and 38 touchdowns. The real question now, is whether he can return to his explosive form and which team will take a chance on him in the draft.
Many other players have comeback from similar injuries in the past. Gore is currently one of the best running backs in the league, while Willis McGahee has been relatively durable since returning from a similar injury suffered in college in 2003. He has played in at least 13 games every season until this one and his injury was particularly gruesome.
In his first two full professional season, McGahee played in all 16 games for the Buffalo Bills and rushed for over 1,100 each time and scored a combined 18 touchdowns. He had two more 1,000-yard seasons in his career and had 731 rushing yards and four touchdowns before getting hurt this year.
Former Minnesota Vikings running back Robert Smith had a similar injury and recovered to have the four most productive seasons in his career. He rushed for over 1,000 yards in those four season and played in all but seven games over that stretch.
Lattimore will now prepare for the NFL scouting combine in the spring and has set a goal to be able to catch passes and jog for teams while there. The Buffalo Bills took McGahee with a first round pick the year he was injured and although it was serious, it paid off big time. Another team may get that chance come April.