Tim Horton has coached his share of NFL running backs. The longtime assistant coach hopes to add two more players to that list during this week's NFL Draft.
Auburn's sixth-year running back coach knows at least one player, Kerryon Johnson, will be selected in this year's draft, and he's optimistic another, Kamryn Pettway, will hear his name called before the three-day event comes to an end Saturday.
"Hopefully both of them get drafted," Horton said last week in Scottsboro before speaking to the Jackson County Auburn Club.
Johnson is a sure bet to get drafted after the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Year led the conference in rushing last season, declared early for the draft and then followed it up with one of the better running back performances at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.
Johnson, who rushed for 1,391 yards and 18 touchdowns last season while adding another 194 yards and two touchdowns receiving, is likely to be selected on Day 2 of the draft and is widely projected as a second- or third-round pick.
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Horton's message to NFL teams considering Johnson in this week's draft was simple:
"The best quality that KJ has his that he's a great competitor," Horton said. "It doesn't matter if you're playing basketball, it doesn't matter if you're playing cornhole, it doesn't matter if you're playing football, KJ is going to compete. To me, what a great quality to have. The other thing he can give you, because I think this does count, is the character component. He's got great character.
"I think when he decided right after the bowl game to go to the next level, I thought he would be a third- or a fourth-round guy, but I think because of the way he has tested, because people have found out so much more about him the person, it wouldn't surprise me a bit to see him drafted in the second round."
Pettway's draft stock is far less certain.
He led Auburn in rushing in 2016, when he ran for 1,224 yards and seven touchdowns while leading the SEC with 122.4 yards per game. Pettway returned last season but was hampered, first by a season-opening suspension and then by injuries to his ankle and shoulder blade. He appeared in just five games and rushed for 305 yards and six touchdowns before entering his name in the draft upon the completion of the season.
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Pettway, who did not travel with Auburn to its bowl game in Atlanta and disclosed that his season-opening suspension was due to a failed drug test for marijuana, has faced questions about his character during the pre-draft process. As such, he's expected to be a Day 3 selection in the NFL Draft -- that is, if he gets selected at all.
"I've never had a problem with that with him," Horton said of Pettway's character concerns. "His was just such an unfortunate deal with the injuries. All I can talk about and deal with was my situation with him and it's always been great. I have no problems with his character, at least from his positional coach's standpoint."
The NFL Draft begins tonight at 7 p.m. with the first round. Rounds 2-4 are Friday starting at 6 p.m., while the final three rounds begin Saturday at 11 a.m.
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.
from Auburn Sports Impact http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/index.ssf/2018/04/tim_horton_auburn_rbs_nfl_draf.html
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