Top tailback recruit Derrius Guice is more than a power runner.
Derrius Guice is a top class of 2015 running back.
Guice, out of Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, La., stands 5'11 and weighs in at 219 pounds. As of June, he's listed as a consensus four-star prospect by 247Sports, Rivals, Scout and ESPN. The 247Sports Composite, a compilation of data from the four major recruiting services, lists him as the 95th-best player in America, the ninth-best running back and the third-best player from the state of Louisiana.
Guice is picking up interest from schools in his region. He holds scholarship offers from LSU, Alabama, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, Southern Miss, Texas and Tulane.
Note: Recruits commit and decommit throughout the process. No effort is made to note commitments or decommitments in these scouting reports. All we note is claimed offers at the time of evaluation.
There is a lot to like about Guice. First, he has college-ready size. He won't have to take a year to bulk up in the weight room, which offers certainty to his team.
Guice's size implies that he is a power back, and he can run with power, but that is not the only aspect of his game.
He is surprisingly shifty for a squattily built runner. He can make defenders miss in space, particularly because they have to worry about his power and try to tackle him around the ankles.
Guice shows good vision on some runs, and will often enter a crowd and emerge out of the other side. I would like to see him find the cutback lane a little more, and there is a bit of Pop Warner in his game, as he looks to bounce plays early.
I think Guice can be very productive at the highest level of college football, picking up first downs and scoring touchdowns. What Guice is not, however, is an explosive big-play threat. He simply lacks the top-end speed. Still, I think Guice is one of the 10 best running backs nationally in what is a decidedly down year for the position.
Fans can follow Guice on Twitter @DhaSickest.