Carolina Panthers rookie running back Elijah Holyfield may have run a miserable 4.78-second 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine, but he still has high hopes for himself in the NFL, and so do the Panthers.
The son of former boxing great Evander Holyfield, Elijah, who played his collegiate football at the University of Georgia, went undrafted, as his combine results obviously raised some concerns about his athleticism.
But, Holyfield feels he does enough to bring something to the Panthers' backfield.
“I’m a very hard worker and a very physical runner who does have speed to make people miss at the same time,” said Holyfield, according to David Newton of ESPN.com. “So I feel I bring a nice element to this team.”
As for Carolina? Yes, the Panthers are fully aware of his 40 time, but they also liked what they saw on Holyfield's tape.
“You really see the explosiveness between the tackles; you see his ability to run between the hashes,” Panthers head coach Ron Rivera said. “I know he didn’t run a good 40 time, but when you put the tape on … it was pretty impressive. I don’t think [the 40 time] really speaks to who he is as a football player. It’s one of those things, it doesn’t add up.”
Holyfield is coming off of a junior campaign in which he rushed for 1,018 yards and seven touchdowns while averaging 6.4 yards per carry.
The Panthers won seven games and missed the playoffs this past season, largely due to the fact that quarterback Cam Newton was plagued by a shoulder issue for much of the year.
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