California Running Back Jahvid Best Declares for 2010 NFL Draft

Jahvid Best announced he is entering the 2010 NFL Draft on Saturday. Jahvid Best could be a high pick in the 2010 NFL Draft after several seasons as a running back for the California Golden Bears. The move though is a tad surprising after he had a rough 2009 season that also saw him get injured in a serious collision on the field while scoring a touchdown. That injury left Jahvid Best with a concussion and sore back, and could have potentially hurt his draft stock as the college football season draws to an end. It's also a bit surprising because one more year in college could have really elevated his draft status.

By Jahvid Best declaring himself eligible for the 2010 NFL Draft it shifts the charts in regards to the best running backs available. He is definitely one of the five best running backs entering the 2010 NFL Draft, and barring injury could prove himself to be one of the top players in the draft. The problem though is that he now comes with question marks after a very disappointing 2009 regular season, and when it comes to the NFL drafting players, there are a lot of moments where players see their draft stocks plummet when injuries are brought into the discussion. Now Best's injury will be talked about right up until they call his name.

Last season for California Jahvid Best ran for 1,580 yards and put up another 246 yards on the receiving end. He also scored 16 touchdowns, and was a big leader for California coming into the 2009 season. The first three games of 2009 seemed to really start Best off on the right foot as he rushed for 137, 144, and 131 yards respectively. He also scored five touchdowns in a game at Minnesota, and it seemed like he was off to the races. He followed that up with two sub-par games of 55 and 47 yards rushed against Oregon and USC, and the positive talk about Best started to slip a little. When he put up 159 yards against a weak Washington State defense in week 8 he was back in the discussion.

The injury to Jahvid Best happened in their game against Oregon State, and it not only turned into a loss, but ended the season for the running back. This also caused him to miss the Poinsettia Bowl that is team qualified for and ended up losing to Utah. In nine games that he played during the 2009 season, Best put up 867 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns total, which by most standards is a pretty nice set of numbers.

Now the 20-year-old is heading into what might be a very deep 2010 NFL Draft with other running backs that include C.J. Spiller (Clemson), Toby Gerhart (Stanford), and Ryan Mathews of Fresno State just to name a few. One name that also jumped on to the radar with a very impressive bowl performance was Dexter McCluster of Ole Miss, who could now break into the top 5 available backs. Best will be chosen within the first three rounds of the 2010 NFL Draft, but with so much up in the air, and a lot of maneuvering still to take place by teams in the off-season, it's anyone's guess where he will be drafted at this point.

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Best Declares for 2010 NFL Draft

2010 NFL Draft Order