FanPost

Meet Elijhaa Penny

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Measurable's 6'2 234

HIGH SCHOOL

Elijhaa Penny went to Norwalk Highschool in Southern California. He excelled as a running bak, defensive end, and linebacker, being named Suburban League MVP twice and CIF All-Selection. Penny was also named East Region Player of the Year after rushing for over 2,000 yards and scoring 18 touchdowns as a senior.

COLLEGE STATS

After high school Penny went on to play running back for The college of Sequoias. There he only played in 8 games gaining 102 yards 22 caries, scoring two touchdowns. His sophomore year Penny transferred to Cerrito College rushing for nearly 1,400 yards on 199 carries. As a sophomore he averaged 6.7 YPC and set a single-season record with 20 touchdowns. Penny had 7 games with over 100 yards rushing, including a career high of 262 yards on 34 carries.

After a successful sophomore season in junior college Penny transferred to the University of Idaho. As a junior he was not the starting running back but played in 11 games, starting two. In a reserve role he was still able to rush for nearly 600 yards on 139 carries, scoring 12 touchdowns. As a senior this past season Penny started every game, toting the rock 340 times gaining 1,567 yards and 7 touchdowns.

ANALYSIS

Elijhaa Penny is a power back, plain and simple. He's not very versatile as a runner but offers some receiving ability. Seems to be somewhat of a natural pass-catcher. As a runner he's a north-south bruiser who can make shifty minor cuts without losing too much speed, but wont be making big cuts across the field. Penny does not have elite speed but has decent vision and awareness, as well as a violent stiff-arm. Runs with a lower over pad level then Latavius Murray for instance, and does a really good job at lowering his pads last minute. This makes it extremely difficult for defenders to tackle him and results in a lot of linebackers and defensive backs getting ran over. Due to Idaho's running back rotation he seemed to get his breather on a lot of pass plays so I wasn't able to get a good evaluation of him as a pass blocker. That being said due to his size and play style I would imagine he has good potential as pass blocking running back.

CONCLUSION

At 6'2 234 pounds Penny has the size but speed and agility is a major concern. As a junior Penny weighed 247 pounds but trained hard in the off-season to lose weight in the hopes of being a more complete back. Penny improved each year as a running back and showed dedication and work-ethic by losing 15 pounds during the off-season. Unfortunately Idaho had poor weather conditions for their pro day and the athletes had to run the 40 yard dash on an indoor track resulting in poor 40 times for just about everyone. Penny clocked in at a 4.7 but supposedly is more of a high 4.5 low 4.6. I'm not convinced Penny is worth being drafted in the 7th round, but after watching the tape I wouldn't mind bringing him in as a UDFA. Penny grew up in Southern Cali so there's a chance he may be a raider fan and wants to play for us. Either way I do believe we need a power, and speed back to compliment Murray since he is a mix of both, but leaves something to be desired in the power category. Elijhaa Penny could be the answer to the power compliment and from the interviews i've seen he sounds like a man with high character whose hungry to keep getting better as a player.

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