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The Indiana Daily Student

sports football

COLUMN: Good landing spots for Coleman

Tevin Coleman’s junior season has nearly become a myth. He set school records with a broken sesamoid bone and put the Hoosiers in range of an upset against Ohio State with a third-string quarterback.

But his career at IU is now just a portfolio. Coleman has NFL teams calling and will likely be picked in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft. He had his Pro Day last week at IU and said the Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers and Detroit Lions were among teams calling him.

The Panthers would not be an ideal fit with their struggling offensive line, and this made me think about where the best places for Coleman to land.

I like him in a zone run scheme where he can cut once and run to daylight. At the same time, there are not many schemes in which Coleman would fail in.

Here are some of the teams I would like to see Coleman end up with.

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jags are not good, but they have quite a bit of potential. They are like the Timberwolves of the NFL. Gus Bradley is a tremendous defensive head coach, and Blake Bortles has the potential to be a Pro Bowl quarterback.

Jacksonville has not been quiet during an offseason in which it added Julius Thomas at tight end as well as Stefan Wisniewski and Jermey Parnell on the offensive line. With the addition of the Bernard Pierce signing, the Jags at least have the opportunity to be a quality offense.

Coleman and Pierce would balance each other out, with Pierce being the move-the-chains runner and Coleman providing big play ability.

Indianapolis Colts

This is where every Hoosier wants Coleman to go. It would mean him staying in-state, and the Colts have been looking for the star running back that Trent Richardson clearly was not.

The offensive line was a concern last season, but additions of Todd Herremans, Joe Reitz and Demarco Cox provide depth to the lineup that protects the best young quarterback in the NFL, Andrew Luck. Similar to the Jags, the idea of pairing Coleman to a team with a rising star quarterback is appealing. Also, he fits the Colts power running style.

Dallas Cowboys

This is the one Coleman wants, let’s be real. This is where any NFL running back would want to go. It is the best run blocking offensive line in football, and a young one at that. The Cowboys have most of the offensive line committed for a while, with nice contracts as well.

The Cowboys added Darren McFadden, who is a very similar runner to Coleman, but the two could coexist. This offensive line is for real, and with Tony Romo providing a great pass attack, the holes for Coleman to explode through could be massive.

But these are just a few options. The Arizona Cardinals would be great, and the Ravens also could be a good fit in terms of style.

I often have to reason with myself that maybe I just consider Coleman to be such an elite prospect because I covered all of his games this past season. But as time has passed and it became public that he played injured, it has become certain.

Tevin Coleman has a very bright future.

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