I hadn't thought so before but after looking into it more I could actually see this regime liking Noel Devine. The guy has played in 38 of his last 39 games. He's had an average of 17.2 carries per game the last two years. That will only continue this year and if he stays healthy again then he will have shown the special level of durability that this coaching staff demands. He may not be very big but as I said before this staff doesn't seem to apply rigid size guidelines to the runners that they prefer because they like to have both the ketchup and the mustard, the big bodied guys that pound it up the middle and the darters that gash defenses for those "chunk yards" they always talk about.
If you look closely he's got "the makeup". He holds football camps for kids back home I think three years running. I don't remember him getting into serious trouble, certainly not anything that affected his game eligibility. He's going to be a college graduate which is a big Parcells thing. He shocked everyone by deciding to stay in school for his senior year even after he'd just played 38 games and had 520 carries for 3,381 yards and 23 TDs, because he was committed to working hard and trying to win a championship. He's a leader on the team.
They would view Noel as a return guy, a part time running back, the guy they can send out on pass routes, etc. People may think that their supposedly rigid size requirements would knock him out but they do studies to see which position those size requirements mean a lot for and which positions they don't, and to me with the list of running backs and offensive players I've seen them be interested in over the years, I think they would have no problem adding one of those smaller, speedier guys if he showed them the right level of durability and makeup...which to date, Noel Devine has.
And if you have a Noel Devine you could pair him with a Harvey Unga for a thunder and lightning type approach, and you have two guys that you can generally count on to stay healthy and durable.
