I think he's probably one of the top 5 athletes in the sport of football period. College or professional. We're talking about a 6'5", 250 pound kid with a 40" vertical, nearly an 11' broad jump, and 4.5 speed. He's a great blocker. I like how Oregon also uses him in the backfield. He moves like a big tailback when they hand him the football... which is why he averages nearly 6 yards/carry. I've seen Oregon insert Lyerla into the game when the offense is struggling and it always results in yardage and TD's when they do. Let me know the next time you see the football in his hands and he's not dragging tacklers with him. His ability in the open field is as rare as it gets for a kid that size.
He's so athletic and explosive that it's typically difficult for coaches to find the best position for the few players like this that come along. Although Oregon is probably the program that has become the most adept at finding versatile athletes and putting them in a variety of different positions. Lyerla reminds me of Brian Urlacher's days at New Mexico.... Lyerla is that unique and athletic. I think he'd be a 1st round pick even if they put him at outside linebacker and left him there. I remember watching him play linebacker in the Army All-American Game coming out of highschool.
To put it bluntly, I'm extremely, extremely high on Colt Lyerla as a football player. It's very simple. Lyerla can block, catch the football, run the football, and tackle... all the basic fundamental aspects that make you a good football player. He does them all naturally. Factor in how special and explosive he is as an athlete, and what you have is a rare player indeed.
