Fans of the Baylor Bears aren’t the only ones who will be watching this week’s Alamo Bowl with a split sense of appreciation and dread over the possibility that a junior star may be playing his final game in San Antonio.
While this almost certainly lines up to be the final collegiate game for Heisman Trophy winner and Baylor star Robert Griffin III, the Huskies may well be getting a final look at the focus of their offense as will.
Before Chris Polk can truly clash with his internal dialogue of should-I-stay-or-should-I-go, the junior running back has one more game — and one more stab at a prestigious UW record that might be out of reach if he decides to pass up his final year at the school.
Polk, who needs 205 rushing yards to pass Napoleon Kaufman as the Huskies’ all-time leading rusher, said earlier this month that standing atop the UW rushing charts would be quite an honor — but not the main factor in his decision.
“Somewhat, yes, it factors in my decision,” he said after a UW practice in Seattle earlier this month. “But God has a plan for me. If it’s meant for me to get it I’ll get it. If I don’t, I won’t.”
Polk’s main motivation, he has maintained throughout the process, is to go when he feels he is most ready. He knew coming into his junior year — his fourth season at UW — that he still had plenty of work to do in terms of pass-blocking, catching the football and establishing himself as a breakaway threat. Polk has shown marked improvement in all three areas, but the question still remains as to whether he feels he’s become proficient enough at each to survive in the NFL.
“I’m still young, still trying to perfect my craft,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve reached my full potential yet, so we have to see what happens.”
Having already walked through graduation (in the summer) and earned his final six credits toward an American Ethnics Studies degree (during the winter quarter), Polk can make his decision based solely on football. He said earlier this month that his projected draft slot was of zero importance to him, even though scouts have him rated as high as a second-round pick.
What’s fairly clear is that Polk’s draft stock can’t get much higher. He’s not a true burner in terms of speed, and his spot as the No. 4 halfback on Rob Rang’s board of prospects for CBS Sports marks quite a leap from where Polk was about this time last year.
But Polk maintains that he’s not even paying attention to draft projections, saying: “As long as I go (somewhere in the draft’s seven rounds), I go. I’m not really into the rounds. I just want to see if I’m able to take my talents to the next level. Hopefully I am.”
One knock on Polk is a lack of breakaway speed. There are also questions about how his no-abandon running style might translate to the next level, where bigger and stronger defenders could leave Polk nursing wear-and-tear throughout his career.
The latter notion makes UW coach Steve Sarkisian chuckle.
“I don’t understand that,” the coach said earlier this month. “A running back is a running back, and you carry the ball. I think he runs with good pad level, he runs physical, and he takes care of his body.”
No matter what Polk decides to do, his place in Huskies’ lore has already been solidified. Sarkisian has said on numerous occasions that he has been the single biggest symbol of UW’s recent turnaround, and any discussion of all-time UW runners will include Polk regardless of if he breaks Kaufman’s record.
“He is right there with all of them,” said Bob Rondeau, the Huskies’ play-by-play announcer since 1980. “He’s done something maybe a lot of them didn’t: a lot of the others came into a flourishing program, and Chris didn’t have that. He’s been as important to the turnaround in success they’ve had as any player in the program.
“… Corey Dillon, I’ve always thought, was the standard-bearer there. I don’t know that Chris is as physically gifted, but from a longevity standpoint, he’s the best one I’ve seen.”
Replacing Polk is easier said than done. What was a position of strength in the spring has since been decimated by injuries, leaving the Huskies with plenty of question marks.
Current sophomore Jesse Callier appears the most likely heir apparent, but his numbers fell off following a promising freshman year as Polk’s primary backup. Classmate Deontae Cooper has yet to suit up for a game because of knee problems. Senior Johri Fogerson has struggled through hip injuries for most of the past two seasons and is just hoping to earn a medical redshirt next fall. Current freshman Bishop Sankey showed some promise but has had limited opportunities. And unless the Huskies can land Mariner High School star KeiVarae Russell, the 2012 recruiting class seems to lack a star halfback.
Sarkisian maintains that he hasn’t given too much thought to the possibility of life after Polk, but it could be a major concern should the fourth-year junior decide to pass up his senior year and jump into the NFL waters.
It’s a decision that Polk, and Baylor’s Griffin, for that matter, are likely to announce sometime after Thursday.
Records have already fallen, and it remains to be seen whether Polk will stick around to chase the main one that distinguishes UW running backs.
“I wouldn’t mind coming back to college another year and just rewriting history,” he said earlier this month. “We’ll see how it plays out.”
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