Dee Hart Tears ACL

Demetrius Hart, 5 star true freshman running back, tore his ACL in a 7 on 7 drill Tuesday night. This is a guy who enrolled early and played in the spring game. He had caused enough of a splash that two returning RB's, Demetrius Goode and Corey Grant, felt the need to transfer to other schools in search of playing time.

I wonder if either of those guys wishes they had hung around a bit longer. I for one, have no regrets that they left. Grant hadn't made any moves in his two years here so far, and Goode was serviceable but nowhere near the talent of a guy like Hart. Just because Hart was going to take some carries away from returning backup Eddie Lacy and Heisman candidate Trent Richardson, doesn't mean that Grant or Goode would have.

But MAN, we could really use a little more depth than it looks like we are going to have right now. We entered the spring with 6 scholarship RB's and now we are down to 3 going into fall camp. The 3 we have are all extremely talented, but what if one of them gets hurt?

I'm not going to crown Jalston Fowler the next Jerome Bettis just because he ran all over Duke and Michigan St in mop up duty, but the guy does appear to be impressive, and he will have to step up as his role will no doubt be increased. Hopefully, he will take full advantage of this opportunity. 

I know that I came away from the spring game very impressed with Dee Hart. He looked almost as good as Trent on the field and he was going to be a huge contributer this year. I think he would've made the same impact for us as Trent did in 2009. And now we will have to wait until at least the 2012 season to see what we have in Hart. But even then, things aren't certain. Dont'a Hightower tore his ACL in September of 2009, and while it appeared he had recovered quickly and was ready for the 2010 season, everyone knows he wasn't himself until the Michigan St game in January 2011. So it took almost 16 months for Hightower to get back to being the player he had been.

Hopefully, it won't take Dee as long. Maybe a year to learn and bulk up will do him good, and it will be a blessing in the long run.

Either way, I'm just gonna list this as one more reason that Trent Richardson will win the Heisman Trophy in 2011