Detroit Lions Draft Prospects: Chris Polk, RB, Washington

The Detroit Lions have three good running backs but each has his own questions relating to injuries to answer. For that reason, the Lions may looks to add yet another running back through the draft.

Chris Polk, RB, Washington
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 215 lbs
Arms 33″
Hands 9-3/4″
40-Yard Dash: 4.57 sec
Vertical: 31.5″
Broad Jump: 111″
3 Cone Drill: 7.13 sec
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.21 sec

NFL Mocks breaks down Polk’s pros and cons like this:

"Prosrecruited to Washington as a wide receiver…gains a lot of yards after contact…keeps his feet moving…breaks a lot of tackles…gets north and south in a hurry…does a good job of creating something out of nothing..soft hands used in the receiving game as an outlet…good balance…tough between the tackles…excellent build…shifty in the open field…Really does a good job of planting his foot in the ground and then pushing off in the opposite direction from the defender (“cutting on a dime”)…workhorse…does a good job of setting up his blocks…plus field visionConsDoes not have elite straight line speed to run away from defenders at the NFL level…doesn’t run a lot of routes, more of an outlet guy and screen guy…willing blocker, but not a great blocker…Missed almost all of 2008 because of injuries, could be concerns about his shoulders"

Chris Polk was a highly productive running back at the University of Washington. The Lions will like his ability to catch the ball out of the backfiled – he played both running back and wide receiver in high school.

The biggest knock on Polk is that he isn’t a speedy back. He takes some time to get up to full speed and isn’t able to change directions quickly. What he lacks in speed he makes up for in effort. Polk does a good job of keeping his legs moving to get extra yardage after contact. He does have some injury concerns. Two shoulder surgeries and a knee scope might be too much of a history for the Lions to take Polk considering injuries are the reason they could be in the running back market.

The Lions’ offense lost a dimension when Jahvid Best was lost for the season. The speed he brings to the game is not easily replaced and Chris Polk isn’t the player the Lions could look to as insurance for another injury to Best. He’s much more suited for the role that Kevin Smith has played and Mikel Leshoure figures to play when healthy. Still, they indicated some level of interest by interviewing him at the Senior Bowl and his production at the college level can’t be ignored.

The following look at Chris Polk’s draft preparations was posted on the CBS Sports website yesterday:

Here is a look at Chris Polk in three different games from last season:

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