Chicago Bears Pick Up Harvey Unga

The 2010 NFL Supplemental Draft ended today with only Harvey Unga selected by the Chicago Bears, and defensive tackle Josh Price-Brent by the Dallas Cowboys. It was said that the St. Louis Rams were interested in Unga. Last week in a workout for pro scouts Unga ran a 4.63 handheld 40-yard dash on artificial turf. He lifted 225 pounds 19 times, had a standing vertical jump of 35 inches and a 9-foot-6 inch standing broad jump. His vertical and broad jump were personal bests, according to his personal trainer, Dave Stroshine. His 19 reps also equaled a personal best.

The Chicago Bears will forfeit their seventh-round pick in the 2011 NFL draft for Unga. Many fans wanted the Rams to pick up Unga as a backup for Steven Jackson. The Rams recently traded their 2011 7th round draft pick to the Chicago Bears for Safety Kevin Payne. The Rams would have needed to use their 6th round 2011 draft pick to acquire Unga and they must have thought the price was too high or were not that interested in him after all.

Harvey Unga is a 6' 240 pound Junior running back out of BYU. Unga had 1087 yards rushing on 208 attempts in 2009 and had 3455 yards on 696 attempts during his career at BYU. Unga's career at BYU was cut short for a violation of BYU's honor code, now widely accepted to be sexual relations outside of marriage, which is forbidden for BYU students.

The bottom line is did the St. Louis Rams make the right decision? My opinion is yes they did. While it is true that the Rams need an adequate backup for over-worked Steven Jackson, Unga was most likely not the answer. At 240+ pounds Unga could actually be just a fullback in the NFL. In addition grades on Unga were never that great. WalterFootball.com had Unga ranked 12th in their 2011 NFL Draft running back ratings. The other reality is Steven Jackson just does not come out of the game much. Kenneth Darby led all Rams backup running backs in 2009 with only 27 carries for 152 yards. Only time will tell if the Rams missed out on a steal or a bust.

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com