Herschel Sims Ready To Cowboy Up As Dual-Threat RB

Oklahoma State is looking for its first-ever 10-win season under Mike Gundy (they should beat Kansas this week for No. 10) thanks to the likes of running back Kendell Hunter, wide receiver Justin Blackmon and quarterback Brandon Weeden. It’s not a bad situation for a new recruit to walk into, especially one that can run and catch. With Hunter graduating this season, the arrival of Herschel Sims couldn’t come at a better time for the Cowboys who will just be reloading in 2011.

Sims comes from tradition-rich Abilene High School in Abilene, TX, the defending Division 2 5A State champs in Texas (they won their first playoff game last weekend and will now play for the area championship in the second round this coming weekend).

Last season Sims, rushed for over 2,200 yards and 32 touchdowns and caught 23 passes for 371 yards and four touchdowns. That’s 16 yards per catch for those of you keeping track at home. But Sims’ on-field performances isn’t nearly as impressive as how he’s handled life off the field.

When he was six or seven-years old, he and his brother were physically abused by their parents. At one point the two were even tied down and beaten by their stepfather. Fortunately the two brothers were spared more abuse as both parents were imprisoned, but Sims doesn’t bare ill will.

As he told The Oklahoman: “I don’t hold anything against (my mom). To be honest, I really don’t have hate for my stepdad. I actually want to meet him and confront him and meet him and ask him why.”

Jenni Carlson, who wrote the story for The Oklahoman, had this to say about Sims: “Sims is sure to excite Cowboy fans for years to come, but really, he is someone who we can all cheer. This is a young man who has fought. This is a young man who has endured. This is a young man who has experienced the worst in people but refused to let it get the best of him. Regardless of your Bedlam affiliation, you can root for Herschel Sims.”

According to Rivals, the 5-foot-10, 190-pound player is the second-best running back in the country and has even compared him to LaDainian Tomlinson. Sims himself says he patterns his game after another bruising running back: Adrian Peterson.

Said Sims: “There are certain points in the game when you have to get the pads down and get a first down, and (Peterson and Tomlinson) do that. I look up to Adrian Peterson. I’m nowhere close to him, but I would like to be close to that one day.”

But according to The Oklahoman’s Brandon Chatman, Sims’ bruising running style isn’t what set him apart from the country’s best:

“One thing that sticks out about Sims is his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and look comfortable running routes and catching the ball. … He shows his versatility in catching the ball while at the same time displaying tough running and breakaway ability.”

In an offense that uses the run and pass so well like Oklahoma State, having a dual-threat running back in the backfield could be huge for the Cowboys. Sims is already a bigger back than current running back Kendall Hunter. Hunter stands at just 5-foot-8 and is 197 pounds, almost ten pounds more than he was in high school.

Sims can also run the 40 in 4.43. So he’s not exactly the easiest man-child to bring down. Now that he’s headed to Stillwater, he’ll provide fits for in-state rival Oklahoma and defensive guru Bob Stoops: