Derrick Curtis Jr. is a small school running back who spent time with Jacksonville University, and Ottawa University. Spending two seasons in Jacksonville and four in Kansas with Ottawa. His skill set features some traits that will make almost any running back successful. Most importantly vision, burst, agility, and patience allow blocks to develop.
One Cut and Off to the Races
First of all kudos to Ottawa’s offensive line, they opened up many holes for Curtis during his time at the university. The offensive scheme also played a large part in his success. Ottawa incorporated an offense that was designed around the theory that if you get an entire defense moving one way, and seal off the backside, there will be a hole open every time.
What Curtis did so well for Ottawa was lead the defense to the play side only to cut back and hit the jets as soon as he saw daylight. Once he accelerated through the hole, a lot of times that was all she wrote as Curtis would take the run to the house. This is all over his highlight tape, and it’s encouraging to see because it speaks to a high understanding of how his offensive scheme is designed to work.
Patience is on display quite often as he seems to almost run in slow motion toward the front side until he sees the crease. He didn’t seem to get antsy and a lot of times the way he followed the play call exactly as the coach asked led to his success.
College Career
While his college career began not far from where he grew up in Tampa Florida, at Jacksonville University he was stuck behind a player that most UFL fans should know by now, Calvin Turner Jr. currently with the San Antonio Brahmas. While Turner was racking up thousands of yards, Curtis was biding his time until he could get on the field.
After exhausting his redshirt due to an injury and still riding the bench in 2019 he opted to transfer to Ottawa University in 2020. That’s when he finally got his opportunity. He would play in 6 games carrying the ball 124 times for 858 yards and 9 touchdowns. He added 11 catches for 140 yards and 3 more touchdowns, 2 kick returns for 2 yards, and 2 tackles. Breaking down to 22 touches, 166 yards, and 2 touchdowns per game. Insane statistics when you consider that was his first season with the team.
Over the next three seasons, Curtis Jr. continued to prove he could be a solid contributor at the professional level. The high school track star may not be the fastest player around but he has breakaway speed if you allow him to get into space, it isn’t often he is run down from behind, and on more than one occasion he left a trail of defenders chasing him as he waltzed into the end zone.
In 2021 Curtis would play in 7 games rushing 91 times for 485 yards and 5 touchdowns averaging 5.3 yards per carry. He added 6 receptions for 69 yards and 1 touchdown. In case scouts watching needed more evidence of how dangerous he can be, he managed a long of 63 in the run game, and 46 as a receiver.
In 2022 Curtis was injured and didn’t play for the Braves instead focusing on returning in 2023. Thankfully due to Covid and a previous redshirt, Curtis still had one last year of eligibility. In 2023 it was more of what Ottawa fans had grown accustomed to from Curtis and ultimately he finished with 10 games, 65 carries 254 yards, and 2 touchdowns with 3 catches for 19 yards and 1 touchdown.
National Scouting Combine Performance
Curtis Jr has done his best to put himself on the map nationally by attending the National Scouting Combine in 2024. His numbers were impressive and backed up what he put on tape:
40: 4.48/4.52
Shuttle: 4.21/4.28
L Drill: 6.84/688
Broad: 10’2
The issue with some of these events is teams may not take their word as gospel. This seems to be the case with Curtis Jr., with his production, and the above athletic profile he should have already been on a roster for the 2024 season. Curtis was eligible for the UFL Draft but wasn’t picked up.
This makes his showcase performance all the more important if he wants to put himself on the map. If he can run in the 4.4’s once again there is a good chance a team takes notice. The importance of this event is not lost on Derrick Curtis Jr. “I can’t wait for the UFL showcase so everything is official and even though I’m coming from a smaller school I’ll be competing with the best”.
Best of luck to Derrick Curtis Jr.
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