Kendall Gaskins knew he would be getting a lot of reps Monday night since CJ Spiller was only scheduled to take a couple of reps in the live-hitting portion of the scrimmage. Then Zac Brown went down early with a rib injury and the door swung wide open. Gaskins ran through it knocking most in his path out of the way.
The undrafted rookie from Richmond had a big day. He scored a pair of touchdowns, made good on a two-point conversion, broke multiple tackles on a run into the secondary and showed some athleticism on a reception on a swing pass over his outside shoulder for a first down from quarterback Jeff Tuel. He also effectively picked up a blitz giving Tuel time to complete a 40-yard pass to Marcus Easley.
"I thought he looked good," head coach Doug Marrone said. "I would say that he did a nice job out there. I think you saw a little bit more of him than you did in the practices so now we've got to make sure we're getting that type of play out of the practices. I thought he did run well and he did run low."
Running Backs Coach Tyrone Wheatley told Gaskins prior to practice that he would be getting a lot of reps. Gaskins said he doesn't get many reps in practice, so this was his opportunity to produce in front of the coaching staff.
"Well, I just tried to come in and do what I needed to do," Gaskins said following the scrimmage. "Whatever the coaching staff wants me to do, I'll play that role. I'm not going to sit there and limit myself, so whatever they want me to do, I'll do it."
Gaskins doesn't have the speed of Spiller, but he's the biggest running back on the roster at 6' 1" and 236 lbs. He knows his calling card is his size and strength, but on Monday he showed he may be able to do a bit more.
"I have some speed, but I'm not a speedster," Gaskins said. "I'm more of a power guy and I think I showed that."
