The recent trials and tribulations of Joe McKnight have made a lot of us turn our heads and say...WHAT?! If this keeps up we have to lock him a glass case until we really need him.
Its bad enough that SC has been the brunt of jokes over the jock itch situation but with the addition of McKnight's off the wall injuries it really makes you want to scratch your head. I think McKnight will be fine but it might be a good idea to just keep him under wraps until the season start and just let him loose.
From The OCR:
After capping a much-hyped-but-slow-starting freshman season with a breakout performance in the Rose Bowl, the USC tailback missed time during the spring because of academics. After gaining 20 pounds of muscle in preparation for training camp, McKnight has been the victim of a series of nagging injuries that have cost him valuable practice reps.
The injuries – a rolled ankle, a skin irritation, a hand caught in a door, a hyperextended elbow – provide the latest fodder for McKnight's Wikipedia page, which is already lengthy for a 20-year-old college kid. Of course, McKnight is anything but average, his life anything but uninteresting.
Obviuosly, this is not the type attention we want. A lot of us wanted to see McKnight pick up where he left off in the Rose Bowl. The minor injuries and freak incidents only take away from important practice time and divert attention away from the progress we need to see as the season draws closer.
His slow start out of the gates last season due to the coaches supposedly trying to feed McKnight too much too soon really set him back and had SC fans wondering when he was going to break out. McKnight disputes that is was too much too soon choosing instead to put it all on his shoulders. Now that we have seen what he can do it frustrates us to see him have these little setbacks day in and day out.
But when compared to what he has been through already in life this is a blip on the screen.
“He’ll persevere through it. He’s a strong kid. Heck, he made it through a hurricane. This is a little speed bump for him. He’ll be ready for the first game without a doubt.”
McKnight clearly has the talent to have a break out season this year if he can stay healthy. We have all seen glimpses of what he can do and the fans are screaming for more.
Lets hope he gets healthy!