Paul Perkins

Childhood and High school

Paul Perkins was born on November 16, 1994 in Mesa, Arizona. He attended Chandler High School in Chandler, Arizona and was childhood friends with Brett Hundley. During his senior year of high school, he was the first-team all-state, thanks to 20 touchdowns and rushing 1297 yards. He was also MVP on the track team, which went on to win the state title.

College

Perkins played at UCLA (although he was offered spots at Northwestern and Fresno State as well) and was a freshman in 2012. He was redshirted and quickly became the primary rusher. During four games that he started, he rushed 573 yards on 134 carries along with six touchdowns. By 2014, he was a pivotal part of the offense. He was a backup to Jordon James and then became the team starter.

Perkins was also named offensive MVP in the Alamo Bowl after running a career high of 194 yards alone with two touchdowns. He later beat that career high in 2015 against BYU. After his junior year, he announced he was participating in the 2016 NFL Draft.

NFL Draft

For the NFL Combine, Paul Perkins had a 40 time of 4.54 seconds and a vertical of 32 inches. Perkins was picked up by the New York Giants during the fifth round and was the 149th overall for the 2016 NFL Draft. He has football in his blood and it has been hard for him to live up to the name. He held a total grade of 5.6 for the draft. He was noted for having no directional tendencies and has a wicked jump-cut. His weaknesses included having smallish frame and doesn’t have the force to run through contact right now. He is compared to Duke Johnson in terms of his overall play style. [Source: http://www.nfl.com/draft/2016/profiles/paul-perkins?id=2555460]

His salary is based off of a contract of $2.59 million, which also includes a signing bonus for $252,548. You can see some of his college highlights here.

2016 NFL Season

Perkins was a rookie for the 2016 NFL season and became the fourth running back on the team, behind three veterans. He is the #28 running back for the New York Giants. During the 2016 season, he didn’t get a significant amount of play time. However, he did accomplish 456 running yards and 112 attempts. He sat on the bench for the majority of the season. He was put into the game beginning on December 11, which was against the Dallas Cowboys. He was responsible for 45 yards and there was a win. He also played the next several games, including against Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington, and Green Bay.

Some of his play can be seen on video here.

Personal Life

Perkins was born Paul Kerry Perkins II. His father was a fullback at Arizona State and his uncle was a running back for the Dallas Cowboys for eight seasons. He also has a younger brother, Bryce, who is a quarterback for Arizona State.

Perkins currently weighs in at 208 pounds and is 5’10”.

He wears the #28 Jersey for the New York Giants. It can be found here.

Perkins is on Twitter @Prime_Perk_24 He is very active on Twitter as well, and has been known to trend during football season. He’s known for his retweeting.