Fall Camp Preview: Five players looking to step up this year

Mario Pender runs at the 2013 Garnet and Gold game — Photo Credit: Travis Register

Mario Pender, Rs SO, RB

Pender is another player who has had a hard time staying on the field. After giving up the final semester of his senior year in high school to enroll early at Florida State, Pender suffered a sports hernia that required surgery and forced him to take a redshirt in his first season in Tallahassee. Last year academic issues ruled Pender ineligible at the start of the season and kept him out another year. Pender will have missed two full years by the time he gets his first substantial action this season — that’s long enough for fans to forget about you.

Before Pender got trapped in football purgatory though, he was a US Army All-American, a 4-star back from Island Coast HS in Cape Coral, Florida. Pender’s mixture of speed and deceptive power had Jimbo Fisher raving this past Spring, and provided he can stay healthy and eligible, it should have Pender in the mix at running back this season. While Karlos Williams and Dalvin Cook are getting lion’s share of the preseason hype, Pender has been in Jimbo Fisher’s offense the longest of any of the tailbacks in the mix. All four of the backs — Cook, Ryan Green, Pender and Williams — are talented enough to be featured, but Pender’s knowledge of the offense, coupled with the motivation of having had to miss so much time, could help Pender surprise people this Fall.

Karlos Williams will still be the starter, but Pender will push for extra carries.