Elijah making his move

For many, simply making it to the NFL would be enough for the fairy tale story to be complete.

But for Elijah McGuire, that’s just the beginning of the story.

Everyone locally knows by now that McGuire, a Houma native, was a late-round pick by the New York Jets in the 2017 NFL Draft.

But after a good rookie camp, training camp and preseason, McGuire is now on the field making plays for the Jets on Sundays.

In Week 2, McGuire made his debut. Two weekends ago, he scored his first-career touchdown.

Now, his focus is on the future and continuing to make plays for his team in a growing role in the team’s backfield.

“It’s going great,” McGuire told the Jets’ official website. “Just focused on trying to get better and continuing to progress. The guys at this level are so good. They’re big, fast, strong – just everything. I’m just trying to develop and continue to learn.”

Locally, we all know McGuire can play.

It’s been convincing others outside of the area that’s been a bit of a problem.

He was a phenom at Vandebilt – a freshman sensation who matured into a polished senior quarterback – one of the top players in the history of the Terriers’ storied program.

McGuire was lightly recruited because he struggled academically early in his prep career, which caused him to reclassify in the middle of his career.

Many teams thought McGuire was a junior when he was actually a senior. Because of that, he only had a handful of commitable offers, despite a dominant senior season.

One school who was aware of what was going on was UL-Lafayette, which offered him a scholarship early in his recruitment.

That was one of the best decisions of head coach Mark Hudspeth’s career.

In Lafayette, McGuire blossomed into a man – a ball carrying machine.

He won the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year award in his first season with the team. The next season, he did one better and won Conference Player of the Year honors.

By the time it was all said and done, McGuire was UL-Lafayette’s all-time leader in all-purpose yardage – a guy who will surely have his number retired at the school in the near future.

“He’s a special player,” Hudspeth said last season. “But the thing about this kid is that he’s equally special off the field. He’s a good kid. He does things the right way. Elijah works hard, is humble and he really wants the best for both him, his teammates and our football team. He’s been a big difference maker for our team.”

But even after that special of a college career, NFL teams were weary of what McGuire could do at the next level.

He’s not the biggest tailback in the world. McGuire stands a little south of 6-feet tall and before adding weight in college, he hardly weighed 200 pounds – if that much.

But McGuire has a skill set that offensive coaches salivate over, which keeps him on the field.

He can run between the tackles and has elite speed to the edges. In the passing game, McGuire can pick up a blitz or slip down the field for a reception. He’s also evolving into a special teams player for the Jets, which helped him make the roster.

“That was my only focus,” McGuire said. “I just wanted to make this football team.”

Now, it looks like he might stick around for a while.

The Jets have a logjam at halfback, with proven veterans Matt Forte and Bilal Powell starting the season getting the majority of the reps.

But the veterans have gotten beat up a little since the beginning of the season, which has created some spots for McGuire to play.

Last week, he got his shining moment, taking a carry, breaking through the line and going off to the races – a long touchdown run which helped the Jets win.

After the game, the team’s offensive coaches applauded McGuire’s maturity and said he will have additional opportunities in the future.

McGuire said he appreciates the praise but is focused only on the present and the next game.

He said he’s working daily to get bigger, faster and stronger so that he can be better equipped to handle the grind that is a 16-game NFL schedule.

But so far, so good, and now McGuire is ready for more.

For this guy, just making it to the dance wasn’t the dream. McGuire wants to get there and conquer it, and he doesn’t plan to stop working until that’s a reality.

“Just playing every play as hard and as best I can,” McGuire said. “I’m trying to take every opportunity and make the most of it.” •

Elijah McGuire

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