Draft preview: RBs

This is the way it was supposed to be for Justin Fargas. His legs would someday make him a lot more than just Huggy Bear's kid.

After some tough detours, Justin Fargas fulfilled his destiny at Southern Cal. (Getty Images)

It was always supposed to be that way, from the time Fargas left high school as the top running back in the nation with gifts so special he was preordained for a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Something, as it sometimes does in these can't-miss stories, went wrong. Fargas' career took a bad turn on the way to stardom, even if it wasn't his doing. The path he took led to a shattered leg that doctors said resembled something from a car crash, with talk of amputation.

That prompted a position switch to safety, followed by a transfer to a school closer to his California home, where he asked the man himself for permission to wear the number of the most famous football player of them all (for more than just his work on the football field).

The Juice turned the number loose, but USC coach Pete Carroll told Fargas to pick another number. He settled on 25.

"It sure hasn't been easy getting to where I am now," Fargas said. "It's a different path than most guys take."

Where he is now is where he was expecting to be in the first place. Thanks to an impressive 2002 season with the Trojans after transferring from Michigan, followed by a wonderful combine workout that had NFL scouts buzzing, Fargas is on his way to possibly being the first running back taken in the NFL Draft later this month.

Coming out of high school, Fargas' explosive running ability made him the talk of Southern California. It helped that his father, Antonio Fargas, was a popular actor who had played the character Huggy Bear on the TV series Starsky and Hutch.

It was always: "That's Huggy Bear's kid."

"Yeah, I got used to that," Justin Fargas said.

So he set off to Michigan to change it. He initially was going to attend Southern California, but when John Robinson was let go, Fargas changed his mind and went to Michigan. The dreams of playing the most famous tailback spot in the land were put on hold -- for four years.

Fargas always wore No. 32 as a kid because of O.J. Simpson. His father knew the Juice and would have him over the house when O.J. was working on that wonderful acting career (Naked Gun, who will ever forget?) of his.

When a walking, talking legend in is your kitchen -- before the trial of the century and the best acting job he ever did (spreading those hands so the gloves didn't fit) -- it's easy to understand why Fargas wanted to be Simpson.

As a freshman at Michigan, he showed that type of ability and more. Then he broke his lower leg in the 11th game that season against Wisconsin, an injury that led to three operations, including the re-breaking of the bone so doctors could insert two metal plates around it, filling his leg with screws.

"Those doctors said it was as bad as any football injury they had seen," Fargas said. "They weren't sure I'd play again. But I knew I would be back."

After a year off for rehab, Fargas returned to the Wolverines in 2000. But he was used mostly on special teams, which led to his transfer to USC. He sat out in 2001, leaving him one year of eligibility.

At the start of the 2002 season, he wasn't even the starter for the Trojans, let alone a potential first-round pick. A hamstring injury limited him early, but Fargas rebounded with a strong finish. While gaining 593 yards on 141 carries, he showed flashes of the runner most thought he'd become coming out of high school.

At 210 pounds, he ran hard and tough yet still had the speed scouts love. When he went to the combine and ran 4.32 on a supposedly slow track, Fargas' stock soared. In a weak running back class, he has a chance to go first.

"There are still some worries about his injury situation and his legs are little thin," said one AFC scout, "but he has first-round ability."

The skinny-leg rips are something Fargas has become used to hearing. But these are the same legs that squatted more than 450 pounds at USC.

"Isn't that strong enough?" Fargas said.

If Fargas does go in the first round, it would one heck of an ending to a college career. It would be the ending he never let go as he worked to rebound from the injury, worked to be a starter again.

He doesn't intend to let his NFL opportunity go to waste, either.

"I expect that someday people will be talking a lot about me," Fargas said.

Maybe even calling his dad Justin's father.

"That would be funny," Fargas said. "But the best thing they can say about me is that I am good football player. That's what I want more than anything."