Georgia Bulldogs

The Panel: Keith Marshall healthy, ready to live up to potential

Published Mar. 25, 2016 3:16 p.m. ET

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The concept of Shark Tank is simple: people pitch their product to a panel of investors, hoping that they'll bite. It's ultimately about untapped potential.

It also happens to be one of Keith Marshall's favorite show. "I've probably seen every episode of that," the former Georgia running back said.

In that, there was something very meta.

Marshall, who holds a degree in finance, is in the midst of his own version of the ABC reality series, pitching himself to NFL teams as an asset that has yet to reach its full promise. He thrived in his freshman year in Athens in 2012 after arriving as the top-rated player at the position, ahead of classmates Todd Gurley, Duke Johnson and T.J. Yeldon, but was plagued by knee injuries that at least limited his mileage, a commodity at the position.

"It's a curse kind of, because it means I was good enough to play, I was just injured quite a bit," Marshall said before his taping of FOX Sports South's The Panel, which debuts Sunday, March 27 at 9:30 p.m. ET. "So (teams) wanted to make sure I was healthy, that was the biggest thing, but a lot of teams did say 'Well, you didn't have as many miles as some other running backs do because they played a lot more.'"

Marshall went a long way toward alleviating any concerns as he ran the fastest 40-yard dash time at he combine -- a 4.31 that pocked him a $50,000 prize from adidas -- and rattled off 25 reps on the 225-pound bench press.

"What I hoped the message was is I'm healthy," Marshall said. "All the medical checks I checked out. No re-checks or nothing like that. So they know I'm healthy like I was my freshman year when I had such a good season."

But there was no celebrating in Indianapolis. He phoned his dad multiple times after his performance, the two talking about 10 minutes each time. Marshall could tell something was off, though, and when he finally asked, his father told him his paternal grandmother, Helen Marshall had died that morning after an extended illness.

"We knew it was coming, but I didn't go out and celebrate because I had that on my heart," Marshall said. "It was different."

Part of the tandem known as "Gurshall" -- his last name plus that of backfield mate Gurley -- during a freshman year in which he for 759 yards and eight touchdowns on 117 carries, Marshall's Georgia career took a turn in Tennessee's Neyland Stadium in 2013. He hauled in a pass from Aaron Murray and headed up the left sideline before taking a hit on his right knee. He had torn his ACL.

He returned in 2014, but not at full strength, and was shut down after only 24 yards on 12 carries. As he waited away what, in all, would amount to a year and a half return, Marshall admits it was an eye opener.

"Up until that point, everything had kind of gone as planned," he said. "I was able to do whatever I wanted athletically, pretty much."

With more free time, Marshall changed his major from management to finance, largely because of an interest in private equity, but was well aware it could pay dividends if the NFL was still in his future.

"That's part of the reason I chose to major in finance, so I could take care of myself and not give someone else that much control over my finances," he said. "I think it will help a lot, understanding how money works, how to invest, how to save, taxes, all that kind of stuff."

Marshall returned last season only to sit third on the depth chart behind Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. After Chubb went down in the season's sixth game, Michel earned the bulk of the carries (he totaled 1,161 and eight TDs) and Marshall was limited to 68 attempts for 351 yards and three scores over 11 games.

While he still had another year of eligibility remaining, Marshall instead opted to declare for the draft.

"I wanted the opportunity to get back (to the top of the depth chart)," Marshall said. "I didn't quite get there, but I still knew I had it, so that's kind of the reason I decided to move on. I knew I still had the talent, it's just a matter of getting the opportunity to go out there and do it."

He can take solace in the fact that Gurley, a close friend who Marshall says he speaks to every day, has thrived at the next level after coming back from his own knee injury. The 10th overall pick by the Rams in 2015, Gurley ran for 1,106 yards.

"I feel like I was right there with him," Marshall said. "It's the facts of the situation if you look at the stats and stuff like that. Things happened and I didn't get to do what he's gotten to do, but I feel like talent-wise, I can go and be a productive player in the NFL."

Despite his impressive combine numbers, Marshall is still projected as fifth-to-sixth-round pick and rated as the 16th running back overall. He's behind Arkansas' Jonathan Williams and Alabama's Kenyan Drake, two more of the RBs that were behind Marshall in the Class of 2012.

Follow Cory McCartney on Twitter @coryjmccartney and Facebook. His book, 'Tales from the Atlanta Braves Dugout: A Collection of the Greatest Braves Stories Ever Told,' comes out April 12, 2016., and 'The Heisman Trophy: The Story of an American Icon and Its Winners' will be released Nov. 1, 2016.

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