Chargers Roster Breakdowns, 90-in-90: RB Kenneth Farrow

Player Factfile:

Name: Kenneth Farrow

Age: 24

Position: HB

College: Houston

NFL games played: 13

Games played for the Chargers: 13

Fun fact: Before the draft when asked what three people Farrow would most like to have dinner with, LaDanian Tomlinson was on his list (alongside Barack Obama and Michael Jordan).

Like so many of the players we've profiled so far, Farrow has a chip on his shoulder that's rooted a long way back. Farrow may have been undrafted, but that wasn't the first time he was overlooked. Despite the Texas native being a superb High School RB (Farrow had 1,233 yards and 17 TDs in just 8 games as a Senior) and a 3* recruit according to all the major recruiting sites, Farrow couldn't get the attention of the 'big' schools. He had interest from Iowa, Utah, and Colorado, and had committed to Colorado before their coaching staff was fired, putting Farrow back at square one.

Farrow had previously had interest from Houston as a High School Sophomore and decided that if they weren't going to get in contact with them, he was going to go and chase them. Farrow called up Houston, asking if they were still interested - but they only had one spot left, at safety. Farrow took it.

Farrow had played some safety before, so he decided to take the offer of a scholarship at Houston as a safety, and redshirted his first year as a safety. However, the coaches decided that he was better suited as an RB after all, and moved him back to offense after that redshirted year.

Farrow spent the 2012 season as a backup, although he saw time in all 12 games and started in 3 of them. He may have only had 466 rushing yards on the year, but those came on just 86 attempts, giving him a 5.4 YPC. He'd clearly done enough to impress the coaching staff with his on the field performance, as he was given the start in the 11 games he was healthy for as a Sophomore, but he'd also earned their respect off the field, too. Farrow's hard work made him Houston's 'Tom Wilson Weight Room Off-Season MVP,' and he was chosen in his Sophomore year to be a Team Captain - a pretty impressive accolade for someone who'd only started three games previously.

Farrow finished his Sophomore year with 514 rushing yards and 6 rushing TDs, but it was in his Junior year where he made his mark. A Team Captain for the second year, Farrow had 1,037 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns, giving him the second most rushing TDs in a single season in Houston history, as well as leading the Conference in rushing yards and TDs. He followed that up in his Senior year (his third straight as Team Captain) with 958 rushing yards and 10 rushing TDs in 11 games, having missed two due to injury.

A three-time Team Captain, and a hard worker who'd never once gotten into trouble while putting up impressive numbers in college - that's not a bad CV. Or so you'd think because Farrow went all seven rounds of the NFL Draft without hearing his name called. Running just a 4.59 40 yard dash at his Pro Day may have hurt his chances, but he also put up 23 reps on the bench press and had a vertical jump of 38 inches - both elite numbers for an RB.

Regardless of the reason no team decided to take a flier on Farrow late, their loss was the Chargers gain, as they quickly signed Farrow as a Priority UDFA after the draft ended. It looked like he was going to face an uphill battle to make the roster - the Chargers were only going to carry three HBs, and Melvin Gordon, Danny Woodhead, and Branden Oliver were pretty much locks to make the roster - but when Oliver went down with an Achilles injury in preseason, Farrow seized his opportunity. He comfortably beat out backup RBs Dreamius Smith and Gus Johnson and sealed the deal with 63 yards and a TD on just 7 carries in the final preseason game against the 49ers.

Farrow saw his first meaningful NFL action as early as Week 2, being given four carries against the Jaguars after Danny Woodhead went down with a season-ending knee injury. Injuries opened the door for Farrow to make the team, they opened the door for him to get NFL carries, and - because this is the Chargers - they opened the door for him to become the starter in Week 15 against the Raiders. Oh, and because this is the Chargers, Farrow was injured just a week later against the Browns and placed on IR.

Farrow may have had 60 carries last year, but he gained just 192 yards for an average of 3.2 YPC. While he didn't get much help from the OL, Farrow definitely didn't do much to distinguish himself as a viable backup moving forward. With a new coaching staff and a very crowded RB group, this offseason may be even harder for Farrow to stake a claim for a place on the active roster.

Melvin Gordon is going to make the team, and I'd be surprised if Branden Oliver and Andre Williams didn't. That's already three HBs - when you add Kenjon Barner and Austin Ekeler into the mix, it's hard to envisage a situation where Farrow is on the 53 man roster come opening day (barring injuries, of course).

As for off the field, you'd have to imagine Farrow spends a lot of time with his family - after all, he's got four younger sisters and a younger brother! He's a big fan of sports games - Farrow is the self-proclaimed best FIFA player on the team, and has a rivalry going with Trovon Reed on NBA 2K, as well as real life basketball.

Interestingly - and I'd be amazed if there was anybody else on the Chargers with this skill - Farrow can play the Ukulele! He learned how to do it in High School as it was popular with the Samoan and Tongan kids there, and he hasn't looked back since. That might be one of the most niche skills you're going to find in the NFL.

Niche is probably a good word to describe Farrow because this isn't someone who blindly follows a crowd. His degree is in kinesiology, which probably isn't the first choice for most budding athletes (I doubt many of them even know what Kinesiology is). According to Google, kinesiology is 'the study of the mechanics of body movements.' That's something that could come in very handy for the NFL, where any extra knowledge on the best way to treat your body could be the difference between making the team and ending up unemployed.

To reinforce the point that Farrow does his own thing, his favorite movie is 'Apocalypto' - which has no English! According to Farrow, however, he was so engrossed in the film and its protagonist, he didn't even notice that there wasn't any English in it until he watched it back a second time.

Like many athletes, Farrow is very religious, with his Twitter feed being almost entirely comprised of things related to Houston Football or Bible Quotes. As aforementioned, however, this is going to be a very tough roster for Farrow to crack this season, and he's going to need to hope that his prayers get answered.