Now comes the easy part for Cam Skattebo. Several NFL teams will take a long look at the 2020 Rio Linda High School graduate, who has been projected to be selected as early as the third round in the draft April 24-26. Even if he is not picked, his cell phone will be ringing with free-agent offers.
His performance for Arizona State in the Peach Bowl against Texas on Jan. 1 thrust Skattebo into the national spotlight. Not only did he run for 143 yards and two touchdowns, but he also threw a touchdown pass as the Sun Devils erased a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime.
After Texas prevailed 39-31 in double overtime, several Longhorns sought out Skattebo to show their respect for his amazing effort. He was presented with the Offensive MVP award at a postgame press conference, becoming the first player on a losing team in Peach Bowl history to take it home.
This was after Skattebo was name the MVP of the Big 12 championship game after running for 170 yards and scoring three touchdowns in a 45-19 victory over Iowa State. This was after he was fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting and was selected a first-team All-American by the Associated Press.
And all of this was after Sacramento State was the only college to offer a scholarship to Skattebo, who ran for 5,200 yards and 60 touchdowns in his final two seasons at Rio Linda. His father feared colleges would sell his 5-foot-11, 190-pound son short because he was not the prototypical recruit.
The only other college to show any interest in Skattebo was William & Mary in Virginia,. The Tribe’s offensive coordinator at the time was Brennan Marion. In another example of college football being a small world, Marion is now Sacramento State’s head coach after Andy Thompson left for Stanford.
“In college, it’s all about the measurables. He didn’t have all that. Size helps in the NFL, but it’s more about effort,” said Skattebo’s father, Leo. “I told him he had to be the best player in the country and not just some random guy. He couldn’t be a guy; he had to be the guy. That had to be his mindset.”
That explains why Leo did not mind Skattebo claiming to be the best running back in the country after the Big 12 title game or saying no team could stop him before the FBS playoffs. “When you ask someone a question, most people don’t answer it. Cam is going to tell you what he’s thinking.”
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith admitted he did not know what to think of Skattebo’s bravado other than “Who’s this guy?” Smith found out in the Peach Bowl and shared his discovery on “First Take” by professing “this brother is special. He was a man amongst boys. He was absolutely sensational.”
Skattebo also caught Christian McCaffrey’s eye and the 49ers running back offered his praise with a two-word message on Instagram – “Young Bull.” None of this surprises Armon Bailey, the former Sacramento State linebacker who realized Skattebo was the real deal as a true freshman in 2021. Bailey, a Vanden High graduate, is on his way to becoming a duty in the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff.
“We collided (in practice) and I know we both felt it. I was like, ‘This guy has got some juice,” said Bailey, e who was a first-team selection in the 2022 All-Big Sky Conference voting when Skattebo was the Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year after rushing for 1,251 yards.
The 2022 season was historic for the Hornets, who were unbeaten in the regular season for the first time in school history and finished 12-1 overall with their third consecutive Big Sky title. Skattebo went out with a bang in the season finale, a 66-63 loss to Incarnate Word in the FCS playoffs.
Skattebo rushed for 101 yards and two touchdowns, had six receptions for 76 yards and tossed a 19-yard touchdown pass. With Skattebo having little left to prove at Sacramento State, he entered the transfer portal and jumped to Arizona State in 2023. The Sun Devils will be forever grateful.
No player was more responsible for Arizona State going from being picked to finish last in the Big 12 to winning the conference and finishing 11-3 than Skattebo. He rushed for 1,711 yards to rank second in the country, had 45 receptions for 605 yards and scored 24 touchdowns (21 rushing).
In what Arizona State calls “a Skattegory of his Own,” Skattebo is the only player in the country this season with more than 1,000 rushing and 400 receiving yards. He is the first player in Big 12 history and the first on an FBS team since McCaffrey in 2015 with 1,500 rushing and 500 receiving yards.
Of the 44 running backs to win the Heisman, none had 1,500 rushing and 500 receiving yards in a season as Skattebo did in 2024. He is the first running back to rush for more than 100 yards in the Big 12 title game since Adrian Peterson in 2004 – and Skattebo had 140 at halftime.
Skattebo’s father knew what it would take for his son to play for an FBS college. Leo knew his son would have to stand out in the college crowd even at 5-11 after being discounted as a senior at Rio Linda. He knew his son ’s dream was to play in the NFL and plotted a course for him to reach that destination.
“Now he has a shot,” Leo said. “He’s got a legitimate chance.”
