Fred Jackson should serve as inspiration to high school football benchwarmers everywhere.

The Buffalo Bills' running back never started a game for his high school football team in

Arlington, Texas.

Not only that, he barely even got off the varsity bench for Lamar High School.

"No, I was third on the depth chart," Jackson said. "The only reason I played at all my senior

year was the guy who was the backup had four carries and four fumbles in the first game. I

became the No. 2 after that. I'd say after the first game I had about five carries for 40

yards and a touchdown all season."

Fast forward 11 years and Jackson is a quality NFL running back.

He ranks eighth in the NFL in yards from scrimmage after six weeks. Both Jackson and

backfield mate Marshawn Lynch will be key figures in Sunday's game at Carolina. The Panthers

rank 29th in run defense. The Buffalo offense needs to have rushing success to help out the

Buffalo defense, which faces a tough running-game matchup of its own.

Jackson's odyssey to the NFL is well-documented; how he had to go from from tiny Coe

College in Iowa to minor league indoor football to NFL Europa before getting his shot with the

Bills in the NFL.

Less attention has been paid to his humble high school roots.

Jackson's benchwarmer status was partly a result of the fact Lamar had about 4,000 students

and is a prep football power.

"We were supposed to win the state my senior year," Jackson said. "The running back who was

our starter was the state's leading rusher, Tommicus Walker. He went to TCU then he

transferred to Nebraska. I think he rushed for 2,200 yards his senior year."

Secondly, Jackson was a classic late-bloomer.

"I might've been 5-8, 150 pounds soaking wet," Jackson said. "I was smaller than Roscoe

Parrish. Roscoe was a beast compared to me. I was about 5-7 or 5-8, 145 pounds max."

So even though Jackson had played organized football since the first grade, he couldn't get

on the field much.

One might think Jackson would have given up on his gridiron dreams when his high school

career ended. Not so. He was determined to play somewhere in college.

Fortunately for Jackson, Lamar's junior high coach had some connections. His name was Wayne

Phillips. He had played for Marv Levy at Coe in the mid-1950s, coached under Levy at the

University of California in the early 1960s and served as head coach at Coe in the 1970s.

Phillips steered both Jackson and his twin brother, Patrick, to Coe and personally drove

them there for their college visit. Patrick had been on the running back depth chart one rung

behind Fred at Lamar.

Jackson's body filled out in college. He was the starting running back by the fifth game of

his freshman year and went on to be a Division III All-America.

What does he think young people can take away from his hard road to the NFL?

"Just that you gotta be persistent if you really want something," Jackson said. "It's not

always going to be easy. Sometimes you've got to take the back door to get to a place where

you want to go. That's kind of what I had to do."

Jackson has 415 rushing yards and 20 catches for 177 receiving yards this season. The last

two games Lynch has averaged 22 touches and Jackson has averaged 14.5. Jackson's touches could

go up a bit if the Bills' offense could stay on the field a little longer.

Still, Jackson is making the most of his opportunities.

He gained 52 hard rushing yards against the New York Jets on 14 carries. Jackson has a

knack for gaining an extra yard or two every carry.

"It's just something I've prided myself in — when I'm being tackled always going

forward," he said. "It's something I've always done. You're always going to get a positive

carry if you're able to do that."

"I think it's his personality," said Eric Studesville, Bills running game coordinator and

backs coach. "He's an aggressive guy. When you sit and talk to him he's not a boisterous guy,

but his personality on the football field is aggressive. He's always going forward. And he's

strong. He's probably, pound for pound, one of the strongest guys on the team."