From JuCo to the Cardinals: Emari Demercado's Incredible Journey to the NFL

After going undrafted, TCU runningback Emari Demercado has made the Arizona Cardinals. From starting out at junior college, Demercado overcame many obstacles to make it to this point.

Emari Demercado is the newest member of the Arizona Cardinals. However, it wasn't easy for the TCU running back, who racked up 150 rushing yards in a CFP Semifinal game. Going undrafted in the 2023 NFL draft was just one of many obstacles Demercado had to overcome along the way.

Emari Demercado is a running back from Inglewood, CA. He played his high school ball at Downey High School, a Division 4 football team located just southeast of Los Angeles. In his senior season, he averaged 108.4 yards per game with 12 total touchdowns over nine games played.

Initially, with a lot of interest, an ankle injury deterred a lot of colleges from reaching out to Demercado. He had just one Division 1 offer out of high school from Navy. Instead, he bet on himself by going the junior college route. Demercado enrolled at Saddleback Community College in 2017 in Mission Viejo, CA, near his hometown. Saddleback had sent running back Edward Vander to Montana State the previous season, so they at least had a history of producing Division 1 running backs. 

In his freshman year, Demercado went off. He rushed for 1,026 yards and 15 touchdowns to go along with 54 receptions for another 443 yards and two touchdowns. His family started to post his highlights on Twitter, trying to bring attention to how great of a season he was having.

Still just a two-star recruit on rivals.com, schools started to be interested, like UCLA and Texas Tech, but wanted him to remain at Saddleback another season before they offered him. However, that was not the case for TCU, as they offered him right away. It took one visit to Fort Worth for Demercado to decide to accept and enroll the following season for the Horned Frogs.

In his sophomore year in 2018, Demercado finished fourth among TCU running backs with 224 yards rushing, with his lone start coming against Oklahoma State in the last week of the regular season. He also ran for 51 yards on 13 attempts in the Cheez-It bowl win over Cal. 

Emari Demercado rushes against Cal in the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl / gofrogs.com

His 2019 season was preserved as a redshirt season where he only played in the first four games, totaling 65 yards, sitting behind running backs Darius Anderson, Sewo Olonilua, and Darwin Barlow.

In 2020, his junior year, Demercado placed fifth on the team with 199 rush yards on 4.3 yards per carry, appearing in eight games.

The following year, in 2021, he finished third on TCU with 446 yards on 4.6 yards per carry with four touchdowns. However, Demercado was the team's lone scholarship player in games late in the season after Zach Evans and Kendre Miller injuries. This translated to Demercado having the top two games of his career, rushing for 90 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown against Oklahoma State, followed by 89 yards on 18 attempts in a win over Kansas. He even had a career-high 19 carries in TCU's memorable upset over Baylor.

Emari Demercado rushes against Baylor in 2021 / gofrogs.com

With one season of eligibility left and Kendre Miller as the clear starting running back, Demercado was left with a decision to come back for his final year or not. His mom, Karen Bradley, said they were looking at other options, but new running back coach Anthony Jones Jr. helped convince him to at least stay for spring camp. Soon after, it didn't take him long to buy into what new coach Sonny Dykes and staff were implementing, so he decided to stay in Fort Worth for one more year.

After already earning his master's degree in business, Demercado had a career-best 681 yards on 5.6 yards per carry and six touchdowns. When Kendre Miller went down in the CFP Semifinal against Michigan, Demercado had a career-best 150 rushing yards on 17 carries and a touchdown, cementing himself as a TCU legend.

Even after this success, Demercado didn't have much draft hype. After no invite to the NFL Draft Combine, he went undrafted in late April.

He was picked up as a free agent soon after the draft and competed with six other backs for three spots on the roster. The odds were stacked against him again.

Immediately, he impressed during training camp. Specifically, in a preseason game against the Denver Broncos, the Cardinals leaned on him down a point with two seconds left to get the game-winning two-point conversion, to which he answered. He was starting to prove that he could really play in the league.

Emari Demercado pushes the pile to give the @AZCardinals the lead with 2 seconds remaining!

📺: #DENvsAZ on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/bBFpXewtKp pic.twitter.com/OCtCfDZv6j

— NFL (@NFL) August 12, 2023

When the initial 53-man roster was revealed on August 29, Demercado made the roster. He had proven people wrong once again and will be an Arizona Cardinal.

Demercado joins a backfield with veteran James Conner and second-year player Keaontay Ingram. There will definitely be an opportunity for Emari to make a major impact this season, so Frog fans should stay tuned. 

An incredible moment for a very deserving player

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