Brandon Jacobs and Bart Scott are no longer the only players in the NFL representing Southern Illinois U. — Deji Karim has officially arrived.

The Jacksonville Jaguars and Karim, who ran a 4.37 forty and scored a 43 inch vertical on his pro day, have agreed to a four-year contract. The team drafted him with the 180th pick in the sixth round of the 2010 draft. The deal is worth $1.9 million with a $110,000 signing bonus, according to Rotoworld.com, an MSN affiliate.

There are three running backs in Jacksonville’s camp besides Karim and Jones-Drew: Rashard Jennings, Chad Kackert and Allen Patrick. Jennings was the primary backup last year.

Karim has gotten the attention of his coaches and team scouts, according to a report on Rotoworld.com.

“After showing homerun-hitting ability and video-game moves … he’s expected to battle Jennings for the primary backup job,” Rotoworld.com stated.

When the season starts each NFL team can only have three running backs on their active roster.

“It’s a fun competitive environment. At the end of the day we know it’s a business and cuts will be made,” Karim said. “We know the deal.”

Karim said Jones-Drew has been his mentor on and off the field. The five-year veteran lets him know if he is doing something wrong on the field and helps him go over the playbook, he said. Karim said learning under Jones-Drew has been a valuable process.

“I’ll definitely listen to him; he is a premier back in the league,” Karim said. “I’m going to continue to grow under him.”

Karim said the NFL is different from college football in many ways. He said he had never practiced while wearing a helmet without pads, the playbooks are more complicated and the workouts are more intense.

While Karim used the spotlight of being an SIU star player to propel him to the next level, the Salukis take advantage of having players of his caliber compete in their program.

SIU Athletic Director Mario Moccia said having players such as Karim succeed at SIU, and then go to the next level helps SIU in recruiting. He said SIU has established a track record of getting players to the next level in any sport.

“Not only are kids saying ‘Hey, this is a great school to attend academically, I get to play in great facilities and by the way you have a lot of players playing at the next level,’” Moccia said.

Moccia also said schools such as Texas and Oklahoma have students selected in the draft every year, which is something programs in the Football Championship Subdivision don’t experience, making SIU a desirable destination for FCS athletes.

The Jaguars finished up their off-season training activities in mid-June and will begin training camp Friday.