jalen berger

Previously: Quarterback 

Previously: Quarterback

We return for the second edition of The Enemy, Ranked. After peering at QBs on Wednesday, we turn our attention to running back. Our ranking will be based on both the presence of a #1 option, but also the depth of options (ideally a solid #2). Grading on production, experience, talent and receiving ability, I have ranked all 12 Michigan opponents on the basis of their RB room. Let's get started with a new team in the cellar. 

12. Colorado State 

Not UCONN! The Rams find themselves last on the list with a RB room that, like many on the list, sees considerable turnover. Jay Norvell brought a back with him from Nevada, Avery Morrow, but he was RB3 in Reno a year ago and has just 25 career carries to his name. The pedigree, that of a 3* Who Dat recruit, isn't the most promising either. Morrow seems to be fighting for the job with A'Jon Vivens, who stuck around in Fort Collins through the coaching change. Vivens was also the third RB for his team last year, though with a bit more experience (90 carries in 2021). His stats last season were pretty middling, 3.6 YPC and the PFF grade mirrors that. Neither guy has a any experience being a lead back, neither guy has shown much at the NCAA level, and though they both add a small receiving element, it was pretty easy to put the Rams #12 on the list. 

[UCONN Athletics]

11. Connecticut 

The Huskies escape the cellar thanks to the return of Nathan Carter, one of the few bright spots amid another disastrous 1-11 UCONN season. Carter was the top running back for Connecticut last season, with 124 carries and 19 receptions leading the backfield and he did so with a respectable 4.62 yards per carry and a less-good 6.7 yards per reception. Carter figures to get the lion's share of the carries this fall for new coach Jim Mora Jr., while the backup RB position is more unknown, with ex-JUCO/Delaware transfer Will Knight seeming to be #2 right now. I put UCONN #11 because Carter gives them a higher floor than what CSU can offer, but even though his stats were better than some backs ranked ahead of this, a strength of schedule adjustment (some of Carter's best games came against stiff competition like UMass and Vandy) docks him and lands the team 11th. 

10. Rutgers

Believe it or not, we are finally freed from the memories of Isaih Pacheco outrunning Brad Hawkins in a game that feels like it happened 40 years ago. After a loooong B1G career, the wily Rutgers back departs the program and leaves behind him a sizable hole in the backfield. Right now it's looking like an RB-by-committee situation between three unsatisfactory options. Two returners who played a sizable role in 2021 are vying for the job, Kyle Monangai and Aaron Young. Both carried the ball ~60 times last season, with nearly identical stat lines, one at 3.8 YPC and one at 3.7 YPC, one with 5 TDs and one with 4 TDs. Both also caught the ball ~11 times last year, and both went for ~7 yards per reception. Their PFF grades were very similar too, so I'm starting to think Greg Schiano might have just cloned Monangai and named the other "Aaron Young".

Neither guy projects as much of an impact player on a team that struggles to run the football behind a very poor offensive line, so if there is a hope to have a big time back, it might need to come from 3* RS FR Al-Shadee Salaam. We don't know that much about him and he wasn't a particularly prized recruit, but perhaps Salaam is ready to be the breakout player in Piscataway for 2022. But based on the information we know now, Rutgers was pretty clearly last among B1G opponents due to the lack of a returning RB1 and the poor stats and running environment surrounding the returners. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: More transfers and some good backs]

We're back for Part II of our The Enemy, Ranked series. Last week we covered quarterbacks and today we're handling the running backs. The Big Ten has a lot of shuffling at the running back position this year, and because of the way that college football has progressed, most teams enter the season with a committee of backs and the workload for each is yet to be determined. Michigan is much like the rest of the conference in that way, with several compelling names, but uncertainty regarding the pecking order. I set out to rank each team based on the positional group, so the quality of names at the top, as well as the depth/amount of names play a big role here. If a team doesn't have a returning starter, I defer to the program's track record at developing quality players at that position, as well as recruiting profiles, just as I did in the quarterbacks piece. 

1. Penn State

Few teams in the country have five different running backs who all have 50+ career carries to their name AND have maintained >4.0 YPC for their career. Penn State is one of those teams. The Nittany Lions enter this season with five viable players at the running back position, all of could may see substantial work this season. First up is Noah Cain, a former top 100 recruit from the 2019 class who played second fiddle to the electric Journey Brown back in 2019. Cain seemed to be in line to be the #1 back last season after Journey Brown was forced to tragically retire from football due to a heart condition, but a leg injury sustained in the first series of the season opener against Indiana in week one ended his season. That was a shame, because Cain looked primed to be a breakout name nationally after rushing for 443 yards (5.3 YPC) as a true freshman in '19, setting PSU's program record for TD's by a freshman with 8. His 2019 campaign included one of the best grades ever handed out to a running back in MGoBlog's history, when Seth lavished praise on Cain ahead of that season's Michigan/PSU duel in Happy Valley. You can go back and read that FFFF to get a sense of how good Cain could be, now in his 3rd year in the program. Though the awaited breakout year may have had to wait a season, it could very easily transpire this fall. Cain is back from injury and sits atop the depth chart. 

Cain alone would put the Nittany Lions in conversation for a spot towards the top of this list, but what solidifies PSU at #1 is the absurd glut of options behind Noah Cain. With both Cain and Brown out for the what was nearly the entirety of last season, it fell on the shoulders of Keyvone Lee, Caziah Holmes, and Devyn Ford to pick up the slack, and they did a solid job of that. Lee was the "starter" last season, with 4.9 YPC on 89 carries last season + 4 scores, while adding 12 catches too, doing it as a true freshman. He could very easily best Cain to become the #1 back. Holmes was also a true freshman last fall and rushed for 4.5 YPC on 51 carries and added two touchdowns. Ford has 119 carries over two seasons in State College, with a career 4.8 YPC, six touchdowns, and twelve catches. All of these guys would be good backups to Cain on their own, but the fact there are three of them is absurd. And then, because I guess James Franklin only buys products in bulk, PSU landed a highly experienced grad transfer RB in John Lovett from Baylor. Lovett was a multi-year starter with the Bears, boasting 355 career carries and a 5.1 YPC clip to go with it + 29 catches and 17 career TD's. 

I really have no idea how all five of these RB's are going to be able to play each week, and they're all good enough that they deserve to be on the field. In all likelihood, this position group will closely resemble tossing a single Slim Jim to a pack of five hungry dogs and watching them fight it out. Someone's going to get squeezed out and I'd be shocked if PSU ended the season without at least one guy entering the portal. That said, having five quality, experienced RB options is not a bad thing at all, and it will allow the Nittany Lions to sustain potentially multiple injuries and make it out alright on the ground, as they did last season. This group will need better OL play to improve on some of their stat lines last season, but if you're a Penn State fan, RB should be the least of your worries going into 2021. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: More running backs by committees]