| Phil Steele Blog • March 11, 2017 |
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2016 Top 50 True Freshman RB's and their Impact on the season.
It has been said that the running back position is one of easier positions for a true frosh to be able to play right away. When we did the quarterback position Thursday, only 11 of the Top 50 quarterbacks from the 2016 class earned passing stats or 22% of the players. I expected a higher percentage for the running backs.
As expected the numbers were higher. Of the Top 50 true frosh from the 2016 signing class, 26 earned rushing stats or 52% of them. Some running backs were moved to different positions and played as true.
Damarea Crockett PS#45 from Missouri led the group with 1,062 rush yards, 10 touchdowns and a very respectable 6.9 ypc. In a very close 2nd was Trayveon Williams (PS#14) from Texas A&M with 1,057 yards, 8 touchdowns and 6.8 ypc. They were the only 2 freshman on this list to top 1,000 rush yards.
Three other notable players that topped 450 yards were PS#23 Chris Evans of Michigan with 614 yards, 4 touchdowns and 7.0 ypc. PS#7 Devwah Whaley (Arkansas) 602 yards, 3 touchdowns and 5.5 ypc. PS#20 Robert Washington (Charlotte) with 489 yards, 5 touchdowns and 5.0 ypc.
The top yards per carry on this list went to PS#21 Amir Rasul (Florida St) who averaged 7.7 ypc but only on 6 attempts. Miles Sanders (Penn St) came in second with 7.4 ypc, then Kameron Martin of Baylor with 7.3 ypc.
Two players moved over to defensive positions on this list. Devin White (PS#6) from LSU moved to LB and recorded 30 tackles and 1 sack and made the All SEC Frosh Tm. Reggie Floyd (PS#46) of Virginia Tech moved to CB with only 1 tackle and .5 sack.
The Top 50 running backs from the 2016 class combined for a total of 6,508 yards with 57 touchdowns and 5.1 yards per carry.
Here is the complete list of the 2015 Top 50 frosh running backs and what they did in 2016 as true frosh.
| 2016 | Red Shirt | Other Stats | ||||||||
| Top 50 | INFO | NAME | TEAM | ATT | GAIN | LOST | NET | TD | AVG | Info |
| 1 | Tavien Feaster | Clemson | 37 | 234 | 13 | 221 | 2 | 6.0 | ||
| 2 | RS | Kareem Walker | Michigan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| 3 | Miles Sanders | Penn State | 25 | 211 | 27 | 184 | 1 | 7.4 | REC 2-24-12.0-1 KR 33-688-20.8-0 | |
| 4 | DeMario McCall | Ohio State | 49 | 273 | 3 | 270 | 3 | 5.5 | REC 4-84-21.0-1 KR 4-84-0 PR 3-14-0 | |
| 5 | BJ Emmons | Alabama | 35 | 176 | 3 | 173 | 1 | 4.9 | REC 2-20-10.0-1 | |
| 6 | Devin White | LSU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | Moved to LB, 30 TLK 1 Sack | |
| 7 | Devwah Whaley | Arkansas | 110 | 634 | 32 | 602 | 3 | 5.5 | 6-139-23.2-0 | |
| 8 | Antonio Williams | Ohio State | 6 | 28 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 4.7 | ||
| 9 | Elijah Holyfield | Georgia | 6 | 29 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 4.8 | REC 1-19-0 | |
| 10 | George Hill | Pittsburgh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | Career over- inj | |
| 11 | RS | Tony Jones | Notre Dame | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| 12 | Chase Lucas | Arizona State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | RS Moved to DB | |
| 13 | RS | Sean McGrew | Washington | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| 14 | Trayveon Williams | Texas A&M | 156 | 1083 | 26 | 1057 | 8 | 6.8 | REC 19-91-4.8-0 | |
| 15 | Justin Connor | Mississippi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | Trans to East Mississippi | |
| 16 | Malik Miller | Auburn | 16 | 74 | 5 | 69 | 1 | 4.3 | ||
| 17 | Carlin Fils-Aime | Tennessee | 14 | 58 | 0 | 58 | 2 | 4.1 | ||
| 18 | Kameron Martin | Baylor | 44 | 320 | 0 | 320 | 3 | 7.3 | Trans to Ole Miss,REC 2-52-26.0-0 | |
| 19 | RS | Vavae Malepeai | USC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| 20 | Robert Washington | Charlotte | 97 | 510 | 21 | 489 | 5 | 5.0 | REC 13-28-2.2-0 | |
| 21 | Amir Rasul | Florida State | 6 | 46 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 7.7 | ||
| 22 | RS | Kentrail Moran | New Mexico | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| 23 | Chris Evans | Michigan | 88 | 628 | 14 | 614 | 4 | 7.0 | REC 6-87-14.5-0 PR 1-15-0 | |
| 24 | Travis Homer | Miami (FL) | 7 | 44 | 0 | 44 | 6 | 6.3 | ||
| 25 | Jordon Brown | North Carolina | 20 | 55 | 10 | 45 | 1 | 2.3 | REC 1-15-15-0 | |
| 26 | Kyle Porter | Texas | 46 | 217 | 12 | 205 | 0 | 4.5 | REC 2-10-5-0 | |
| 27 | RS | Matt Falcon | W Michigan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| 28 | D'Vaughn Pennamon | Mississippi | 20 | 63 | 5 | 58 | 3 | 2.9 | REC 2-20-10.0-1 | |
| 29 | Tre Bryant | Nebraska | 43 | 179 | 7 | 172 | 1 | 4.0 | KR 12-508-22.1-0 | |
| 30 | RS | Tre Turner | Arizona State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| 31 | Denzel Mitchell | UAB | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
| 32 | RS | Rakeem Boyd | Texas A&M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| 33 | Abdul Adams | Oklahoma | 53 | 296 | 13 | 283 | 0 | 5.3 | REC 3-25-8.3-0 | |
| 34 | Kiante Enis | Indiana | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | Dismissed from tm | |
| 35 | Beau Bisharat | Colorado | 15 | 46 | 1 | 45 | 0 | 3.0 | ||
| 36 | Korey Charles | Miss State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | Moved to DB | |
| 37 | Jordan Carmouche | SMU | 15 | 50 | 4 | 46 | 0 | 3.1 | ||
| 38 | Martell Pettaway | West Virginia | 49 | 268 | 8 | 260 | 1 | 5.3 | REC 2-21-10.5-0 | |
| 39 | JaQua Daniels | Marshall | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | Ineligible | |
| 40 | RS | Trevor Speights | Stanford | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| 41 | McArthur Burnett | Florida | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | Moved to DB | |
| 42 | RS | Sam Brodner | Wisconsin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| 43 | RS | Jeremy Larkin | Northwestern | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| 44 | Brandon Stephens | UCLA | 19 | 95 | 0 | 95 | 0 | 5.0 | REC 4-39-9.8-0 | |
| 45 | Damarea Crockett | Missouri | 153 | 1076 | 14 | 1062 | 10 | 6.9 | REC 5-14-2.8-0 | |
| 46 | Reggie Floyd | Virginia Tech | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | Moved to DB, 1 TKL, 0.5 sack | |
| 47 | RS | Tyliek Raynor | Temple | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| 48 | Toks Akinribade | Iowa | 16 | 40 | 7 | 33 | 2 | 2.1 | ||
| 49 | RS | CJ Freeman | South Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| 50 | JD Spielman | Nebraska | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | Moved to WR | |
| Total | 1145 | 6,733 | 225 | 6,508 | 57 | 5.1 |
Here are the Top 50 Rated freshman running backs for 2017.
| 2017 | ||
| Top 50 | Player | Team |
| 1 | Najee Harris | Alabama |
| 2 | Cameron Akers | Florida State |
| 3 | Stephen Carr | USC |
| 4 | D'Andre Swift | Georgia |
| 5 | JK Dobbins | Ohio State |
| 6 | Anthony McFarland | Maryland |
| 7 | Khalan Laborn | Florida State |
| 8 | Greg Johnson | USC |
| 9 | Cordarrian Richardson | UCF |
| 10 | Ty Chandler | Tennessee |
| 11 | Salvon Ahmed | Washington |
| 12 | Toneil Carter | Texas |
| 13 | Trey Sermon | Oklahoma |
| 14 | AJ Davis | Pittsburgh |
| 15 | Sione Lund | Stanford |
| 16 | Colin Wilson | Louisville |
| 17 | Devan Barrett | Auburn |
| 18 | Alaric Williams | Auburn |
| 19 | Eno Benjamin | Arizona State |
| 20 | Adarius Lemons | Florida |
| 21 | Zaquandre White | Florida State |
| 22 | Brian Robinson | Alabama |
| 23 | Nathan Tilford | Arizona |
| 24 | Todd Sibley | Pittsburgh |
| 25 | Kylin Hill | Mississippi State |
| 26 | Michael Warren | Cincinnati |
| 27 | AJ Dillon | Boston College |
| 28 | Kennedy Brooks | Oklahoma |
| 29 | O'Maury Samuels | Michigan |
| 30 | Robert Burns | Miami (FL) |
| 31 | CJ Holmes | Notre Dame |
| 32 | Clyde Edwards-Helaire | LSU |
| 33 | Kyshaun Bryan | Iowa |
| 34 | Chase Hayden | Arkansas |
| 35 | Travis Etienne | Clemson |
| 36 | Bentavious Thompson | UCF |
| 37 | Connor Wedington | Stanford |
| 38 | Michael Carter | North Carolina |
| 39 | Drake Beasley | Boise State |
| 40 | CJ Verdell | Oregon |
| 41 | Kaegun Williams | San Diego State |
| 42 | Mohamed Ibrahim | Minnesota |
| 43 | Jarell White | Cincinnati |
| 44 | Damon Williams | Arizona Western |
| 45 | Kurt Taylor | Michigan |
| 46 | Weston Bridges | Michigan State |
| 47 | Jamari Peacock | Virginia |
| 48 | Cyrus Habibi-Likio | Oregon |
| 49 | Biaggio Ali-Walsh | California |
| 50 | Javon Leake | Maryland |