Phil Steele Blog • March 1, 2016

 

2015 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 step in and be able to play right away. When we did the quarterback position yesterday, only 16 of the Top 50 quarterbacks from the 2015 class earned passing stats or 32% of the players. I expected a higher percentage for the running backs.

As I expected the numbers were higher. Of the Top 50 true frosh from the 2015 signing class, 25 earned rushing stats or 50% of them. Some running backs were moved to different positions and played as true.

Myles Gaskin (PS#47) barely made the Top 50 list but he led the group with 1,302 rush yards, 14 touchdowns and a solid 5.7 ypc. Penn St’s Sauon Barkley came in #2 of the true freshman in the Top 50 signees and also topped 1,000 yards with 1,076 and he also had 161 yards receiving. Ronald Jones (PS#9) of USC just missed out on that magical 1,000 yard barrier with 987 (6.5). Notre Dame lost their top two running backs early in the year and he rushed for 835 (7.1). The Top 3 running backs on the list all found themselves in a back up role behind a star running back so they had limited carries and yards. PS#1 Damien Harris played behind some guy named Derrick Henry who rushed for over 2,000 yards and won the Heisman Trophy. PS#2 Soso Jamabo had 404 (6.1) playing behind Paul Perkins of UCLA. PS#3 Jacques Patrick did well in one game Dalvin Cook missed, but Cook rushed for 1,691 yards and Patrick for 314 (5.0).

Four running backs on the 2015 Top 50 Frosh list topped 200 yards in receiving last year. Malik Dear of Miss St had 217 (9.9) , Bryce Love of Stanford had 250 (16.7) and Nyheim Hines of NCSt had 256 (12.8). The running back with the most receiving yards of the 50 true frosh was Mark Walton of Miami Florida who had 293 (13.3).

Four running backs on the 2015 Top 50 Frosh list topped 300 return yards. Mark Walton of Miami Florida had 300 on KR’s (17.6). Kerryon Johnson of Auburn had 386 (27.6) on KR’s. Derrius Guice of LSU had 472 (23.6). Nyheim Hines of North Carolina St was number one with a bullet as he had 920 (26.3).

The top yards per carry in the group went to Malik Dear of Miss St who averaged 10.0 yards per carry but did have just 11 attempts. Derrius Guice of LSU was second with 8.5, followed by Bryce Love of Stanford (7.8), Taj Griffin of Oregon (7.4) and Josh Adams of Notre Dame who had 117 carries but still averaged 7.1 yards per carry.

The Top 50 running backs from the 2015 class combined to rush for 10,104 yards with 96 touchdowns and 5.5 yards per carry.

Here is the complete list of the 2015 Top 50 frosh running backs and what they did in 2015 as true frosh. Also provided is my list of the Top 50 true frosh running backs from the 2016 class.

Top Red Shirt                  
50 INFO NAME TEAM ATT GAIN LOST NET TD AVG OTHER STATS
1    Damien Harris Alabama 46 178 21 157 1 3.4 Rec 4-13-3.2-0,
KR 9-174-19.3-0
2    Sotonye Jamabo Ucla 66 416 12 404 4 6.1 Rec 5-58-11.6-0
3    Jacques Patrick Florida St 63 328 14 314 5 5.0 Rec 6-62-10.3-0
4    Kerryon Johnson Auburn 52 222 14 208 3 4.0 Rec 14-159-11.4-0
KR 14-386-27.6-0
5    Taj Griffin Oregon 77 613 43 570 3 7.4 Rec 10-162-16.2-1
6    Lj Scott Michigan St 146 719 20 699 11 4.8 Rec 3-15-5.0-0
KR 1-25-25.0-0
7    Derrius Guice Lsu 51 445 9 436 3 8.5 Rec 5-20-4.0-0
KR 20-472-23.6-0
8 RS  Johnny Frasier Nc State 0 0 0 0 0 0  
9    Ronald Jones Usc 153 1005 18 987 8 6.5 Rec 7-39-5.6-1
10 RS  Mike Weber Ohio St 0 0 0 0 0 0  
11    Dexter Williams Notre Dame 21 84 3 81 1 3.9 KR 1-20-20.0-0
12    Mark Walton Miami, Fl 130 496 35 461 9 3.5 Rec 22-293-13.3-1
KR 17-300-17.6-0
13 Moved to DB  Eric Glover-Williams Ohio St 0 0 0 0 0 0  
14    Jordan Scarlett Florida 34 204 23 181 1 5.3 Rec 1-1-1.-0
15    Chris Warren Texas 71 475 5 470 4 6.6 Rec 5-13-2.6-0
16 Ineligible  Desherrius Flowers Alabama 0 0 0 0 0 0  
17    Nyheim Hines Nc State 48 262 19 243 1 5.1 Rec 20-256-12.8-1
KR 35-920-26.3-1
18 OFY, 2 gms  Rodney Anderson Oklahoma 1 5 0 5 0 5  
19 RS  Eric Swinney Mississippi 0 0 0 0 0 0  
20 RS  Jason Lewis Arizona St 0 0 0 0 0 0  
21    Nick Brossette Lsu 12 65 0 65 0 5.4  
22 RS  Andre Robinson Penn St 0 0 0 0 0 0  
23    Malik Dear Miss St 11 113 3 110 1 10.0 Rec 22-217-9.9-2
KR 5-99-19.8-0
24    Saquon Barkley Penn St 182 1145 69 1076 7 5.9 Rec 20-161-8.1-1
25 Denied Admission  Jordan Stevenson Wisconsin 0 0 0 0 0 0  
26 Out Medical  Jay Bradford Texas A&M 0 0 0 0 0 0  
27    Bryce Love Stanford 29 240 14 226 2 7.8 Rec 15-250-16.7-1
KR 1-22-22.0-0
28    David Ducre Lsu 0 0 0 0 0 0 Rec 1-4-4.0-0
29    Jordan Cronkrite Florida 44 166 9 157 3 3.6 Rec 6-89-14.8-1
30    Ke'Shawn Vaughn Illinois 157 761 38 723 6 4.6 Rec 16-119-7.4-0
31 RS  Nick Gibson Miss St 0 0 0 0 0 0  
32 RS  Ja'Mycal Hasty Baylor 0 0 0 0 0 0  
33 RS  Cameron Scarlett Stanford 0 0 0 0 0 0  
34 RS  Corey Dauphine Texas Tech 0 0 0 0 0 0  
35    Tyreik Gray Houston 1 0 0 0 0 0 Rec 2-24-12.0-0
36    Ty'Son Williams N Carolina 19 60 3 57 0 3.0 Rec 1-0-0-0
37    Darrin Hall Pittsburgh 64 271 14 257 2 4.0 Rec 5-30-6.0-0
KR 1-12-12.0-0
38 Prep School  D'Anfernee Mcgriff Florida 0 0 0 0 0 0  
39 Moved to DB  Van Smith Clemson 0 0 0 0 0 0 19-0-1-1-0
40 RS/Moved to DB  Javaris Davis Auburn 0 0 0 0 0 0  
41 No longer w/team  Tj Simmons Temple 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 gm
42 RS  Kendall Bussey Texas A&M 0 0 0 0 0 0  
43    Kirk Johnson Texas 8 51 7 44 0 5.5 KR 2-20-10.0-0
44    Josh Adams Notre Dame 117 869 34 835 6 7.1 Rec 7-42-6.0-1
45 RS  Bradrick Shaw Wisconsin 0 0 0 0 0 0  
46 JC, Mizzou in '16  Natereace Strong Unsigned 0 0 0 0 0 0  
47    Myles Gaskin Washington 227 1348 46 1302 14 5.7 Rec 6-19-3.2-0
KR 1-11-11.0-0
48    Aca'Cedric Ware Usc 12 42 6 36 1 3  
49 RS  Lonny Powell California 0 0 0 0 0 0  
50 RS  Tristan Houston Texas 0 0 0 0 0 0  
Total 1842 10583 479 10104 96 5.5

Here are the Top 50 rated freshman running backs for 2016.

2016    
Top 50 Player Team
1 Tavien Feaster Clemson
2 Kareem Walker Michigan
3 Miles Sanders Penn State
4 DeMario McCall Ohio State
5 BJ Emmons Alabama
6 Devin White LSU
7 Devwah Whaley Arkansas
8 Antonio Williams Ohio State
9 Elijah Holyfield Georgia
10 George Hill Pittsburgh
11 Tony Jones Notre Dame
12 Chase Lucas Arizona State
13 Sean McGrew Washington
14 Trayveon Williams Texas A&M
15 Justin Connor Mississippi
16 Malik Miller Auburn
17 Carlin Fils-Aime Tennessee
18 Kameron Martin Baylor
19 Vavae Malepeai USC
20 Robert Washington Charlotte
21 Amir Rasul Florida State
22 Kentrail Moran Unsigned
23 Chris Evans Michigan
24 Travis Homer Miami (FL)
25 Jordon Brown North Carolina
26 Kyle Porter Texas
27 Matt Falcon W Michigan
28 D'Vaughn Pennamon Mississippi
29 Tre Bryant Nebraska
30 Tre Turner Arizona State
31 Denzel Mitchell Unsigned
32 Rakeem Boyd Texas A&M
33 Abdul Adams Oklahoma
34 Kiante Enis Indiana
35 Beau Bisharat Colorado
36 Korey Charles Miss State
37 Jordan Carmouche SMU
38 Martell Pettaway West Virginia
39 JaQua Daniels Marshall
40 Trevor Speights Stanford
41 McArthur Burnett Florida
42 Sam Brodner Wisconsin
43 Jeremy Larkin Northwestern
44 Brandon Stephens UCLA
45 Damarea Crockett Missouri
46 Reggie Floyd Virginia Tech
47 Tyliek Raynor Temple
48 Toks Akinribade Iowa
49 CJ Freeman South Carolina
50 JD Spielman Nebraska