Every Friday, the Friday Five will rank something in the world of college football -- anything and everything from the logical to the illogical. This week, we rank the best returning running backs.
We saw a bit of a renaissance among college football running backs last season. Over the last decade, the sport had become so spread-based that quarterbacks were taking more of the spotlight than they already had and running backs were just being pushed aside. All you have to do to see an example of that is look at Heisman Trophy winners.
From 1980-99, 10 of the 20 players to win the Heisman Trophy were running backs. Since the turn of the century, from 2000 until this past season, only one running back has won the award -- Alabama's Mark Ingram in 2009. The other 13 winners have all been quarterbacks.
And that's why it was nice to see such an influx of running back talent on the field last season. There were freshman backs wrecking shop all over the place. There were also guys like Melvin Gordon, who ran within shouting distance of Barry Sanders' single-season rushing mark. While on the way, Gordon set the record for most rushing yards in a single game, only to see Oklahoma's Samaje Perine break it a week later.
The running backs are back!
Now, as is the case most years, a lot of the nation's best running backs are graduating or leaving school early to enter the NFL Draft, but they aren't leaving the cupboards bare. There are a lot of very good running backs returning next season, and in this week's Friday Five, we'll break down the five best backs.
Believe me when I say that it was extremely hard to limit this list to five. There are some really good players I had to leave off, but this isn't the Friday 15, damn it!
5. Leonard Fournette, LSU
Fournette came into the 2014 season with a ton of hype, as he was the top running back in the 2014 recruiting class and everybody expected him to step on the field and be the next Adrian Peterson. It didn't quite work out that way, as Fournette got off to a slow start, though he did finish strong. After a terrible performance against Arkansas in which he rushed for only 9 yards on five carries, Fournette went off in LSU's final two games, rushing for 289 yards on 30 carries (9.63 yards per) and three touchdowns. He also helped out on special teams, returning a kick 100 yards for a touchdown against Notre Dame in LSU's bowl loss. We can all expect to see a lot more of that same Fournette throughout 2015.
4. Dalvin Cook, Florida State
If you go off the 2014 numbers and nothing else, Cook's season doesn't look nearly as impressive as the others on this list or others who were left off. But you have to remember that I'm projecting the future a bit here, and I see a bright one for Cook. Let's look at the Florida State offense next season. Jameis Winston will be gone, as will the guy Cook shared time with in the backfield, Karlos Williams. That means Cook, who saw his workload and production increase late in the season -- he had 70 carries and 424 yards in the final three games -- will be a bigger part of the offense. When you consider Cook's ability as a runner as well as the danger he poses as a receiver out of the backfield, you can see him having a huge 2015.
3. James Conner, Pitt
I've long been a big fan of Conner, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that I'm including him here. Conner had huge numbers last season, rushing for 1,765 yards and 26 touchdowns, and he's a workhorse back, carrying the ball 23 times per game. I don't see that changing, even with the regime change at Pitt with Pat Narduzzi taking over for Paul Chryst. Narduzzi wants to make Pitt into another Michigan State, so as long as he resists the urge to move Conner to defensive end, Conner will be the centerpiece of the Panthers offense next season. And he should be.
2. Ezekiel Elliott, Ohio State
For most of the 2014 season, the talk about Ohio State usually surrounded J.T. Barrett, and then at the end it was Cardale Jones. And it was for good reason, as both of them played well when Ohio State needed them to. But the biggest reason Ohio State won the first College Football Playoff national title was Elliott. He's the one that carried the load down the stretch. In Ohio State's final nine games of the season, the Buckeyes faced five defenses that finished the season as a top 25 run defense (Penn State, Wisconsin and Alabama finished top five); in those five games, Elliott rushed for 834 yards and nine touchdowns, averaging 7.87 yards per carry. And then there was his best performance of all, rushing for 246 yards and four touchdowns against Oregon in the title game. We may not know who Ohio State's quarterback will be next year, but honestly, with Elliott around, it might not matter.
1. Nick Chubb, Georgia
Considering all the considerable -- and deserved -- hype surrounding Todd Gurley heading into 2014, who could have thought that Gurley may not even have been the best running back on his own team? In a season full of impressive freshman backs, none were more impressive than Chubb. He didn't get a chance to take on a featured role until after Gurley went down with an injury, and holy hell did Chubb impress once he did. In Georgia's final eight games of the season, he rushed for 1,323 yards and 12 touchdowns, averaging 7.04 yards per carry. Oh, how nice it must be to have the ability to replace a back like Gurley with one like Chubb. I hope Mark Richt wakes up every morning knowing how lucky he is.
Honorable Mention: Samaje Perine, Oklahoma*; Derrick Henry, Alabama; Royce Freeman, Oregon; Donnel Pumphrey, San Diego State; Alex Collins, Arkansas; Jonathan Williams, Arkansas; Devontae Booker, Utah; Jordan Howard, Indiana; Devon Johnson, Marshall
* Full disclosure on Perine: He would have been in the top five if not for the uncertainty surrounding Oklahoma's offense next season, as the hiring of Lincoln Riley from East Carolina could signal a return to an Air Raid attack
