Big Ten Q&A: Who Is Best Running Back for 2016?
"The Granddaddy of Them All" is finally upon us.
No, I'm not talking about the Rose Bowl or even WrestleMania—although that is this weekend, too. I'm talking about the Michigan spring game, which will be hosted under the lights of the Big House on Friday night.
OK, so maybe the Wolverines' annual exhibition doesn't seem like as big of a deal as it did a year ago, when Michigan fans got their first glimpse at Jim Harbaugh in maize and blue since his playing career in Ann Arbor came to an end in 1986. But in another offseason that the Wolverines have dominated, it's only fitting that they'll be the ones to kick off the Big Ten's spring game slate this offseason on Friday night.
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With that in mind, let's dive into this week's Big Ten Q&A. As always, you can send me your questions each week on Twitter to @BenAxelrod.
Let's get started.
"@BenAxelrod how would you rank big ten starting RB's?
— Jared Haynes (@JaredLHaynes) March 24, 2016"
First, my rankings of each team's presumed starter entering 2016:
- Justin Jackson (Northwestern)
- Saquon Barkley (Penn State)
- Corey Clement (Wisconsin)
- Devine Redding (Indiana)
- L.J. Scott (Michigan State)
- Ke'Shawn Vaughn (Illinois)
- De'Veon Smith (Michigan)
- Markell Jones (Purdue)
- Robert Martin (Rutgers)
- LeShun Daniels Jr. (Iowa)
- Bri'onte Dunn (Ohio State)
- Shannon Brooks (Minnesota)
- Terrell Newby (Nebraska)
- Wes Brown (Maryland)
Now my explanation:
The biggest internal debate I had with this list was whether to go Jackson or Barkley at the No. 1 spot. But as talented as Barkley is (1,076, seven touchdowns as a freshman in 2015), it was hard to go against Jackson (1,418, five touchdowns in 2015) given what he meant to Northwestern's offense throughout its run to a 10-2 regular-season campaign a year ago.
After that, the makeup of the list is something of a tossup, with no shortage of wild cards to choose from in any order. I gave the benefit of the doubt to perhaps the biggest question mark of the bunch, Clement, as I feel confident he'll bounce back to his 2015 form (949 yards, nine touchdowns as Melvin Gordon III's backup) after an injury-riddled junior campaign.
Still, I'm not very confident in placing him ahead of Redding (1,012 yards, nine touchdowns), who did most of his damage as a backup in 2015.
Scott, Smith and Dunn are intriguing in their own rights, and their status as starters on contenders will lend them larger spotlights. But each player will likely be featured in running back by committees, which could lead to seemingly lackluster numbers from the Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State starters.
What stood out most to me while making this list was the lack of true star power at a position the Big Ten is traditionally known for featuring. Last season, only five backs in the Big Ten rushed for over 1,000 yards (Ezekiel Elliott, Jordan Howard, Jackson, Redding and Barkley) and only three (Elliott, Jackson and Howard) averaged more than 100 yards per game.
With quarterbacks playing more prominent roles in run games and teams relying more on multiple backs, that could prove to be the start—or perhaps the continuation—of a trend. We'll see what 2016 brings, but right now, the hierarchy of the Big Ten's most famous position is a little bit up in the air.
Hm, another rankings question. I could get used to this.
My list:
- Rashan Gary (Michigan)
- Nick Bosa (Ohio State)
- Miles Sanders (Penn State)
- Kareem Walker (Michigan)
- Lamar Jackson (Nebraska)
My explanation:
As somebody who buys into star rankings mattering, it's probably not a surprise the first three players here are also the only 5-star prospects the conference landed in the 2016 cycle. The nation's top-ranked defensive tackle (and overall prospect) in the 2016 class, Gary, should start right away on the Michigan defensive line and could instantly improve an already-strong Wolverines defense in the coming year.
Playing time should also be readily available for the 2016 class' No. 1 strong-side defensive end, Bosa, and top running back, Sanders. The latter of the two is particularly intriguing to me, as the Pittsburgh native will be splitting reps in the Nittany Lions backfield with one of the Big Ten's best running backs in Barkley.
"If you look around college football right now and you look in the NFL, you need multiple backs," Penn State head coach James Franklin said on signing day. "In a lot of ways the success that Saquon had this year, I think was actually a positive, because Miles could see himself having success like that and knowing that we were going to need multiple backs that are elite to help us go where we want to go."
Similarly, Walker should fit right in next to Smith in the Wolverines backfield, and his status as an early enrollee—the only one on this list—will only help his cause. Back on signing day, when asked about his expectation of playing time, Walker said, "I'm not riding the bench. I came here to be great. I didn't come here to sit on the bench."
Jackson, a 4-star safety, could also see immediate playing time in a Nebraska secondary that has a void at strong safety after Byerson Cockrell's departure. As a safety, Jackson's impact may not be as apparent as the other freshmen on this list, but just getting on the field in his first season on campus would be a victory in and of itself.
Alright, let's just get to the wrestling questions, because I knew these were coming this week.
As far as Big Ten history goes, two obvious answers come to mind: Former Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis and former Iowa defensive lineman Ettore Ewen.
In the case of Laurinaitis, he's an intriguing pick considering his father, Joe "The Animal" Laurinaitis was a member of arguably the greatest tag teams of all time, the Road Warriors. According to one of my former classmates at The Lantern, James Oldham, Vince McMahon and WWE once showed interest in the younger Laurinatis when he was an All-American linebacker with the Buckeyes.
"One or two times when I was at OSU, [McMahon] said to me, 'You know, what do you think about coming into the family business?' But to be honest, I hope this football deal works out long enough where I don’t have to do any of that," Laurinaitis told Oldham in 2010.
As for Ewen, the WWE superstar now known as Big E is a current WWE world tag team champion as a member of the most popular wrestling faction in quite sometime, the New Day. More on him later.
But as far as current Big Ten football players are concerned, if Jim Harbaugh's not available, I'd go with Ohio State guard Billy Price. According to Buckeyes strength and conditioning coach Mickey Marotti, the Buckeyes right guard is the strongest player on the OSU roster, which is no small feat on an Urban Meyer-recruited roster.
"The strongest in the weight room? It's not even close, Billy Price," Marotti said in February. "You can ask any player, he's a whole other level, strength-wise."
Having spoken to Price personally on several occasions, I can also confirm he's one of the better talkers on the team as well.
The strongest player on the team and the best mic skills? That sounds like Vince McMahon's dream.
With WrestleMania being this Sunday—yes, I'll be there in Arlington, Texas—it's worth noting the Big Ten will have a strong presence at professional wrestling's biggest show.
Most notably, aside from Big E being a former Hawkeye, Brock Lesnar first burst onto the scene as an NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion wrestler at Minnesota in 2000. A mere two years later, he was the WWE world heavyweight champion, which only proved to be the beginning of one of the most fascinating careers in professional sports history, including stops in the NFL and UFC.
Expanding to all of college football, Roman Reigns (real name: Joe Anoaʻi) is a former Georgia Tech and All-ACC defensive tackle who will challenge Triple H for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in Sunday's main event, while Bray Wyatt (Windham Rotunda) was a center at Troy in the late-2000s.
But the Big Ten's primary representation will come in form of Big E, whose New Day tag team will defend its title against the League of Nation on the "show of shows." Lesnar, meanwhile, will square off with Cincinnati native Dean Ambrose in a No Holds Barred Street Fight, in one of the night's top matches.
Naturally.
As far as who would win a match between Lesnar and Big E—which may not be that far down the line considering Lesnar's status and Ewen's trajectory as a potential star—right now the answer is a no-brainer. The Golden Gopher would be going over the Hawkeye, although that same answer may not be as clear in as soon as a year.
Enjoy the spring game, and whatever else it is you may be looking forward to this weekend!
Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.
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