SEC Football Backup Running Backs Who Would Start in Other Conferences
As shallow as the SEC's pool of quarterbacks is this season, it's running backs well is just as deep.
Blessed with a trio of running backs who should be among the nation's best in LSU's Leonard Fournette, Georgia's Nick Chubb and Tennessee's Jalen Hurd, the league has plenty of star power. Toss in unsung studs such as Vanderbilt's Ralph Webb and Kentucky's Boom Williams, and the SEC is back-loaded.
That's not even mentioning some talented guys who'll shoulder the load for the first time like Alabama's Bo Scarbrough, Arkansas' Rawleigh Williams and Florida's Mark Thompson. Oklahoma transfer Keith Ford could shine for Texas A&M, too.
That's a lot of names who should do a lot of damage in a league that is likely to be run-heavy yet again with most teams breaking in young or unproven quarterbacks. Ole Miss and Mississippi State have capable, if unproven, backs, and others could emerge, too.
But those players aren't the only marquee runners in the talent-rich soils of the Southeast.
Backups everywhere could be household names on other teams across the country. From Knoxville to Baton Rouge and several stops in between, there are runners who won't be the players to trot out with the first-teamers whom opponents must scheme around.
Opponents may gear up for a heavy dose of Fournette, but Derrius Guice is a superstar reserve. As soon as defenses get used to the beating they're taking from the 6'4", 240-pound Hurd, in comes fellow future NFL back Alvin Kamara.
Not sold that Chubb can return from last season's torn anterior cruciate ligament? The Bulldogs have a 1,000-yard rusher in Sony Michel who'll be ready not far into the season, too.
The list goes on and on. So, let's take a closer look at those guys and more who are backups only because of the studs on the depth chart in front of them.
Jordan Cronkrite, Florida
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One of the two real sleepers on this list is Jordan Cronkrite, the Florida sophomore from Miami who isn't the biggest running back but has the tools to be an every-down back in the league.
The biggest problem for him is jumbo JUCO transfer Mark Thompson, who has come to Gainesville and turned enough heads to where he may be a pretty safe bet to start for the Gators or at least be the guy to get many of the carries. His 237-pound frame looks like it can take the rigors of an SEC slate.
But don't sleep on Cronkrite. While you may have a difficult time spelling his name—admit it, legendary newsman Walter Cronkite has made this one difficult on all of us—you'll probably have it committed to memory before the season's end.
Last year, Cronkrite finished with 157 yards on 44 carries and three touchdowns. Those were modest numbers for a first-year player, but last season was Kelvin Taylor's show. With him gone, the Gators will go a bit more running back by committee. Sure, Thompson will get a lot of carries, but so will Cronkrite and Jordan Scarlett.
That's why UF head coach Jim McElwain told the Gainesville Sun's Kevin Brockway he thought the running backs group would be the strongest unit of the Gators' entire offense.
"I really see our running back position being as strong as anything on our football team," McElwain said. "We've got some really quality guys there that will compete, and I'm looking forward to see how that competition kind of comes out."
He's so confident in those guys he could go to two- and three-back sets at times as McElwain tries to employ a run-first offense.
It's no guarantee Cronkrite will be coming off the bench, either. He may be the most well-rounded of all Florida's runners, and if he continues to be more adept at pass protection, blocking and receiving, he'll get his fair share of reps.
Cronkrite isn't well-known yet, and he's a bit of a wild card, but he belongs on this list.
Derrius Guice, LSU
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It may not even seem fair that LSU can throw out a cyborg-type running back like Fournette, a physical freak who has everything it takes to win college football's highest individual honor this season. Then, when he takes a breather, in comes 5'11", 212-pound dynamo sophomore Derrius Guice.
Yet, that's exactly the luxury Bayou Bengals coach Les Miles will enjoy in 2016.
That's a key reason why a lot of folks believe the Tigers will make their share of noise and perhaps unseat defending national champion Alabama in the SEC West. They've got to find a bit of a passing game to keep quality defenses honest, but if they can do that, Fournette and Guice will make teams pay.
They'll probably do it, anyway.
Last season, Guice rushed for 436 yards on an astonishing 8.5-yard average and scored three touchdowns. The Baton Rouge, Louisiana, product came along on the heels of Fournette, who was perhaps the most celebrated running back recruit in state history. But he wasn't any slouch himself.
Guice was a 4-star back who was the nation's fifth-rated runner and the No. 46 overall player, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.
There are few teams in the country that wouldn't love to trot him out there for 30 carries a game. Guice is an electrifying runner who can shock teams with a long run and throw around his weight between the tackles. He's maturing into a team player, too. He knows how good the guy in front of him is.
"There's no big man on campus," Guice told WAFB.com's Jacques Doucet. "Everyone has to settle in on that and realize everyone is good in college. All those high school recruiting rankings, they don't mean anything once you get here. ... You just have to be patient. And be ready to be called on."
That time will come in every game he's healthy this year as Miles will look to keep Fournette fresh. After this season (which is surely to be Fournette's last one on the bayou), it'll be Guice's show.
Don't be surprised when he steals it.
Damien Harris, Alabama
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The other wild card on the list is Alabama's Damien Harris, and he gets the nod for several reasons.
Though he didn't burst onto the scene in 2015 as a player with a lot of the same high school hype surrounding him, a huge reason for that was because Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry and NFL back Kenyan Drake got most of the carries.
Then, when Bo Scarbrough and his freakish frame became the "next big thing" when he got a few carries, Harris became somewhat of a forgotten name.
You'd better remember it.
The 5'11", 214-pound sophomore from Berea, Kentucky, was the nation's top-ranked back in the 2015 recruiting class and the 31st-rated overall player, according to the 247Sports composite rankings. So, he has the pedigree and the promise backing him.
There's also the safe bet that he'll produce because he plays for Alabama. Call that crimson bias if you will, but as the cliche goes, the greatest indicator of the future is the past, and head coach Nick Saban always has elite running backs to insert into his dominant system.
Like one anonymous SEC coach told GridironNow.com's Jimmy Hyams: "It's like saying you're at the Goodyear plant and your tire wore out. Just get another one."
Those wheels will keep on churning, and Harris will be one of them.
Scarbrough is the safest bet to be the one who makes this year's offense tick, but he hasn't proved he can stay healthy. Also, even if Scarbrough lives up to the hype around him, there will be plenty of carries to go around for Harris and others.
If there's one thing Bama will do, it's run the ball—especially with the uncertainty surrounding the quarterback position.
Expect Harris to play a key role this year. There may be some Tide fans writing him off because he didn't do anything impressive in his first year while averaging 3.4 yards per carry.
But that's a lot of pressure to come in and shine in garbage time on a national champion team thumping everyone and running out fourth-quarter clocks.
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Alvin Kamara, Tennessee
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Alvin Kamara knows all about that Alabama running back factory. He was once in the assembly line before bolting Tuscaloosa.
The crimson castaway wound up being treasure for Tennessee.
As GoVols247's Wes Rucker wrote, Kamara is the total package. He is one of those perfect pickups who may just wind up being one of the biggest pieces to a once-proud program's turnaround and return to prominence:
"To this point, Kamara has been a shining example for those who believe kids deserve second chances and can thrive when given an opportunity at a place that encourages them to do the right things but also lets them be themselves.
Kamara is a player who looks like a threat anytime he touches the ball and also leads the Vols on and off the field. What more could anyone want?
"
After a year at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas, Kamara came to Knoxville as a highly recruited JUCO runner a season ago and immediately showed none of the immaturity he admitted plagued him while at Alabama. Instead, Kamara embraced head coach Butch Jones' program and immediately excelled.
That success isn't just on the field, either. The rising redshirt junior was named one of the team's permanent captains this spring along with quarterback Joshua Dobbs, outside linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin and cornerback Cameron Sutton.
As great as Hurd—who'll quietly most likely become UT's all-time leading rusher in just three seasons in 2016—is as an every-down SEC back, Kamara is the home run hitter. Last season, a Vols team that lacked a lot of speed on offense found ways to get the dynamic Kamara the ball.
UT threw swing passes to him, lined him up in the slot and even let him return kicks. His role should expand even more in '16 after he flirted with the NFL and elected to return to Knoxville for at least one more season.
Last year, the Vols finished with the second-highest single-season rushing total in school history, and Kamara was a big reason. Sure, Dobbs makes the entire offense tick with his dual-threat capability, and Hurd is the workhorse, but Kamara is the flash.
He wound up with 698 rushing yards, 291 receiving yards, 100 return yards and 11 total touchdowns a season ago. If anything, he should have gotten more touches and almost certainly will expand on his 149 this season.
Kamara is like former Bama back Drake without the injury history. He'll carve a huge role for himself again this year and then go on to be a high-round draft pick in the NFL.
Sony Michel, Georgia
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All of the previous running backs on the list have potential, and a couple of them like Kamara and even Guice have shown they can excel in extended auditions.
But nobody from this group has been thrust into action—handed the football with the implied notion that, "Here you go; this is your team now"—quite like Georgia running back Sony Michel. Last year, after Chubb's gruesome knee injury at Tennessee, UGA became Michel's team.
That was even more accurate considering the dreadful quarterback play that plagued head coach Mark Richt's final team between the hedges.
What did Michel do? He only churned out 1,161 yards for a 5.3 average and scored eight touchdowns. He also finished with 270 receiving yards and three more scores. While he played in all 13 games, he started just six times.
Chubb's shadow is awfully dark and daunting, but Michel more than emerged from it. Sure, there was the talk of, "Michel is good, but he's no Chubb." But, who is? Michel is an elite back who was a top-notch recruit, and he'll be a force throughout his career in Athens.
He'd start for probably 10 SEC teams and perhaps 95 percent of the college football teams across the country. The 5'11", 222-pound junior from Plantation, Florida, experienced a tough break (literally) this offseason when an ATV accident left him with a broken arm.
The injury could limit him or perhaps even keep him out for the first part of the season, but at this late juncture of practice, he and Chubb are both going through reps in Athens, as DawgNation.com's Chip Towers reported.
Michel still isn't going through any contact drills, but it's a welcome sight to see him on the field. The Dawgs need him helping out sooner rather than later with quarterback questions remaining and the uncertainty that Chubb will be his old, electric self coming off the knee injury.
It was a terrible time for Michel to suffer an injury, but when he gets back, he'll still be one of the best runners in the SEC—whether he starts or not.
All information gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. All recruiting information gathered from 247Sports unless otherwise noted. All stats gathered at CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted.
Brad Shepard covers SEC football and is the Tennessee lead writer for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter @Brad_Shepard.
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