College Football Recruiting 2012: The Top Running Backs from Rivals Top 100

Rivals has recently released their long-awaited "Rivals 100" list, and I thought I would give a quick rundown of who the RB prospects are who made the list.

I have my Top 100 recruits board and positional rankings myself, but the Rivals 100 is always a valuable tool for recruiting followers.

I grew up a bit following Rivals recruiting every year, and now that I am an evaluator myself, it's always fun to compare notes to such a great site.

So with this I'm going to quickly highlight a few RB prospects in their top 100 players.

Let's get started.

Byron Marshall

Marshall has been productive over the past few seasons and finished with over 1,500 yards on the ground as a junior. At 5'10", 195 pounds, Marshall may be the top running back in the state this year.

He has great quickness and patience behind the line to set up blocks and get to and through holes.

He knows how to read front sevens, where holes should be, and bursts through them to get upfield. Marshall has great speed to hit pay dirt routinely and he can factor as a receiver as well.

Stanford, Cal, BYU, Arizona, Arizona State and Oregon State are just some offers to name.

He's ranked 90th overall by Rivals. 

Brian Kimbrow

Kimbrow is a bit undersized for a rock toter at 5'9", 165 pounds, yet he makes up for it in other ways. The Memphis native claims he has been clocked at 4.25 in the 40.

Quick, slippery, elusive and explosive, Kimbrow is a jack-of-all-trades type of offensive weapon. He can factor extremely heavily on the edges and flanks of the field.

He has offers from almost the entire SEC, Miami and USC among others

William Mahone

5'11", 205 pounds some question the long speed of Mahone, but on tape he does display a solid short area burst.

He can pound inside between the tackles, mix it up with linebackers and shows finish ability.

Mahone also can get to the edges and flanks and turn the corner.

He won't run away from too many people, but his size and burst to jump alleys into the second level will make him a very effective running back in college.

TJ Yeldon

A 6'2", 205-pound rock-toter with 4.43 speed, and ranked the 58th best player for 2012.

Yeldon is a natural runner with a big frame that combines breakaway speed, strength and good power. He can break tackles and break ankles.

Yeldon flashes solid vision and a downhill style to attack the line of scrimmage out of his stance. He can take runs to the house as well as fight for extra yardage in crowds.

Alabama, Florida State, Florida, Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, UAB and Illinois have offered.

Keith Marshall.

I liken him to a Marshall Faulk, as he can impact the game as a runner, receiver and even as a returner.

At 5'11", 185 pounds, Marshall has been timed in the 4.3 range in the 40.

With a slew of offers, Marshall has whittled his list down to, in no particular order: Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Stanford and USC.

I have Marshall as a top-10 player, but Rivals only has him at No. 55 overall.

Mario Pender

Pender averaged almost 14 yards a carry last season. Do me a favor; go back and read that one more time. Because that's amazing.

At 6'0" and over 200 pounds, he has fantastic speed to hit creases and skate through.

He does a solid job of banging inside and can break a few tackles as well. Pender runs tough and is very durable as well.

He's bound for Florida State and Rivals has him ranked as the 53rd best player.

Rushel Shell

At 5'11", 215 pounds, Shell is among the best running backs in the country. He has elite vision, awareness and run instincts to go along with great speed and run strength.

Not much has been let out in regards to Shell, but I do notice that it seems he glows when he speaks about Pitt, Penn State, Ohio State and Florida.

Yet he has close to 30 offers and is still a bit open.

Trey Williams

Williams is not very big, but he's very fast, slippery and explosive, quick and elusive.

At 5'8", 175 pounds, Williams is a stick of dynamite in the backfield and can score anytime he touches the rock.

He uses his lack of height to his advantage, sliding and hiding behind his line, then darting when he sees a crease.

He may not be an every-down back in college, but I still expect him to be very productive at Texas A&M.

Johnathan Gray

Gray is the top running back in the country on my board and on Rivals' list.

We just disagree on where he ranks overall, as I have him at No. 2 and Rivals lists him as the 14th best player for 2012.

The 5'11", 195-pounder's production is that of three backs. He has over 6,000 yards and 109 touchdowns over the past two seasons alone.

Gray has elite vision, feel, instincts, elusiveness, speed and quickness, all of which he will show off at Texas.