College Football 2011: Power Ranking the Michigan Wolverines' Running Backs

You do not need to look further than the University of Michigan's 2010 season box score to figure out the Wolverines did not have a consistent or standout running back.

This is why Michigan junior quarterback Denard Robinson, who won the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Award in 2010, was forced to carry the ball 256 times for 1,702 yards and 14 touchdowns. Robinson had 1,187 more rushing yards than the Wolverines second-best rusher, junior running back Vincent Smith.

Michigan is not short on depth at the running back position, but what they are missing is one running back they can rely on to consistently pick up positive yardage. The competition is wide open for Michigan's seven returning running backs and two incoming freshmen. 

So, with the Wolverines changing to a pro-style offense under new head coach Brady Hoke, who will emerge as the top running back in the new system?

Unranked: Jihad Rasheed, Teric Jones, Thomas Rawls and Justice Hayes

These four Wolverine running backs are not ranked in my power rankings because three of them haven't played a single down yet at Michigan, and the other has seen limited action.

Jihad Rasheed redshirted for the Wolverines in 2010 as a freshman. Rasheed is a walk-on and is unlikely to ever touch the football in a game during his career at Michigan.

Teric Jones carried the ball just three times for seven yards as a sophomore last season. Do not look for him to do much more than that again this year with the additions of incoming freshmen Thomas Rawls and Justice Hayes.

Rawls is an interesting prospect for the Wolverines. Rawls was rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals.com and was the No. 19 overall player in the state of Michigan. Rawls rushed for 1,585 yards in 2010 as a senior in high school.

He has good upside with his size at 5'10" and 215 pounds, but I do not think he will see the field for Michigan much in 2011. I think Rawls will likely redshirt his freshman season and battle for a top three spot on the depth chart in 2012.

Hayes may be unranked in this slideshow because he has not played, but that does not mean he does not have the potential to be one of the Wolverines' best running backs in 2011. 

Hayes was a four-star prospect according to Rivals.com and was the No. 3 running back prospect in the country. Rivals.com listed Hayes' 40-yard dash time as 4.44 seconds, which means he is just as fast as anyone in the Wolverines' backfield, but what may hold him back as a freshman is his size.

He is only listed at 5'10" and 175 pounds, which could keep him from winning the starting job or even a top three spot. Wolverines fans should be optimistic about Hayes though, because he will undoubtedly put on some muscle mass this year.

Look for Hayes to get a few carries per game, but I do not expect to see much out of him this season.

No. 5: Mike Cox

Mike Cox's career numbers have been anything but impressive so far in his first three seasons at Michigan, but they are even less impressive considering who all of his yards have come against.

After redshirting in 2008, Cox saw limited action for the Wolverines in 2009. He carried the ball 13 times for 113 yards, and all of his yards came against MAC foes Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan, along with Delaware State of the FCS (formerly Division I-AA).

In 2010, Cox played in just five games and registering just six carries for 56 yards—all of which came against the Bowling Green State Falcons.

Cox did not see the field much due to struggles with the playbook. The coaching staff never trusted Cox's knowledge of it enough to let him play in important games or situations.

Cox certainly has shown big-play potential against lackluster teams, but has yet to carry the football against a Big Ten opponent, which is why he sits at No. 5 in my power rankings. If he can stay healthy and remember the plays, Cox may get to see some action in conference games this season.

No. 4: Michael Shaw

Michael Shaw grabbed all kinds of headlines before he even played at Michigan.

Shaw was committed to play for Penn State in 2008 until the Wolverines hired Rich Rodriguez, who convinced Shaw to come to Michigan. This "stealing" of Shaw drew some negative statements toward Rodriguez.

Shaw has failed to live up to all of his promise on the field though. He has struggled with injuries for his entire career as a Wolverine, and there have been rumors that he has never been a hard worker in the offseason.

With lingering ankle problems as a sophomore, Shaw was limited to just 42 carries for 185 yards and two touchdowns. He missed two games last season with head and knee injuries, and often found himself backing up Vincent Smith in 2010.

Shaw finished the 2010 season with 75 carries, 402 yards and nine touchdowns, all career-highs. He finished with the third-most rushing yards among Wolverines players last year.

Although Shaw has had his past injury problems, which have not been major but enough to keep him from producing a lot statistically, he is the biggest wild card in the battle for the starting running back spot. If he finally decides to put in the work and can stay healthy, Shaw could easily emerge as the top running back for Michigan because of his experience; he will be a senior this season.

Realistically though, I see Shaw fighting for around the same amount of carries as he had last season. 

No. 3: Vincent Smith

Vincent Smith is a small, shifty running back who was supposed to be able to thrive in Rich Rodriguez's wide-open spread offense that focused on getting speedy players out in space to make big plays.

Smith has failed to take off for the Wolverines though in his first two seasons. Although Smith was the second-best rusher statistically for Michigan in 2010, I hated seeing the ball in his hands.

Last season, Smith finished with 601 yards and five touchdowns on 136 carries. 

He has not been able to get out in space much and is not much of a tackle-breaker. These weaknesses will be exposed even more in a pro-style offense, which will have more running plays right up the middle as opposed to bubble-screen passes, sweeps and option plays.

Look for Smith to be third on Michigan's depth chart come Week 1 of the 2011 season against Western Michigan. I expect to see Smith's carries decline as a result of the next two players in this slideshow.

No. 2: Fitzgerald Toussaint

Fitzgerald Toussaint was a highly-touted prospect out of Ohio in 2009. He was redshirted his first season at Michigan and had only eight carries in 2010.

So why is Toussaint so high on the list?

The redshirt sophomore put together a great spring and is expected to be healthy going into the 2011 season after missing 10 games in 2010 with knee and shoulder injuries.

Toussaint recorded just 87 yards and one touchdown last season, but in the limited chances I had to see this young man play in 2010, I could definitely see the big-play potential Toussaint was said to have coming out of high school.

Who knows what Toussaint could have done last season if he had stayed healthy after the Wolverines began to give the young man some carries? He carried the ball twice for 66 yards in his collegiate debut against Bowling Green last year. Toussaint made his first career start for the Wolverines in the Gator Bowl against Mississippi State, but only carried the ball twice for five yards. 

If nothing else, Toussaint wins the back-up job by default. He is only 5'10", but he has some good bulk and speed to thrive in Hoke's pro-style offense. 

I expect Toussaint to get a lot of carries in 2011 if he stays healthy and be a good change-of-pace running back for the next player in this slideshow.

No. 1: Stephen Hopkins

Stephen Hopkins is probably not well known among Michigan households, but I expect the sophomore running back to have a break-out year and win the starting job for the Wolverines in 2011.

As the video above mentions, Hopkins did not put up great numbers in 2010 (37 carries, 151 yards and four touchdowns), but this was because he was primarily used inside the red zone due to his larger build and not-so-blazing speed.

But as I watched Hopkins last year, it seemed like he was the only Michigan running back who would come in and consistently pick up positive yardage. I was screaming at Rodriguez through my television to put Hopkins in the game more because he would often get pulled after a nice run in favor of Smith, who would usually get dropped for a loss the following play.

Hopkins has improved his speed since becoming a Wolverine and is a down-hill runner, which will be a great fit in the pro-style offense for those half-back dives right into the heart of the defensive line.

Hopkins is the thunder to Fitzgerald Toussaint's lightning, so look for this duo to make up the majority of Michigan's rushing yards this season outside of Denard Robinson, who will not be asked to run the ball nearly as many times as last year.

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