Who Is the Best Running Back in the SEC?
Who is the best running back in the SEC?
In a league known for its physical play, it is critical for teams to have a reliable weapon in the backfield who can gain tough yards against a defense that is stacked to stop him.
Marcus Lattimore proved to be an explosive back for South Carolina last fall, churning out 1197 yards. And while he leads the list of returning rushers this season, is he the best back out there? Trent Richardson of Alabama averaged 6.2 yards per carry last season. Does that make him the best go-to back?
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
When determining the league's best back, there is more to consider than just total yards or yards per carry.
If these two stats were all that mattered we would call Onterio McCalebb the best back in the league after he averaged an eye-popping 8.5 yards per carry in 2010. Problem is he averaged under seven carries per game, so one or two long rushes will swell that number up pretty good. If it was total yards, more people would be talking about Derrick Locke from last year's Kentucky squad, who out-rushed Marcus Lattimore by 6.5 yards per game on average.
To project the best running back in the SEC, we ran various calculations that all provided a consistent ranking, but finally took the average carries (min. 10 attempts per game) of the league's top returning ball carriers.
Next, we took individual average yards per carry and added one tenth of a yard for each rush above the average carries per game and took away one tenth for each rush below. Finally, we multiplied this number by the average carries per game of 14.28.
You can see the results of our rankings below.
Is this a perfect analysis? No. But it does give you something to think about.
Player | School | RPG | YPC | AYPC | Average Rushes | Revised YPG |
Ole Miss | 13.58 | 6.00 | 5.90 | 14.28 | 84.25 | |
Michael Dyer | Auburn | 13.00 | 6.00 | 5.85 | 14.28 | 83.54 |
Trent Richardson | Alabama | 10.18 | 6.20 | 5.80 | 14.28 | 82.82 |
 Vick Ballard | Miss State | 15.50 | 5.20 | 5.32 | 14.28 | 75.97 |
Marcus Lattimore | South Carolina | 19.15 | 4.80 | 5.30 | 14.28 | 75.68 |
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RPG=Rushes per game |
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YPC=Yards per carry |
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AYPC=Adjusted yards per carry |
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YPG=yards per game |
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.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
