Texas Football: How Good Can Malcolm Brown Be?

As a five-star rated running back coming out of Steele High School, Malcolm Brown was one of the most highly touted recruits in the country.

Longhorn fans were salivating at what he could add to an offense that had struggled to establish the hard-nose running game that it planned on after a disastrous season in which none of the Texas backs emerged as a true threat.

So far, he’s lived up to the hype.

Brown has run for 657 yards through seven games this season and is on pace to finish the season with over 1,000 yards rushing.

If Brown can accomplish that feat, it would be the first time that Texas has had a 1,000-yard rusher since Jamaal Charles did it in 2007.

Unlike the handful of running backs that preceded him, Malcolm Brown is a power back that can run downhill and through the tackles in an offensive scheme that’s been built to allow the run game to excel.

In the past several seasons, the Longhorns ran a pass-happy spread offense that rarely gave the running back any major role in the game.

In fact, the running game took on such little significance that quarterback Colt McCoy led the team in rushing in 2008 with 734 yards, and almost led the team again in that category in 2009 when he finished with 559 yards rushing, just short of Tre Newton’s 577 yards on the season.

And who can blame the Longhorns for taking that approach when you have the likes of Vince Young and Colt McCoy under center?

After all, the Longhorns did win a national championship and a BCS game, while also making another appearance in the title game.

But things have changed at Texas and Mack Brown has decided to go back to a power running game to try to alleviate the burden on his young quarterbacks (case and point: the 441 rushing yards against Kansas this past weekend).

Malcolm Brown has done a good job managing a lot of that load so far.

In fact, if he does cross the 1,000-yard rushing mark this season, it will be a feat that not even some of the best running backs in Texas history accomplished in their first year at the 40 acres, including the likes of Ricky Williams, Earl Campbell and Jamaal Charles.

So what kind of footprint can Malcolm Brown leave at Texas?

Needless to say, Brown still has a long way to go to even be mentioned in the same category as great Heisman-winning backs like Ricky Williams and Earl Campbell, and he still has a lot of flaws in his game that he can improve upon.

For one, he needs to learn how to hold onto the football a little better, after having a few fumbles so far this season.

Also, although maybe not as typical of your general running back role, Brown can also learn to be more of a receiver and save his quarterback sometimes when he needs it.

It’s what Heisman-winning backs like Campbell and Williams did to establish themselves among the greats.

And of course there is the complicated Bryan Harsin offense that everyone is still learning as it becomes more and more complete over time.

The good news is that the Longhorns have a young offensive line, most of whom will probably play another couple of years at Texas, who will improve along with Brown and make it easier for him to do his job.

If Brown continues to work hard and learn, he has time to greatly improve upon all aspects of his game.

Ricky Willams ran for 990 yards his freshman year, 1,272 yards his sophomore year, 1,893 his junior year, and 2,124 in his final year at Texas.

Earl Campbell ran for 928 yards his first year, 1,118 is his sophomore season, and 1,744 in his senior year after an injury-ridden junior year.

These statistics show that none of these backs instantly came in and dominated the game from beginning to end, but they eventually got to that point with a few years of dedication, perseverance and hard work.

Malcolm Brown has the potential to do the same thing.

No, I’m not saying that Brown will be as good as Earl Campbell or Ricky Williams.

With the way college football is set up today with players often leaving early to enter the NFL draft, Brown won’t stay long enough to be able to even come close to the career rushing yards of Williams and Campbell.

And he may not even win any awards or the Heisman trophy.

But if he continues to improve and stay away from getting injured, he can definitely leave his own powerful legacy at The University of Texas.