We’ve talked about how there appears to be a type with the receivers, generally over 6’0″ and 200 or so pounds appears to be the mold.

I started thinking about the running backs and how that’s going to shake out after 2024. We know that Tahj Brooks returns and he was an absolute horse. At 230 he stands as the heaviest running back of the bunch. Moving forward, what do the backs look like?

• Tahj Brooks #28 (5-10/230) S-Sr.
• Cam’Ron Valdez #0 (5-9/205) Jr.
• Bryson Donnell #22 (5-10/205) So.
• Jaden Morris #16 (5-11/205) So.
• Anquan Willis #24 (6-0/200) R-Fr.
• JMaury Davis #25 (5-11/180) R-Fr.
• Cameron Dickey #- (5-10/205) Fr.
• J’Koby Williams #- (5-9/180) Fr.

The question is whether or not we’ll see anyone else and if we do see someone else, will it just be Valdez? Valdez entered the transfer portal and then withdrew, so he looked around and came back. I think that’s great. Brooks ran for 64% of all rush attempts last year and then Valdez had 12% with the two quarterbacks from last year each receiving 12% and 11% of those carries (I think Shough had 12% and Morton had 11%). That gets you to 97% of the pie so there’s not much left. Who is going to give up carries? I can’t imagine Brooks coming back to get less, the same for Valdez, and I know that nothing is really promised, but you tell me who might get carries other than Brooks, Valdez, and whoever is playing quarterback? And that’s not to say that I wouldn’t love to see Donnell, Willis, and Davis. I’m especially intrigued by Davis, he’s a helluva high-end athlete, but because you haven’t seen him in a year we tend to forget about some of these guys and how good their video was. You can write the same thing about Donnell and Willis as well. Their tape was really impressive.

And with the transfer portal, what’s sort of the point in looking too far forward? We know that the the landscape is changing and we can all bemoan that, but that doesn’t change the fact that the running backs that are here this year could be gone next year. I think that McGuire has done a good job of player retainment, but that doesn’t change what’s happening.

The point of me writing that is that there are so many talented running backs on the roster, they all have terrific resumes and are all supremely talented and I don’t know how or if the running backs other than Brooks and Valdez get a ton of carries. Now, next year if they stick around. Yeah, I think that will be really interesting and if they all stick around, you have guys like Donnell, Willis, and Dickey who are all a bit bigger and then smaller backs like Davis and Williams.

This is also appearing to be a positional look at things, last week we did the tight ends and I’ll continue to go through each position as spring practices arrives.