Trying to replace an NFL running back
Running back was a position of great depth for the Utah State Aggie football team this past year. The two-headed attack of juniors Gerold Bright and Darwin Thompson was reliably one of the most lethal in the Mountain West. In eight of its 13 games this past season, one of the two backs rushed for over 100 yards. Thompson was the leading rusher for the season, at over 1,000 yards and impressed scouts enough to be drafted in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL draft. Bright wasn’t far behind, ending the season at 888 yards and is expected to carry more of the load as the lone returner.
While the production of the pair was similar, the skill sets differ more. Thompson wowed scouts in part because of his unique shiftiness and sub 4.5 quickness. Thompson would often hit the hole and make defenders miss with quick decision making and breakaway speed, leading to runs of over 50 yards on more than one occasion. He showed patience at the line and tremendous trust in his blockers. By waiting at the offensive line for holes to open up, rather than forcing his way through small cracks, he made more effective runs with the ball.
Bright is more of a “north and south” runner, meaning he chooses a hole and powers through it instead of bouncing out of the tackles as often as Thompson. Not to say he cannot be elusive, but Thompson was superior last season in this respect. This partially comes down to the running scheme. A zone run scheme forces the weak side tackle and guard to pull toward the side of the play that it is designed for, pushing blockers laterally, thus resulting in the need for what some call a “one cut” back. Bright has the chance to excel in this scheme. He possesses good vision, much like Thompson, but his tendency to take on defenders and fight off tackles should be to his benefit with a depleted offensive line that lost four all-conference players.
But frankly, that’s the key part to the position group’s success in a nutshell. If Utah State can’t find a way to fill the holes left by parting offensive linemen, it almost does not matter who’s in the backfield. Out of the 14 rushing touchdowns Thompson scored this past season, eight were virtually uncontested by the defense. As the old cliche goes, the holes were big enough to drive a truck through. As you can see in this clip from the game against Hawaii last year, most of the opportunities the running backs were getting came with some very imposing blocking.
It’s reasonable to assume that with Bright and Thompson getting nearly the same amount of carries — 141 and 153 respectively — the workload wasn’t put all on one player’s shoulders, keeping both healthy throughout the entirety of the season.
Apart from Bright, the Aggies have a host of possible contributors in the backfield that are all relatively inexperienced. Junior Chase Nelson recorded 16 tackles and a sack last season as a safety, but looks to make the change over to offense as a running back. Junior Morian Walker Jr. played in 11 games and finished the season with 19 carries for 66 yards and two touchdowns and is the biggest back on the roster, which could mean that he’ll be featured in short-yardage situations or when Bright needs a rest. But another player with the size to do the job is BYU graduate transfer Riley Burt. Burt is strong and runs with power, but doesn’t lack speed to get past defenders. He wasn’t featured often at BYU — 96 carries in his career at BYU — but in a limited sample size, he shines when given more carries. In 2018 when Burt carried the ball nine or more times, he averaged 7.19 yards per carry with two touchdowns, albeit against Hawaii, New Mexico State and Western Michigan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ivB7Cegx-Y
Incoming JUCO transfer Jaylen Warren might be the player with the most experience behind bright. Warren has yet to play Division one football, but has excelled at his past two levels, and excelled might be an understatement. In his final season at East High, Warren shattered the state rushing record and became the first player to ever reach 3,000 yards in a single season. He helped lead the Leopards to a 14-0 record and a state championship, including a win over perennial powerhouse from California De La Salle. Warren was instrumental in the win, rushing for 248 yards on 25 carries. He continued his excellent play when he got to Snow College, being named the 2018 NJCAA National Offensive Player of the Year and an NJCAA first-team All-American. He is quite a powerful back at 5’8” and 225 pounds, but much like Burt, he doesn’t lack any acceleration for his size.
Freshman Enoch Nawahine is an exciting young athlete and shined in the spring game, but he’s so unknown that expecting a major contribution from him at this time would be borderline reckless. Sophomore Sione Feheko also wasn’t featured at all last season, but could factor into the offense at some point. Bright is clearly the best candidate to receive the majority of carries in Mike Sanford’s new offense, but more could be uncovered after fall camp gets underway early August.
Luckily for Utah State, there will be opportunities early in the season to get the position sorted out. The opener away at Wake Forest will not be an easy affair, but the Demon Deacons were 96th in the nation this past year in rush defense, having given up 203.2 yards per game. The following weekend the Aggies have a matchup with Stony Brook, an FCS school that finished with a 7-5 record last season. Naturally, you can assume Utah State will be able to impose its style of play on the Seawolves and should come away with a few questions answered in the run game. This will be a prime opportunity for players like Walker Jr., Nawahine and Nelson to prove they can help shoulder the load of losing an NFL running back.
Author’s note: This article has been updated since more players were added to the official roster.