The 2015 college football season was a year for the running backs. Alabama’s Derrick Henry won the Heisman trophy. Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey was the Heisman runner-up. Three other running backs finished in the top-10 in Heisman voting and this was all after LSU’s Leonard Fournette had football experts discussing whether to change the age of eligibility for the NFL Draft. Henry and Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott are headed for the NFL, but that doesn’t mean the 2016 class of running back doesn’t have the potential to be just as dominant as in 2015. Here is a look at the four best returning college football running backs.
Leonard Fournette, LSU Tigers
There really isn’t any debate about who the most intriguing running back in the nation is heading in to next season. Fournette is at the top of the list after he started the season like he was shot out of a cannon. By the end of October, Fournette was an incredibly heavy favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. While he – and the Tigers – faded, all eyes will be on LSU’s star rusher to see what he has in store for an encore. Fournette averaged 6.5 yards per carry while rushing for 1,953 yards and 22 touchdowns in his sophomore season and there isn’t any reason to expect regression. As a matter of fact, if LSU can sort out their passing game and find a way to improve it, there will be less defensive attention paid to Fournette and more holes for him to run through.
Fournette slowed down a bit towards the end of last year but that likely had more to do with fatigue and nagging injuries than anything else. His supporting cast should be improved in 2016 and the expectation is that he will lead next year’s running back class as an obvious Heisman trophy favorite.
Dalvin Cook, Florida State Seminoles
Cook ran for 1,691 yards and 19 touchdowns last season. That feat is even more impressive when you consider the fact that he missed an entire game and was held under 100 yards rushing in three other games because of a nagging hamstring injury. Cook’s 7.4 yards per carry average was the fifth-best mark in the FBS and it’s his explosiveness and big-play ability that makes him so special. Staying healthy will be key for Cook in 2016, along with the fact that the Seminoles will return every single starter on the offensive side of the football. Florida State could have the nation’s most explosive rushing attack in 2016 and it will be Cook leading the way.
Christian McCaffrey, Stanford Cardinal
The fact that a player that finished second in Heisman trophy voting for 2015 is third on our list is testament to how impressive next year’s class looks on paper. McCaffrey is one of the best all-around players in college football. He might be the elite talent that Fournette and Cook are right now but the fact that he can run the ball, catch the ball out of the backfield and return the ball make him a unique type of workhorse running back. What many people love about him is his trajectory. He had 147 or more rushing yards in five of his last six games, which includes a 207-yard effort against USC in the Pac-12 Championship Game and a 172-yard effort in the Rose Bowl. McCaffrey should have another massive workload at Stanford again next season and that should lead to some impressive numbers again.
Royce Freeman, Oregon Ducks
North Carolina’s Elijah Hood, Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine and Georgia’s Nick Chubb all deserved consideration for this final spot, but ultimately we decided to have Freeman as the final running back on the list. Marcus Mariota’s graduation and the fact that Vernon Adams Jr. struggled to stay healthy kept a lot of the focus on the quarterback position at Oregon a year ago and that took away some of the attention from what was an outstanding season for Freeman. The Ducks’ leading rusher averaged 6.5 yards per carry while rushing for 1,886 yards and 17 touchdowns. Freeman’s workload could be even bigger with Oregon grooming another new quarterback. Expectations are high that he will deliver as one of the best in college football in 2016.
