The running back position was dominated by stars a year ago when Derrick Henry led Alabama to a national championship with a Heisman trophy season, Christian McCaffrey broke records at Stanford and Leonard Fournette put on an absolute show before hitting a wall over the final few weeks of the season. Two of those three running backs return looking to pick up from where they left off in 2015 and it’s no surprise that they are both listed among the best in the entire nation. Here is a look at the top running backs in college football right now.
Leonard Fournette
LSU Tigers
No running back was more dominant than Fournette throughout the first six weeks of the 2015 season. And then he faded. While a combination of tough defenses and a lack of balance on the LSU offense eventually wore him down, it is clear he has the raw skill set to be the most dominant back in college football.
Fournette didn’t have a lot of help from the Tigers’ passing game and he certainly had his work cut out for him rushing against eight and nine-man fronts in the SEC. Fournette still managed to average 6.5 yards per carry while rushing for 1,953 yards and 22 touchdowns despite playing just 12 games. Fournette will have every opportunity to top those numbers in 2016 and he could easily be a Heisman trophy contender again if he can get a little bit more help from Brandon Harris and the LSU passing game. He’s stated that he’s aiming for a 2000-yard season, which might be a little too difficult to attain while playing in the SEC, but if he puts up similar numbers and LSU finishes near the top of the conference, he’ll be in the running for the Heisman Trophy.
Christian McCaffrey
Stanford Cardinal
McCaffrey broke Barry Sanders’ NCAA single-season record for all-purpose yards when he recorded 2,664 a year ago. Stanford’s star running back averaged 6.0 yards per carry for 2,019 rushing yards and eight touchdowns while adding another 45 receptions for 645 yards and five scores. The 6’1’’, 201-pound back could have an even bigger workload this season with the Cardinal breaking in a new starting quarterback and it will be very interesting to see if he can come close to breaking the single-season yardage record he set in 2015. He’s a horse that the Cardinal are going to ride all season long and one of the top running backs in the nation.
Dalvin Cook
Florida State Seminoles
Cook flashed his elite potential again last season when he averaged 7.4 yards per carry while rushing for 1,691 yards and 19 touchdowns for the Seminoles. There was a point in time early in the season when Fournette and some other backs were the main focus, and the Cook arrived on the scene with a couple of monster efforts that simply couldn’t be ignored.
The 5’11’’, 213-pound Cook registered those numbers despite dealing with a nagging hamstring injury all season long. Now that he is fully healthy again this year, he should have a good chance to best those totals. Remember that the Seminoles will be breaking in a new starting quarterback next season, so Cook will be relied upon quite a bit early on. If the offense around him is the same or improved, there’s a good chance he’ll lead the ACC in rushing yards in 2016.
Royce Freeman Jr.
Oregon Ducks
Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine and Tennessee’s Jalen Hurd were both considered for the final spot on this list, but it is Freeman that deserves this spot after he dominated once again last season. Freeman averaged 6.5 yards per carry while rushing for 1,836 yards and 17 touchdowns at Oregon in 2015 and flashed some ability in the receiving game with 26 catches for 348 yards and a pair of scores. The Ducks could use Freeman that much more in the passing game in order to maximize his potential in 2016 and if he plays to his potential he could carry Oregon to a Pac-12 championship as one of the best running backs in the country. The Ducks are expecting to have a better year on offense in 2016 after sputtering at times in 2015. That will only mean good things for Freeman and his numbers.
