Recruiting Position Rankings - RB

[tsweezy]

With the end of the second recruiting cycle at hand, I wanted to take some time and see which teams have been loading up on talent at each position. Where are the future stars going to come from, and where have people been focusing their efforts? This will be an X-part series depending on how many positions I want to do. Second spot: RB

 

A quick note on methodology here. I have a very un-official system of scoring each recruit according to their projected junior year overall. So it takes stars, overall, and potential into account. I ranked all croots at each position and considered the top X players at each position that each school signed to get a holistic picture of which room is the best. So signing only 1 QB in 2 years can still be a top room if he's the #1 QB whereas if you only sign 1 WR in 2 years even if he's a 5 star A overall that won't be the best overall grouping.

 

Lastly, the "#X overall" rankings are position-specific, so #5 overall means the 5th best (probably tied) RB recruit in the Combined 2021 and 2022 classes

 

Without further ado: the runningbacks:

 

6th place

 

:pennstate: Penn State :pennstate:

 

 

Penn State makes an appearance here on the back of Matt Van Roten, their 2021 RB signee. Matt is a 4 star B overall, B potential receiving threat who was the #2 overall RB in the 2021 class. From Pittsburgh, Matt is likely to be the bellcow on the Penn State team. With the success of Bruce Dawson, Penn State is hoping Matt will similarly lead to a national title down the line.

This year they only signed a 3 star Jerry Brunson to be a backup, but I think they should have more than 1 starting caliber back in a 2 year span, especially if Matt has poor stamina or is hurt.

 

2021 Signee	Matt Van Roten - 4 star, B overall, B potential, Receiving Back, #T-2 overall
2022 Signee	Jerry Brunson - 3 star, C overall, C potential, Balanced, #162 overall

 

5th place

 

:northcarolina: North Carolina :northcarolina:

 

North Carolina has not signed a back this cycle, but they signed FOUR last cycle. Those include 4-star Receiving B overall Daniel Ramos as the headliner, with a pair of 3-stars (power and receiving) and a 2 star A- potential down the line. You have to assume they're RSing a couple of these guys, but it is a bit unbalanced to oversign 4 one year and then 0 the next. Undeniable how much talent is in that room though, especially when they also have a 5-star QB on the roster.

 

2021 Signee	Daniel Ramos - 4 star, B overall, C+ potential, Receiving, #7 overall
2021 Signee	Jabari Watt - 3 star, C overall, B potential, Power, #89 overall
2021 Signee	Willie Reid - 3 star, C overall, B- potential, Receiving, #108 overall
2021 Signee	Pedro Ramczyk - 2 star, C overall, A- potential, Receiving, #173 overall

4th place

 

:colorado: Colorado :colorado:

 

Colorado went even more ham with 5 RB signees in these 2 cycles. Last year they signed a pair of 4-stars in Yefry Norman (balanced) and Maikel Zombo (receiving) which is a phenomenal pair, especially adding another balanced 3 star. This year they got an even better star in 4 star power back Billy Lott. Power backs are pretty rare, and getting a really good one is an important tool in the arsenal. They once again also signed a 3 star backup option. Overall they have great breadth of archetypes all of whom are starting caliber. The only reason this isn't in the top-3 is that they don't have an S-tier recruit like the top classes.

 

 

2021 Signee	Yefry Norman - 4 star, C overall, C potential, Balanced, #39 overall
2021 Signee

 

Maikel Zombo - 4 star, C overall, C potential, Receiving, #39 overall

2021 Signee

 

Dion Brown - 3 star, C overall, C+ potential, Balanced, #135 overall

2022 Signee

Billy Lott - 4 star, C overall, C+ Potential, Power, #19 overall

2022 Signee

Paul Marengo - 3 star, C overall, C potential, Receiving, #161 overall

 

3rd place

 

:louisville: Louisville :louisville:

 

Louisville hit a great player last year in Justin Kelly, a 4 star B overall receiving back from nearby Elizabethtown Kentucky. Justin will for sure be a great starter, and this year they added Christopher Lyons, a 3-star A- potential power back. The high potential is great as he doesn't have to be relied upon right away, and as I said before, power backs are rare enough that a good one is a phenomenal addition.

They also signed a 2-star speed back Joseph Johnson this cycle but I don't think he will play at all.

 

2021 Signee	Justin Kelly - 4 star, B overall, C+ potential, Receiving, #7 overall
2022 Signee	Christopher Lyons - 3 star, C overall, A- potential, Power, #57 overall
2022 Signee	Joseph Johnson - 2 star, D overall, C+ potential, Speed, #222 overall

 

 

2nd place

 

:tennessee: Tennessee :tennessee:

 

Appearing again, it turns out Tennessee is not only trying to rely on Savage. Colorado and Tennessee are the only schools to sign 3 4-star backs in these 2 cycles, but Tennessee has the slightly better versions. Joe Williams from Missouri last year signed with Tennessee as a top-5 back. A B overall, B- potential receiving back, the hope is that he becomes Bruce Dawson-esque and he likely decided to sign partially to catch passes from Brandon Savage. In addition, Jose Bandy, another 4-star receiving back signed last year, meaning that the 2 should be able to spell each other and consistently have a very solid receiving back on the field at all times. This year, Tennessee went back to the well and signed another 4 star receiving back. The lack of diversity is a bit of a knock on this position group, but once again it's hard to argue with pure talent in the group.

 

2021 Signee	Joe Williams - 4 star, B overall, B- potential, #5 overall
2021 Signee	Jose Bandy - 4 star, C overall, C+ potential, #19 overall
2022 Signee	Peter Meyers - 4 star, C overall, C- potential, #54 overall

 

1st place

 

:kentucky: Kentucky :kentucky:

 

Interesting that all 3 top RB teams are from TN or KY, hm.

Anyways, Kentucky has the #1 RB room after these two cycles. Last year they signed an extremely talented power back from Indiana in Trey Garcia who can put the team on his back. They also signed a high potential 3-star Jakob Sanit from MS to be a bit of a change-of-pace when Trey needs a breather.

This year, they decided to swing for a top-3 RB and signed Brian Doughty from NJ. Brian is already a B overall receiving option so they have 3 extremely talented backs covering the different archetypes. It's hard to imagine how this room could have been better, and it's clear why they get the #1 slot

 

2021 Signee	Trey Garcia - 4 star, C overall, B- potential, Balanced, #18 overall
2021 Signee	Jakob Sanit - 3 star, C overall, B+ potential, Power, #67 overall
2022 Signee	Brian Doughty - 4 star, B overall, B- potential, Receiving, #5 overall

 

 

If you've read this far, thanks and make sure to post a comment, hit like, and subscribe ? also let me know if you want to see anything different or additional info as we go through the next position groups! congrats to @Rocketcan, @Tryggr, @Bingo415, @GK23, and @Ezaco on the recruiting

Edited November 21, 2022 by tsweezy

[Sarge]

I feel like UGA kinda got snubbed only because we got the #7 and #9 and #24 backs in the class this year but I guess last year's class must've been underwhelming