Tennessee Position Group Deep Dive - RBs

[tsweezy]

Been flying a lot, decided to plan out the future of each position group and planning our program's philosophy and decided to spin it into some media about the past-present-future of Tennessee football. Read on!

 

Next: the Running backs

2023 was a rebuild, but Tennessee has never been (and is never planned to be) a pass-only offense.
 

2021:

2021 featured a nice 1-2 punch and a very balanced 50:50 split between running and passing.

Aldrick Ynoa - Jr ⭐⭐⭐⭐, Speed - Orlando, FL - B overall. A speed, B agility, C strength, C carrying

Todd Garcia - Sr ⭐⭐⭐, Balanced - Decatur, TX - B overall. A speed, B agility, C strength, C carrying

At first glance, these two guys are basically identical in terms of attributes. It makes for a very consistent offense, but due to Ynoa having an extra year of eligibility he got the starting nod.

With no subs this year too, he hogged all the carries. 354 carries for 1372 yards, 10 TDs. Adding another 372 receiving yards and 4 TDs there. In short, not that great. Only ~4 ypc made for a pretty meh season to be honest. We won a lot of games by the skin of our teeth without blowing anybody out.

 

2022:

Aldrick Ynoa - Sr ⭐⭐⭐⭐, Speed - Orlando, FL - A- overall. A+ speed, A- IQ, B agility, A- strength, B carrying

J.C. Hardy - Jr ⭐⭐⭐, Speed- Scottsdale, AZ - B- overall. B speed, C agility, B- IQ, C carrying

Joe Williams - Fr ⭐⭐⭐⭐, Receiving- Odessa, MO - B- overall. B speed, C agility, B- IQ, C carrying

 

The 2021-2022 Offseason was huge for Ynoa as he made a giant leap and showcased his capabilities all over the field. He had enormous homerun potential showing off 4.3 speed in the combine. With the team breaking in a freshman QB, most of the year was spent with ~60% running gameplans.

For the season he ran 500 times for 2585 yards and 24 TDs along with 1000 receiving yards and 7 TDs in the air. He was even a top-tier return man with 1500+ return yards. This was a top-10 all time season for yardage and TDs and was the 2nd most scrimmage and all-purpose yards in a year to date (behind Bruce Dawson's Tulsa Title Run).

More praises for Aldrick as he showcased his clutchness by averaging > 300 scrimmage yards in the CCG and 3 playoff games. Just a monster and he earned his Heisman finalist status.

Behind him, Joe Williams actually won the backup job and got some game time as a change of pace back. I had him pegged as the 3rd best RB recruit in '21 but he wasn't ready. 71 carries for 182 yards, 2 TDs, 7 catches for 85 yards and 1 TD.

J.C. Hardy challenged for playing time a bit, but wound up getting no snaps this year (sad!)

Ynoa graduated and was snapped up by the Vikings where he's made some noise and vastly outperformed his overall rating and draft slot.

 

2023:

Ahtyba Johnson - Sr ⭐⭐⭐, Scrambler - Atlanta, GA - B+ overall. B+ speed, C IQ, B agility, D strength, C carrying

J.C. Hardy - Sr ⭐⭐⭐, Speed- Scottsdale, AZ - B+ overall. A- speed, C+ agility, B IQ, C+ strength, C+ carrying

Clark Staley - Jr ⭐⭐⭐, Power - Huntsville, AL - B overall. C- speed, C agility, B- IQ, B+ carrying, A- strength

I'll be honest, this was a bit of a mismanaged year. Ahtyba moved from the QB room and split carries with J.C. Despite looking better on paper, J.C. didn't really out-produce in the first few games and Ahtyba got way more run than he should have throughout the season. Neither one really produced much though.

Clark also looked like a solid thumper on paper, but the interior OL was so soft we never really gave him a chance. Joe Williams got some carries in the first few games before getting tagged with a surprise redshirt after the coaching staff decided to basically abandon the run game for the year.

Ahtyba - 133 carries, 445 yards, 8 TDs, 552 receiving yards

J.C. - 56 carries, 314 yards, 3 TDs, 332 receiving yards, 4 TDs

Joe - 6 carries 26 yards

Assorted Jet Sweep runners: 15 carries, 50 yards.

Honestly looking back at it it was really dumb to not start J.C. outright the whole time. My only defense is that he was a very boom and bust player (30 yard run then a bunch of 1 yard runs compared to Ahtyba getting 10 2-3 yard runs). Anyways, in the end Joe got his redshirt and J.C. / Ahtyba graduated to do nothing professionally.

 

2024:

Joe Williams - (So) ⭐⭐⭐⭐, Receiving- Odessa, MO - A- overall. B speed, A agility, B IQ, B carrying, C strength, A catching, A+ route running

Clark Staley - Sr ⭐⭐⭐, Power- Huntsville, AL - B+ overall. C speed, C agility, B IQ, A carrying, A strength, C catching, D- route running

Luis Ibaka - (Sr) ⭐⭐, Balanced- Monroeville, AL - B+ overall. B speed, B- agility, C- IQ, B carrying, C+ strength, C catching, C- route running

Jose Bandy - (So) ⭐⭐⭐⭐, Receiving- Orlando, FL - B overall. C speed, B- agility, B- IQ, C- carrying, C strength, B+ catching, A+ route running

Peter Meyers - So ⭐⭐⭐⭐, Receiving- Rockmart, GA - B- overall. D speed, B agility, C IQ, C carrying, D strength, B catching, A route running

David Forsberg- Fr ⭐⭐⭐⭐, Receiving- Trion, GA - B- overall. D speed, C agility, D IQ, D carrying, D strength, C catching, A route running

 

So this year it was Joe taking the leap during his redshirt year. Not as big as Ynoa leading up to 2022 but he actually looks quite capable of leading a scary, multifaceted rushing attack. He's obviously the feature back, and given Savage's reputation he should face plenty of light boxes to punish. He's unlikely to be the homerun hitter Ynoa was, but I do expect ~4.5 yards per carry from him (and to be an absolute weapon in the passing game).

Depending on how our OL shapes up, we have a change of pace opportunity with Staley as a power back who can rumble forward for 2-3 yards up the middle when we need them.

Ibaka and Bandy are competing to be the feature back-up. Ibaka is a mite better, but Bandy is a better offensive fit with his pass catching credentials and youth. He's pretty much a mini-me version of Joe from the same class.

Meyers and Forsberg are the latest 2 signees. Both have phenomenal pass catching ability but aren't quite there yet for the ground game. Forsberg likely takes the redshirt this year and Meyers may end up trapped as a career backup.

 

2025:

Joe Williams - (Jr) ⭐⭐⭐⭐, Receiving- Odessa, MO - A overall.

Jose Bandy - (Jr) ⭐⭐⭐⭐, Receiving- Orlando, FL - B+/A- overall. 

Peter Meyers - Jr ⭐⭐⭐⭐, Receiving- Rockmart, GA - B overall. 

David Forsberg- (Fr) ⭐⭐⭐⭐, Receiving- Trion, GA - B overall.

 

Nice lineup for the top-4 backs here. A quartet of 4-star receiving options is a very deep pool.

For the title push year, Joe should be a nationally recognized feature back in 2025. At this point I expect him to be better than Aldrick ever was, although a bit less explosive. Comfortably averaging 5-6 ypc and giving balance for Savage to work with is a great complement. Bandy is the backup who's just a step down from Joe. Forsberg probably takes the 3 spot to get some reps in for future development and Meyers is the injury emergency option. I'd expect Meyers to take a long hard look at the transfer portal after this season

 

2026:

Joe Williams - (Sr) ⭐⭐⭐⭐, Receiving- Odessa, MO - A overall.

Jose Bandy - (Sr) ⭐⭐⭐⭐, Receiving- Orlando, FL - A-/A overall. 

Peter Meyers - Sr ⭐⭐⭐⭐, Receiving- Rockmart, GA - B+/A- overall. 

David Forsberg- (So) ⭐⭐⭐⭐, Receiving- Trion, GA - B+ overall.

Players yet to be signed - B overall

2026 is running it back again with another year of growth. I expect Joe to be a top-3 RB in the country this season and Jose Bandy to be an upper tier starter in his own right. They'll help break in #JOCs first year starting. Again, Forsberg takes the 3 slot as he develops into his 2027 feature back role.

 

2027:

David Forsberg- (Jr) ⭐⭐⭐⭐, Receiving- Trion, GA - A-/A overall.

I do expect Forsberg to be a true A overall by his redshirt junior year if he gets consistent 3rd string snaps + special teams. It's a lot of projection considering he's only a freshman now, but he certainly fits right in with the plan. I'm also assuming we've snagged a few recruits to fill up the pipeline as well.

[BabaYaga]

Which juicy RB will be the first to transfer from Tennessee?

[tsweezy]

16 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

Which juicy RB will be the first to transfer from Tennessee?

Probably Meyers, I don't really see a path to him getting any snaps. Maybe he'll get moved to TE or WR idk