NFL Draft: What School Is “Running Back U”

On Apr 2, 2022

When it comes to running backs and powerhouse programs, look no further than Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio State. This trio of football factories produces real thoroughbreds — these are the guys who continue their domination on the collegiate level to the professional gridiron.

That connection helps when evaluating the combination of a college player and their university upon entering the National Football League via the NFL Draft.

It is not to say different university’s get on a hot streak every now and then. Take the Minnesota Gophers, for example. From 2021 to 2007, the school had only one running back drafted — that was David Cobb in 2015, selected in the fifth round.

The Gophers had a mini moment of success producing productive backs in back-to-back drafts in 2005 and 2006. First came Marion Barber, selected in round four, then Laurence Maroney was taken in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft.

Minnesota had a brief burst of success, and then they basically disappeared off the grid of draftable prospects at the position.

It appears Iowa State is on a similar trajectory as Minnesota.

Over the last two years, the school has produced three NFL Draft picks. Amongst those three players, two are running backs — David Montgomery was drafted in the third round of the 2019 draft, and Kene Nwangwu came off the board a year later in the fourth round.

The Cyclones have another star in the mix once again this year with Breece Hall. Currently, Hall projects to come off the board on day two of the NFL Draft. It has been a robust couple of years for Iowa State producing upper-tier talent at running back. Prior to this current run of success of ball carriers, Troy Davis was the last back drafted out of Iowa State in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft.

Hall wasn’t even born when Davis was drafted, and Montgomery was just a few months old. Different coaches and schemes materialize to produce pockets of talent-rich positions throughout every position to fill NFL rosters.

There are countless other programs that follow the fall into the same routine. A couple of guys here and there before fading away.

Then we get back to consistency and dominance of programs like the Crimson Tide, Bulldogs, and Buckeyes.

These three schools have been the cream of the crop for nearly a decade. Collectively they are unmatched in the quantity and quality of running backs that play in the NFL.

Alabama is almost unprecedented in recent years with the high caliber of backs coming off draft boards. Their recent track record is in a class by itself for developing the players headed for stardom at the next level.

Georgia and Ohio State are by no means slouches, but in comparison to Alabama, they’re just a tad off the mark. Although it is fair to say that both schools have seen their uptick in prospects develop over the last five years in comparison to the decade-long run Alabama has had.

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In this upcoming 2022 NFL Draft, these three powerhouse programs aren’t providing NFL teams their annual dynamic prospect at the running back position. Although each of these schools have backs available later this month in the draft but pales in comparison to the status we are accustomed to seeing on draft day.

James Cook (Georgia), Brian Robinson (Alabama) and Master Teague III (Ohio State) are the three best entries from these schools provide for needy teams eyeing rookie runners via the NFL Draft. Cook appears likely to be the first of the three chosen, with a slight chance of hearing his name called late on day two. Robinson should be a day three guy, while Teague III should fall under the priority college free agents immediately after the draft ends.

Do not be alarmed!

The football factories are still working overtime. The mighty three are developing another batch of incredible prospects.

Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs should be in the mixture of top running backs next year. Ohio State has the No. 1 ranked running back according to 247Sports, TreVeyon Henderson entering his sophomore year after a sensational freshman campaign. Georgia, meanwhile, has Andrew Paul arriving as a freshman this fall and should help keep the Bulldogs’ tradition alive.

Although other programs may not be able to stack running backs like Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State, rest assured that Power Five programs appear to help dominate the leader board to top rushers in the NFL.

Above there are 29 different running backs listed over the last fives years that ranked in the top ten (running backs only). Only five of those backs did not come from a Power Five conference. The list includes C.J. Anderson (Laney), Marlon Mack (South Florida), James Robinson (Illinois State), Antonio Gibson (Memphis), and Elijah Mitchell (Louisiana).

Over the last five years, a whopping 83% of the top-ten rushers come from Power Five programs. Regarding conference domination, the BIG-10 and SEC are in a class by themselves.

So, it is a little surprise that the projected top three running backs at this point in the NFL Draft evaluation all hail from Power Five programs. Iowa StState’sreece Hall (Big 12), Michigan StState’senneth Walker Jr. (Big 10) and Texas A&A&M’ssaiah Spiller (SEC), are vying for the gold, silver and bronze awards as the first of the top three backs off the board.

The Aggies are the only school not listed above amongst top rushers in conjunction with the player. The Spartans (LeLe’Veonell) and Cyclones (David Montgomery) earned their place among the top ten from the table above.

There are countless ways to observe how the NFL Draft will unfold. However, dialing a little, we see that Power Five conferences, especially the SEC and BIG10, have a stronghold backs teams covet when handing the football off.