STATE OF THE U 2023: RB analysis
CaneSport continues its State of The U series with a closer position by position look, unfiltered and objective, based on what Miami has returning, the projections and whether this will be an improved unit or not.
Today’s focus: Miami’s running backs position:
OVERVIEW
The dream of Miami having its first 1,000-yard rusher since Duke Johnson in 2014 (1,652 yards) was a far cry from what we saw last season, when the Hurricanes’ rushing offense ranked No. 95 in the nation. So Mario Cristobal went out and reshaped a porous offensive line with Alabama LG transfer Javion Cohen and UCF center transfer Matt Lee, plus the addition of 5-star signees Francis Mauigoa and Samson Okunlola. That’s a start to helping the run game. As for the returning RB personnel? Well, there’s only one guy returning that contributed last year, starter Henry Parrish. He’s a smaller, shiftier back but was thrust into the No. 1 role in a RB room that suffered injuries to TreVonte’ Citizen and Don Chaney. Parrish was just okay with 616 yards on 130 carries (4.7 YPC). Chaney also returns but was behind Parrish in the spring and has an injury history to overcome, and Citizen is not expected to be physically ready for the start of fall camp. Which brings us to the newcomers. Hopes are high that highly touted Mark Fletcher, with his combination of speed and power out of a top American Heritage program, can emerge as the top back. But he’ll have to show he’s ready for the role, understanding the Shannon Dawson offense and his blocking responsibilities out of the backfield. Another signee, Christopher Johnson, is a home run hitter given his blazing 100-meter championship track speed. He could factor in as a change-of-pace back but it’s hard to see him as the main guy in Year 1. The team also added Ajay Allen in the second portal window. Allen was expected to have a role for Nebraska this season (he ran for 190 yards on 33 carries last year before a season-ending injury) but was buried down the depth chart there in the spring and opted for a fresh start. He is a power back who can at the least help Miami convert short-yardage situations and perhaps will compete for the starting role as well. So this is a running backs room that seems poised to deliver a lot better results than what we saw a year ago.
BIGGEST QUESTION
Of course there is going to be the battle to start, that’s a given, but another big question is will there be a featured back or is this going to be a committee approach? The last two years at Houston saw Dawson split reps between his backs – in 2022, for example, the team’s top three backs saw rep counts of 297, 288 and 264 per Pro Football Focus. But in the new coordinator’s prior stop at Southern Miss he used a featured back (Ito Smith) in two of his three seasons. So, essentially, if Dawson sees a guy that’s simply that much better than the other backs, that guy is going to have the lion’s share of work. From the outside looking in at this year’s team we don’t really see that. So it’s easy to imagine a Parrish starting given his experience with guys like Fletcher and perhaps Chaney/Allen or Johnson also working in. It will be very interesting to see how reps wind up being split.
BOLD PREDICTION
Mark Fletcher emerges with the starting job sooner rather than later. Henry Parrish isn’t built in the physical, downhill pounding mold that Mario Cristobal favors. Fletcher is. While it may take some time for him to really acclimate and be trusted, given that Fletcher was a summer enrollee, we think at the end of the day he’s the guy that with the ball in his hand can have the most success for this Miami team. Parrish had his chance last year and didn’t produce, and the future of this program is with some of these really highly skilled younger guys. So why can’t the future start now?
PROJECTION: POSITION WILL BE BETTER/WORSE THAN LAST YEAR?
The running backs, like the entire offense, struggled with consistency in 2022. Miami averaged just 128.1 rush yards per game (ranked No. 85), and when QB Tyler Van Dyke was injured the unit simply could not take pressure off Jake Garcia and Jacurri Brown. It didn’t help that the offensive line ranked No. 108 in the nation in sacks allowed (3.0) and never had much success getting a push up front against the better defenses. But this year with a reshaped O line that we think will have four new starters (Alabama transfer Javion Cohen, UCF transfer Matt Lee and 5-star signees Francis Mauigoa and Samson Okunlola) there’s every hope the backs can get a bit more running room. On top of that the personnel is much different than a year ago. Jaylan Knighton and Thaddius Franklin were the two other main backs along with Henry Parrish in 2022, and Knighton had fumbling issues while Franklin was passed on the depth chart by a walk-on in-season. Both since transferred (Knighton to SMU, Franklin to Louisiana-Monroe). Miami’s added a thunder and lightning duo in recruiting with Mark Fletcher and Christopher Johnson, and also picked up a talented power back from Nebraska in Ajay Allen (he had a role there as a freshman last year before injury). So depth-wise and OL-wise we think this will be a turnaround season for the run game. 2022 GRADE … D; 2023 PROJECTED GRADE … B+
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