NC State depth chart breakdown - running back: Plenty of fresh legs to choose from
There’s an old saying in football that if you have two quarterbacks you don’t have one.
Probably safe to say that interpretation doesn’t apply to running backs. At a position where the body takes a pounding play after play, it’s good to have a pair of fresh legs, or two, or three to give the starter a break.
This season, N.C. State coach Dave Doeren and running backs coach Kurt Roper have plenty of talent to choose from, a room full of players who bring different skill sets.
There’s sophomore Zonovan ‘Bam’ Knight (6-0, 197), who started seven games in 2019 and led the team in rushing with 767 yards. Knight’s classmate, Jordan Houston (5-10, 185), was a pleasant surprise a year ago, finishing second to Knight with 562 yards rushing.
Knight and Houston were both supposed to be understudies to Ricky Person Jr. (6-1, 220) a year ago. Person, a junior from Wake Forest, was expected to be the top ball carrier, but injuries caused him to miss five games. Heading into his third year Person has yet to play an entire season. However, in the teams’ full scrimmage before shutting down because of COVID-19, Person was singled out by Doeren.
“Ricky Person had a big day,” Doeren said. “Continues to show us some things.”
There’s also Trent Pennix (6-2, 224), who has appeared in 14 games, including one start in 2019.
“The depth at running back right now is fun to watch,” Doeren said. “They are playing hard. It’s fun to watch the rotation of guys come in and there’s a lot of pride in that room to not let the level of play change.”
In 2020, the reality is a couple of guys from one position group could be unavailable for game week because of COVID-19 contract tracing. Teams with the best depth and who can adjust on the fly are the teams that should flourish. Because there are so many talented backs, and guys who probably played more than expected a year ago, Doeren thinks his running backs room is built for it.
“Depth is probably going to be one of the biggest storylines of the year, how teams sustain these losses,” Doeren said. “The interesting part of our team is we had a lot of guys out, so a lot of young guys were forced to get on the field before they were probably ready. Now you bring back all these players that were out and there is a mixture going on right now and a rotation that provides us some depth and experience.”
Here’s a breakdown of N.C. State running backs:
Who is expected to start?
Knight should be able to build off his impressive rookie season and be the No. 1 guy. He averaged 5.5 yards per carry and was the sixth-leading rusher in the nation among true freshmen. He only had three 100-yard games in 2019, but his season high (139) came against Clemson. Knight also proved to be a home-run hitter, scoring on a 53-yard run against the Tigers, the second longest play from scrimmage for the season for N.C. State.
Who are the key reserves?
Houston and Person each started at least two games a year ago. Person started the first two games of the 2019 season and, if he can stay 100 percent healthy, Wolfpack fans could finally see the potential that made him a top-100 recruit.
Houston is a change of pace from both Knight and Person, smaller with a bit more wiggle, who can still run between the tackles. He averaged 5.2 yards per carry, and like Knight, showed he could pull away from defenders, with a season-long 41-yard carry in the season finale against UNC. He led the team in rushing five times as a true freshman.
Who might surprise us?
There are plenty of veterans to get the game reps, but if for some reason they all go down because of injuries or can’t play because of COVID-19, look out for redshirt freshman Delbert Mimms III (5-11, 222).
Mimms got overlooked by outsiders in the preseason, because of Knight, Person, Houston and Pennix, but Doeren had been impressed with the freshman out of Indianapolis.
“He’s a name that we haven’t really talked about,” Doeren said.
Mimms played on special teams in one contest a year ago. At Ben Davis High School, Mimms averaged 7.1 yards per carry for his career. He was the No. 19 player in the state of Indiana his senior year and could steal some carries from the guys in front of him if he continues to stand out in camp.
What are the group’s strengths?
Touches matter. Being a running back is about getting into a rhythm as the game goes on and getting into the flow of college football.
Each running back on the team has experience being the No. 1 guy, with the exception of maybe Pennix. Of course there will be a starter, but a rotation of 2-3 guys means fresh legs throughout the course of a game or season.
Person, Pennix and Mimms are big bodies who can bang inside, while Houston and Knight have speed to take it the distance. Roper has different talents he can utilize, depending on the game situation.
What are the group’s weaknesses?
Can this group help out in the passing game in 2020? Other than Houston (15) none of the backs caught a whole lot of passes. Will that change under new coordinator Tim Beck? In order to take some of the pressure off of quarterback Devin Leary, the running backs will need to be reliable check downs out of the backfield. Person and Pennix each caught one touchdown pass a year ago and N.C. State will need Knight and Houston to get in that mix in 2020 to expand the offense.
This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 11:44 AM with the headline "NC State depth chart breakdown - running back: Plenty of fresh legs to choose from."
