CBS sports top 5 running back rooms in CFB this season

[Gerry Hamilton]

Georgia a little high IMO

Maybe Texas too IMO

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/ohio-state-georgia-headline-five-best-college-football-rb-rooms-entering-the-2024-season/

[closetojumping]

It's odd not to see Penn State in the top 5 and only listed as Honorable Mention. I say that more as an indictment of the top 5 list than what PSU returns. The PSU production in 2023 was down and surprised folks, but that was mostly due to Singleton having injury issues. So they're punished for it coming into this season.

Conversely, Henderson and Judkins had good, not great, 2023 seasons as well, but, gee golly, they're the top backfield in the country, apparently. Henderson still had injury issues (he missed 3 games in the middle of the season) and assuming that risk fades with him in 2024 seems odd. He's had those problems two years in a row.

Judkins, meanwhile, was force-fed the ball at Ole Miss last season and in 2022. That dude had 271 carries in 2023 and averaged 4.2 ypc. That's a precipitous drop from 2022, in which he carried the ball 274 times for 5.7 ypc. Bear in mind, OSU TBs will be running behind the weakest OL of the teams in the top 5 and the rest mentioned besides UCF. That's not good for a TB with injury problems and another who has been damned near abused as a workhorse. The word online about Judkins from the posters for Ole Miss, of course to be taken with a grain of salt, is that the guy has taken too many bullets and the resulting decline is obvious. He allegedly became a malcontent over his use and Ole Miss, Transfer U, packed his bags for him and bought his bus ticket to Columbus when the season ended. 

So, yeah, sure, Ohio State has the best TB room in the country because ... names. 

Beyond all of that, it's comical to see a list of top TB stables for 2024 and yet Oklahoma State isn't mentioned. Ollie Gordon alone merits a mention, and they always seem to have the next guys up with enviable capabilities compared to most other alternatives in other programs.

[Gerry Hamilton]

100% agree on Penn State. Two RB's that have put it on the board, and will have long NFL careers

[_everyoneshere]

Did get top QB room https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/texas-georgia-headline-five-best-college-football-qb-rooms-entering-the-2024-season/

[closetojumping]

BTW, as an amusing (to me at least) adjacency, I nominate SMU for the best portal TB room. 

Jaylan Knighton, LJ Johnson, Camar Wheaton and Brashard Smith offer a who’s who of former top hs recruits trending heavily toward Busttown, USA. 

[Jerky]

Thanks for posting Gerry.

Appreciciate the post on Ohio St RB room being overrated closetojumping.

Georgia running behind a great OL helps. 5.9ypc Etienne is well established. Recruiting so well means they almost have to have a top RB room.

Agree Penn St has two NFL backs to justify including Penn St in the top 10 or top 5 and over KS imo and I like KS Neal RB.

 

Since I'm not aware of everyone's RB room,  this is a leap of faith TX homer take.....Speedster Blue, with 6.1ypc in limited action, has the measureables and talent to perform similar to 1st rd NFL RB Jahmyr Gibbs if given the opportunity. Baxter will be noticeably better after the year of development. Wisner is sort of Keilan 2.0 with a little more power and size. Add in Gibson and Clark just in case. Texas seems like a top 5 RB room if Blue, Baxter and Wisner play like I believe they can.