BYU Football: Evaluating the future of the Running Back position

BYU’s star running back, Jamaal Williams, is now out for the remainder of the 2014 season with a “significant” knee injury. Williams suffered the injury in last Saturday’s win over Middle Tennessee, and the moment it happened you knew it was a bad injury.

Williams’ knee injury ends a junior season that didn’t play out like many (including probably Jamaal) thought it would end up as one of the best rushing seasons in BYU history.

Jamaal will enter his senior season in 2015 as the sixth all-time leading rusher in BYU history. What once was a lock, the all-time rushing title is more in doubt now with Jamaal losing half of this season and the possibility of not being 100% when BYU opens up the 2015 season.

Whether Jamaal is healthy or not when BYU lines up against Nebraska for the first time in program history next year, BYU needs to start planning for their future at running back. With Jamaal having only one year remaining, the time is now for BYU to start exploring who will be carrying the rock.

Along with Jamaal, next year BYU returns Algie Brown, Adam Hine, and Nate Carter. Hine and Carter will help shoulder the load this year along with senior Paul Lasike in Jamaal’s absence, giving them an opportunity to make a case to get reps next season.

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If Jamaal isn’t ready to go in 2015, Brown will be BYU’s top running back, but the depth will have to improve. There are no returned missionaries coming back next season who play RB. There is one running back that is currently serving a mission and that is Francis Bernard from Herriman High School (UT). Bernard is a verbal to the program since he never signed a letter of intent out of high school due to BYU’s limited scholarship numbers, this past winter.

The class of 2015 has a pair of running backs from the high school ranks who will join the program next fall in Riley Burt from Box Elder and Elias Miller from Las Vegas. Burt is underrated for how productive he is, but he is likely going to end up as a defensive back at BYU since Nick Howell and Bronco were the ones recruiting him. Miller is a speedy back with good size that could see a few Pac-12 offers before he signs his LOI in February with the Cougars.

The perfect solution for BYU to ensure they have enough capable bodies in the backfield to compliment Taysom Hill, who’s recovering from his own share of injuries, is to get a junior college transfer running back.

Getting a junior college running back or two will give BYU the luxury of redshirting Jamaal Williams if needed, and gives BYU more versatility to withstand the rigors of the difficult 2015 schedule.

One name I’ve heard as a possible target for BYU is Roland Genesee from Glendale Community College. Genesee was a former Tennessee-Martin signee out of a military high school in Tennessee, but didn’t qualify due to academics and transferred to Glendale C.C. where he has rushed for 1,031 yards and 11 touchdowns in nine games this year for Glendale C.C.

Bronco and his staff have always had a strong track record of recruiting kids that have backgrounds at schools with strict rules (military or faith-based), so it makes sense why BYU would consider Genesee if he meets the criteria this staff requires to obtain a scholarship offer.

Then finally, there is the possibility of position changes. The most natural thought would be linebacker Harvey Lange who flourished at running back while at Bingham High and lettered at Utah, but I doubt that happens. Langi’s ceiling at this level is higher on the defensive side of the ball than at running back.

Below, is a chart of BYU’s running back personnel for this year and looking ahead.

* = Walk-On
# = Verbal commitment

[table id=16 /]

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* = Walk-On# = Verbal commitment

* = Walk-On
# = Verbal commitment