Jamaal Williams is BYU football’s all-time leading rusher and holds BYU’s record for single game rushing. But is he the best Cougar running back of all-time?
It’s no secret that Jamaal Williams is what makes BYU football go. BYU is 4-0 when Williams gets 26 carries or more, but 0-4 when he receives fewer.
The J-Swag Daddy is the workhorse, the bell cow, the central cog of BYU. He’s the most talented player on the roster and he’ll be playing on Sundays next year.
But is he the best BYU running back of all-time?
BYU football is lucky enough to have a number of extremely talented backs come through Provo. Ronney Jenkins, Harvey Unga, Curtis Brown, Jamal Willis, Pete Van Valkenburg… not to mention the great Luke Staley.
So where does Williams fit in? Well, it depends on who you ask. Some believe he’s still behind Staley (since Staley brought home the Doak Walker Award), others believe he’s ahead of Staley because of his tougher schedules and durability.
Regardless, most people round down their top five to some combination of the aforementioned names.
Here’s my list of the top five BYU football running backs of all-time.