BYU Football: Running Back depth chart in June

Everyone is interested in who the starting quarterback will be next season for the BYU Football, but the running back battle is just as intense.

Last season, the running back position was disastrous. For most of the season, the Cougars could not get a running game going. Injuries were the main cause of the difficulty running the ball.

Hopefully that health will be better this season, so that BYU can get back to having a two back system. Something similar to 2016, when Jamaal Williams and Squally Canada were a nice one-two punch.

Look for Jeff Grimes to run a similar running game as LSU. Yes, Grimes was just the offensive line coach, but that system worked there, so he’ll likely run a similar system in Provo.

The offense that LSU runs features two running backs, with one of them being able to catch out of the backfield. In Grimes’ last season with LSU, the second leading receiver for the Tigers was Darrel Williams, who was also their second leading rusher. Based off of that and skill sets of certain players, here is a mid-summer projected depth chart.

Not likely to happen

10: Kyle Griffits

Griffits was the third fullback on the depth chart last season. As it is, fullbacks do not get a lot of carries, so don’t expect to see Griffits as one of the two featured running backs this year.  There were a few games last year where Brayden El-Bakri got quite a few carries, but it was out of desperation.

9. Beau Hoge

Yes, Beau Hoge. If for some reason the coaches decide not to utilize Hoge as the starting quarterback or the backup, they may try to develop him into a running back. Sitake has already shown multiple times he isn’t afraid of changing positions, so this isn’t out of the realm of possibility, but it still isn’t likely to happen.

8. Austin Kafentzis

Kafentzis is currently listed as a defensive back but last year was the Cougars’ third highest rusher, including running for over 100 yards against San Jose State. But things will have to go really bad for Kafentzis to become the starting running back. Riley Burt switched to defense last season and and ended up back at running back by the end of the year.