Packer Central

Who Is the New Running Back U.?

We crunched 10 years’ worth of data to determine—which college programs have the right to brand themselves the modern ‘Running Back U.’
Who Is the New Running Back U.?
Who Is the New Running Back U.?

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams heading to free agency, there perhaps is a need for the Green Bay Packers to add a running back in this month’s NFL Draft.

Which school has produced the top talent at running back? In a series, Sports Illustrated determined each “Position U.” by measuring what every college should strive to do, in sports and beyond: Prepare students for professional careers. For the full explanation of our scoring system and the results, CLICK HERE.

Georgia, of course, boasts the most accomplished running back of the past decade in Todd Gurley, one of two first-round picks they’ve produced (with Sony Michel, 2018). And no program has put more RBs in the league over the past decade than LSU (13), including Leonard Fournette, one of four backs selected in the top five of the past decade’s drafts (with Alabama’s Trent Richardson, Penn State’s Saquon Barkley and Ohio State’s Ezekiel Elliott).

Lower in the standings, Boise State hasn’t been as omnipresent in the national discussion recently, but the Broncos haven’t slowed down production at their RB factory. They sent backs to the league at the same rate as some of the big boys over the last decade, finishing 12th in our rankings thanks to players like “Muscle Hamster” Doug Martin, Super Bowl champion Jay Ajayi and, most recently, Vikings third-round pick Alexander Mattison.

But none of those schools are the “Running Back U.” To see which school that is, where Wisconsin checks in and the full results, click here for the full story

Bill Huber’s NFL Draft Series

Top 15 Running Backs

No. 1: Georgia’s D’Andre Swift

No. 2: Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins

No. 3: Florida State’s Cam Akers

No. 4: Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor

No. 5: Utah’s Zack Moss

The best of the rest leads with LSU standout

Top 13 Quarterbacks

No. 1: LSU’s Joe Burrow

No. 2: Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa

No. 3: Oregon’s Justin Herbert

No. 4: Utah State’s Jordan Love

No. 5: Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts

The best of the rest


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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.