Last week, we ranked college football's top 10 returning quarterbacks for 2020, and now it's time to turn our attention to the backfield.
A handful of running backs recently surprised us by announcing their intent to return to college football as opposed to declaring for the 2020 NFL draft, but that, in turn, has formed a loaded group at the position as we look toward the upcoming college season. Using a combination of PFF grades and PFF's wins above average (WAA) metric, we present to you the top 10 running backs returning to college football in 2020, as well as a sleeper to watch out for.
1. Travis Etienne, Clemson
Everyone thought Etienne was on his way to the NFL following Clemson's loss to LSU in the national title game. After all, he had won the ACC Player of the Year in both 2018 and 2019, and he had earned the best PFF rushing grade and the most WAA of any non-quarterback since 2018. However, not even a week after the loss, Etienne announced he was returning to the Tigers to compete for another championship with quarterback Trevor Lawrence at the helm of the Clemson offense.
What Etienne has done over the past two seasons as a ball carrier is quite remarkable. He has broken the most tackles per attempt (0.35), picked up a first down or touchdown at the highest rate (36.5%) in the nation and averaged the country's most yards after contact per attempt (4.7). The biggest thing he needed to improve upon from 2018 to 2019 was his receiving ability, and Etienne recognized that as he reportedly "went up to Trevor Lawrence throughout fall camp and asked to run routes and catch passes after practice." Etienne vastly improved in that facet as a result and lowered his drop rate from 25% in 2018 to 7.5% in 2019 while raising his receiving grade from 45.6 in 2018 to 77.2 in 2019.
2. Najee Harris, Alabama
Like Etienne, Harris was another surprise return for 2020, given that he was also one of college football's top running backs in 2019. Harris produced the fourth-highest PFF rushing grade from 2018 through 2019 and was an explosive play waiting to happen. Over the past two seasons, Harris picked up a gain of 10 or more yards on 22.7% of his carries, the third-highest rate in college football and far and away the best in the SEC over that span. He's a top-notch receiver, as well, and caught 27 of his 28 catchable targets for 304 yards and seven touchdowns (five of which came in the red zone) while breaking 11 tackles after the catch last season.
3. Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State
Keeping the string of surprise returns alive is Hubbard, who was an absolute monster after contact in 2019. Hubbard recorded more yards after contact than all but 15 FBS running backs had in rushing yards in total. And when he was handed a hole from his offensive linemen, the Oklahoma State runner took full advantage of it with his burst and agility. In fact, he finished the 2019 season with 15 runs that resulted in a gain of 30 or more yards, which was four more such runs than any other running back in the FBS. He's easily a top-three returning running back, and he will undoubtedly be highly coveted by NFL teams come April 2021.
4. Jaret Patterson, Buffalo
Representing the Group of 5 is none other than Patterson, who was among the five most valuable running backs in college football last year. He posted an 87.5 rushing grade in 2019, which ranked among the three best Group of 5 running backs. Patterson was handed several opportunities to make plays for Buffalo's offense through the usage of run-pass options (RPOs), and he proved to be one of the best in the country on those plays, as he trailed only LSU's Clyde Edwards-Helaire in PFF grade on RPOs while generating a first down or touchdown on 37.3% of his touches on such plays, which was a top-three mark in the nation last year.
5. Amare Jones, Tulane
If we were to label the most undervalued running back of the 2019 season, Jones could easily be the top choice. He tallied just 94 total touches in the Green Wave's offense last year, yet he still managed to produce the sixth-most WAA of all running backs in the country. For the vast majority of running backs, positive work in the receiving game is what moves the needle from a value standpoint, and Jones was highly productive in this facet. He generated the fourth-most yards per route run at 2.51, which was well over a yard more than the FBS average. And while Jones had just 60 carries on the year, he picked up a gain of 10-plus yards on 20% of those and broke a tackle on a third of them.
6. Kenneth Gainwell, Memphis
Gainwell was the only FBS running back to generate a PFF receiving and rushing grade above 85.0, and he enters the 2020 season as a genuine dark horse Heisman candidate. Gainwell was able to produce 37 total plays that gained 15 or more yards last season, the second-most in the country behind only the top returning running back, Travis Etienne.
7. Kennedy Brooks, Oklahoma
Kennedy Brooks wasn't the go-to running back at Oklahoma until Trey Sermon got hurt in Week 11. Even so, he has been lighting up defenses since Week 5 of 2018. Since 2018, Brooks has produced the fifth-best two-year PFF rushing grade, and no player at the position has broken off an explosive run of 10 or more yards at a higher rate over the past two years (23.4%). He has routinely made guys miss off the edge, and he's lethally explosive when running outside the tackles -- the Oklahoma back has averaged a whopping 4.8 yards after contact per attempt on his runs outside the tackles over the past two seasons, which leads all FBS backs over that span.
8. Kylin Hill, Mississippi State
Hill originally declared for the NFL draft this past December but changed his mind after it was announced Mike Leach would be leaving Washington State to become the head coach of the Bulldogs. Hill has been a top-tier ball carrier over the past two seasons and ranks among the 10 best in the FBS in PFF rushing grade over that period. It'll be interesting to see how Hill will fare in a Mike Leach Air-Raid system that produced a pass-play rate (82%) that was over 10 percentage points higher than any other offense last year. Hill has seen only 56 targets in his three-year career, but he's hauled in 44 receptions for 394 yards and five scores while breaking 16 tackles along the way. Those numbers are going to skyrocket in 2020, and if he seizes the opportunity in his new offense, his draft stock could skyrocket, too.
9. Pooka Williams Jr., Kansas
Williams has been making his name as one of the top young running backs in college football ever since his performance against Oklahoma in Week 12 of 2018 when he picked up nine gains of 10-plus yards on only 15 carries. His yards-per-carry average dipped nearly 2 yards from 2018 to 2019 due to the fact that he had to run behind the 95th-best run-blocking unit in the FBS, but that didn't stop him from producing the third-most broken tackles per attempt (0.37) and ranking among the 10 highest-graded rushers in the country (88.3). In addition to his impressive rushing ability, Williams has been a top-notch receiver throughout his time at Kansas; he owns the lowest drop rate at the position over that span at 1.6%, and he has broken a tackle on 24 of his 59 catches.
10. Trey Sermon, Oklahoma
The 2019 season didn't go quite as planned for Sermon, as he suffered a season-ending injury in Week 11 and saw only 54 carries in nine games. He did, however, impress on those limited reps by producing 14 explosive rushes of 10 or more yards to go along with 17 broken tackles, which was reminiscent of the 2018 campaign that saw him produce an elite 90.7 PFF rushing grade to go along with the FBS' second-highest WAA figure. His 0.35 broken tackles forced per attempt in 2018 was third to only David Montgomery and Devin Singletary. And while it'll be tough feeding both Kennedy Brooks and Sermon, it means that Oklahoma's running game is in good hands either way.
Sleeper: Javian Hawkins, Louisville
The 5-foot-9, 180-pound Hawkins far exceeded everyone's expectations in his 2019 redshirt freshman campaign. After seeing only two carries in 2018 -- one of which was a fumble -- Hawkins had 263 carries in 2019, and he posted one of the 15 best PFF rushing grades at his position. Hawkins is a speedster by nature and difficult to catch if you don't get a hand on him before he breaks the line of scrimmage. He produced the nation's third-highest rushing grade on plays where he was able to pass the line of scrimmage contact-free. Don't be surprised if Hawkins becomes one of the best backs in college football this year.