With the Florida State football team scheduled to open spring practice on March 21, it's time for our annual spring practice position previews.
Today we focus on the running backs. Previously, we profiled the Quarterbacks |
The Big Picture
There won't be many (any?) teams in the country with a better stable of running backs than the one Florida State has assembled.
Cam Akers is the headliner, obviously. The Mississippi product set the school's all-time freshman rushing record last season, breaking the previous mark of Dalvin Cook with 1,024 yards on 199 carries. He had four games with at least 100 yards, including a 199-yard effort against Syracuse, and finished his debut season with seven touchdowns.
But while he might be the marquee name, Akers is far from the only big-time talent in FSU's backfield.
Senior Jacques Patrick had 748 yards a season ago and has rushed for more than 1,400 yards in his career. Add in speedy third-year player Amir Rasul as well as redshirt freshmen Khalan Laborn, Zaquandre White and Deonte Sheffield, and the Seminoles clearly have the makings of one of the best running back groups in the country.
Akers should be the workhorse
As a true freshman in 2017, Cam Akers averaged a team-high 15 carries per game. Expect that number to rise dramatically in 2018, despite all that other talent at the position.
Willie Taggart has proven he has no problem giving his best players the ball 25-plus times a game if he thinks it will help his team win. Oregon star Royce Freeman averaged over 22 carries per game when he was healthy a season ago, tallying almost 1,500 yards along the way.
Freeman had five games with at least 23 carries for the Ducks in 2017. Akers didn't have 23 carries in a single game all year.