Paul James went from walk on to lightly used scholarship player to back up to starter during his first three seasons in Piscataway, and he is on the verge of becoming a well known player across the nation in his red shirt junior campaign. James does not have the flashy size or speed but he is a perfect fit for Rutgers offense. James posses tremendous vision, balance, patience and quickness, giving him the ability to find the hole in the Knights' zone blocking system, make one cut and run. James rushed for 881 yards (5.65yards per carry) last season and scored 9 touchdowns in 10 games. The only thing that could prevent him from being one of the top rushers in the Big 10 this year will be health, which was a big problem for him last season. He suffered a number of leg injuries of various degrees last season, and I wonder if he will reeive a limited number of carries a game to aliviate the durability concerns.
Backing up James should be sophmore Justin Goodwin, but he has been moved to the defensive side of the bll for......some reason. Goodwin had a strong freshman season in 2013, rushing for 521 yards and 5 touchdowns as James' back up, but it is unknown whetether they will use him on both sides of the ball or just on defense, If his offensive days are in fact donw, that will be a shame because he, like James, is a perfect fit for their offense with outstanding vision and shiftiness. Yes, Rutgers needs help at defensive back, but they really arein no position to give up depth at runningback considering James' injury issues. It's just robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Desmond Peoples seems to be the actual back up, and he does not have a ton of experience heading into his red shirt sophmore season, Peoples is a smaller back, but he is very fast. I don't know how much of a load he will be able to carry should James go down or if he will be able to run up the middle like a traditional back, but his speed on the outside and ability to catch the football make him an intriguing weapon.
Two of the few bright spots in Rutgers2014 recruiting class --Rob Martin and Josh Hicks-- could contribute right away as true freshman. Hicks has impressive speed to go along with some power, while Hicks is more in the mold of James and Goodwin.
Senior Savon Huggins has not been practicing and he seems likely to redshirt this season because of an injury. He has been a disappointment, but you never want to lose depth. He will have one last shot to turn his career around in 2015.
Very few teams in college football use a fullback anymore, but Rutgers is one of them and they have a great one. Senior Michael Burton will be a fourth year starter, and he can do it all. He is a powerful lead blocker who can knock defenders back at the point of attack, and he can catch the ball out of the back field and provide surprising speed as a ball carrier, good enough that he can sub in at tailback on occasion. It's a shame the the fullback position is so unheralded, because I feel that his is one of Rutgers best players and he does not get the attention for it.
Backing up Burton is Sam Bergen and Jacob Kraut, who was one of only 5 fullbacks ranked by Rivals.com in the 2014 recruiting period.
The offensive line will have some say in this of course, but I think Rutgers is finally in position to have a strong rushing attack again, thanks to their backs. Paul James should eclipse the 1000 yard mark, health permitting, and Michael Burton should clear out the holes for which ever runningback he is lead blocking for. I have no idea what to expect out of Peoples as the back up, but I think either Martin or Hicks could step in as the back up and provide a positive impact right away. James and Burton may not be Leonard and Rice, but they are damn good in their own regard and could carry the Scarlet Knights to their best rushing performnce since the days those two were on the banks.
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