Rutgers 2013 Season Preview: The Runningbacks

Savon Huggins is probably the most important recruit in Rutgers history. He was the first #1 player in the state of New Jersey to commit to the Scarlet Knights, and that got the ball rolling for Rutgers to establish themselves as an emerging recruiting powerhouse in the north. Thus far into his college career, however, he hasn't lived up to his five star billing on the field. He probably wasn't ready physically to play as a true freshman, but the team lacked a true lead back and that forced the coaching staff’s hand into giving him an opportunity. He never really got going as a freshman, and he missed the last four games with a knee injury. Last season, Huggins played second fiddle to Jawan Jamison. He was a serviceable back up early on, and he had a huge break out game against Cincinnati, rushing for 179 yards while Jamison was out.

This season, Huggins will be Rutgers undisputed number one back, and quite frankly, he needs to really break out and be that guy he was against Cincinnati week in and week out. The Scarlet Knights figure to be a run heavy team this fall and there aren’t exactly a lot of appealing options at the moment behind Huggins. He needs to take his game to another level (which I think he is more than capable of) and finally live up to expectations everyone had for him coming out of high school.

Being forced into the lead back role should be a benefit to Huggins. It very well just may be conformational bias, but I think he is a back that needs a high volume of carries to be effective. He is the kind of bruising back that can wear a defense down and get stronger as the game goes along. He kind of reminds me of Marion Barber in that regard. He is at his best when running downhill, and even though Rutgers runs a zone scheme, getting downhill is one of the points they emphasize with their backs. I also think we may see some more man blocking schemes with Ron Prince in the fold, and I think that would very much benefit Huggins running style. Savon has not shown a lot of burst or wiggle at Rutgers yet, so hopefully he either improves in that regard or gets stronger in order to break more tackles. He should stay on the field for third down as well, since he is a capable receiver and blocker.

Backing up Huggins is junior Paul James. James has a similar running style as Huggins, and he should get quite a few carries throughout the season. True freshman Justin Goodwin has had a strong camp and could see the field as a change of pace back to Huggins and Goodwin, since he is a quick back.

Desmond People seemed to have the upper hand in the battle for the backup running back position before camp, but he suffered an injury early on during camp and never really emerged. He is a small, speedy type back who would have been a perfect complement to the bruisers. Rounding out the stable of tailbacks is freshman Dontea Ayers, who is a strong between the tackles back who will redshirt.

Rutgers most underrated player is probably fullback Michael Burton. Rutgers is offense is one of the very few left that actually uses a fullback, and they have a very good one on their hands. Burton was a dynamite lead blocker, and the offense was much worse off without him after he suffered a season ending injury in the fourth game of last season. His backups were never able to replicate his punishing blocks on the force players (usually a safety or OLB, depending on the scheme) and the running game suffered. On top of the tremendous blocking, Burton is also a sneaky good runner on fullback dives, and able to catch passes out in the flat. I’d go as far as to call Burton Rutgers most indispensable player this year.

Backing up Burton is Sam Bergen, who saw some action against Connecticut immediately following Burton’s injury, but he was replaced after getting called for a holding penalty. Freshman Devon Carter will redshirt, and he projects to be a solid all-around fullback.

Savon Huggins has a golden opportunity to become one of the biggest break out players in the entire country this year when you consider his talent and all the carries he will receive Rutgers’ run first offense. I really think he will improve by leaps and bounds this season, but if he doesn't Rutgers may be in trouble. Their backs behind him are pretty much completely untested at the college level. Fullback Michael Burton’s presence should help the run game significantly improve over what it was last year, and the two juniors could be a dynamic rushing duo as the team moves to as the team transitions to the Big 10.