2024 Running Backs To Watch? February Edition

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The running back has become such a dynamic position in today's offenses - they have to be able to run around and run over defenders, block, catch, and do it all while sometimes being the only real threat a team has. Let's take a look at some running backs to watch going into spring practice! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='274325' first='Darius' last='Headley'] - Hunter Huss</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Darius is a 5'11 200 pound strong runner that is one of the main focal points of the Huskies' offense. You can see him most Friday Nights just running through defender's arm tacklers with ease. He has good vision in and out of the hole and can take the rock the distance in the open field - as evidenced against a very good Kings Mountain team this past season for 80 yards. He has good technique carrying the ball, and he has shown good hands catching the football out of the backfield. Darius also plays some defense - and it should be no surprise that his defensive highlights show off some hard-hitting tackling ability, he is definitely not afraid of contact!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='132419' first='Will' last='Jones'] - Cannon School </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Will is a very talented player who does a lot on the field for the Cougars! Last season he had 1477 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns. Also, showing his dynamic ability, he had 543 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns, providing a total of 2020 all-purpose yards and 33 touchdowns, just incredible production. Jones stands at 5'11 and 195 pounds and obviously can handle his share of the load in the Cougar's offense. He has had college interest from a number of schools including Duke, Wake Forest, and North Carolina, and holds an offer from Columbia. Will has great vision and an incredible burst with the football in his hands. He has enough ability to be a very good receiver if he wanted to be - he has soft hands and runs good routes consistently. He was named first-team all-state for his performance this past season as well. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='147684' first='Nigel' last='Dula'] - Draughn </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dula has a very talented teammate in QB [player_tooltip player_id='117960' first='Elijah' last='Tillery'], however, he has developed into a very talented player in his own right! Named his conference player of the year this past season, Dula had over 1800 yards rushing with a school-record 29 touchdowns rushing. He also had 261 yards receiving on 17 catches and two additional touchdowns. A great production from this young man. He weighs in at 5'11 and 195 pounds and can carry the load for a team's offense. On tape, Dula has an incredible ability to run through tackles and chain together moves to make players miss in the open field. He does this repeatedly on several runs, and it's almost like his signature style. He can line up in the slot and win in the passing game versus linebackers and safeties also, showing soft hands when making catches. He also can get out in space and execute in the screen game. He has interests from Middle Tennessee and Miami - Ohio currently. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rayjay Waters - Northwest Cabarrus</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I have seen Rayjay up close and he is a talented player for a good program with the Trojans. This past season Rayjay had 900 total yards of offense and 13 touchdowns in an offense that had a number of different threats. He runs very hard and with power, but he has good speed in the open field with the home run ability each time he touches the ball to go the distance. Standing at 5'11 and 195 pounds, I think he will put up even bigger numbers next season as he becomes a bigger focal point of the Trojan's attack. One thing that will definitely help his recruiting is his GPA - he quotes a 4.1 GPA which will open all kinds of options for him going forward! He displays excellent footwork - has the agility to make multiple defenders miss, and he can run through the first defender to pick up additional yards in the running game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Teddy Jeffries - Kings Mountain </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At 5'10 and 175 pounds, Jeffries was one of the main weapons on a team that made a deep playoff run this past season. For the season he totaled 1145 yards and 20 touchdowns on the season, boasting a nice 7.3 yards per carry average. He quotes a 4.43 40-yard dash - whether you can verify it or not doesn't matter because his highlights show has some great game speed. In the open field, Teddy simply isn't going to get caught from behind. I would describe his agility as electric, I loved watching his highlights and pausing and rewinding the film to see what he did really happened. I think he may be a little under-recruited at the moment because he is a game-breaker, but running back is a position you have to be patient with in recruiting. On the camp circuit this summer he should turn some heads for sure. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->