Miami Football Fall Camp Preview: Running Backs
With fall camp on the horizon CanesToday takes a closer look at Miami’s running back room.
For a school that once claimed the title of ‘Running Back U,’ the Miami running back has underperformed during the course of an entire season in recent years. The last time Miami had a 1,000-yard running back was Mark Walton in 2016.
When Mario Cristobal took over as head coach at the University of Miami, he made it clear that he was going to rebuild the program’s offense with the running game being a main focus.
Miami Lost backup running back Jaylan Knighton and junior running back Thad Franklin Jr. to the NCAA Transfer Portal. Knighton put up some okay numbers last year. He carried the ball 78 times for 423 rushing yards and a touchdown. Franklin on the other hand, carried the ball 50 times for 209 rushing yards for five touchdowns.
However, I think Miami did a very good job in the off-season recruiting running backs. Miami brought in some serious talent to this running back room, by adding Nebraska transfer Ajay Allen, in the 2023 class Miami brought in two studs to the college level and that will be Dillard running back Christopher Johnson, and American Heritage running back Mark Fletcher. And I will talk about them later on.
Other Fall Camp Previews:
– Henry Parrish, Junior
The room is led by running back Henry Parrish, who accounted for 617 yards on the ground and four touchdowns in 2022. Also during the final three Miami games, Parrish carried the football just six, four and three times. Parrish probably wasn’t up to taking on double-digit carries like he did during the seven prior 2022 games he played for the Canes.
Dawson has a top-10 rushing offense, and Parrish wont by the wayside. Parrish played in the Miami Hurricanes spring game this year, and he put up seven carries for 26 rushing yards.
With Parrish at the helm, the running back overall, possess serious power and potential that no opponent should take for granted. As such, based on skill set and philosophy, I think Parrish will see a significant role this fall in Dawson’s new offense.
– Donald Chaney Jr, Redshirt Sophomore
Behind Parrish is Chaney, who rushed for two carries for eight yards but he only played in the Pittsburgh game in 2022 . Because he is coming off of a ACL injury in 2022, and is looking to have a comeback year this fall.
At 5-foot-10, 208-pounds, he can be that big bruising back that the Hurricanes need if he can stay healthy. Chaney has carried the football 13 times for 52 yards in his two seasons. He played in just two games in 2021 before suffering a season-ending injury.
Chaney is a player to watch this Fall Camp. if he shows any signs of that explosiveness in 2020, Miami fans should feel confident going into week 1.
– Ajay Allen, Redshirt Freshman
Ajay Allen is another one to keep an eye on. He suffered a season-ending injury in 2022 for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Due to playing in the limit of four games, Allen was able to take a medical redshirt last season.
He was the backup running back for the Nebraska program. By only playing four games he carried the ball 33 times for 190 yards rushing and he took two, to the house and averaged a total of 5.8 yards per carry.
He’s going to be a nightmare in space within Shannon Dawson’s air raid based offensive scheme in Coral Gables this was a huge pickup for the Hurricanes.
– Tre’Vonte Citizen, Redshirt Freshman
The Miami coaching staff was confident that Citizen would make an impact as a true freshman in 2022 before suffering a season-ending injury during 2022 August training camp. Citizen was held out of 2023 spring football recovering from the injury. heading into the summer, Parrish and Chaney top the Miami RB depth chart.
– Mark Fletcher, Freshman
Mark Fletcher is a guy that will see the field this season and even maybe have a spot at the second string running-back position.
Fletcher finished his high school career with 4,443 rushing yards, 23 100-yard games and 49 TDs with 46 receptions for 629 yards and another four TDs. The competition behind Parrish should be wide open this spring and in August training camp. The Miami football team has a lot of depth and talent at RB but is highly inexperienced.
The key for Fletcher to earn playing time as a true freshman will be his ability as a blocker. If everyone is healthy, head coach Mario Cristobal, offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson and RBs coach Tim Harris have multiple options.
– Christopher Johnson, Freshman
As we all should know Christopher has unbelievable NFL speed, Johnson is just lighting in a bottle speed, speed and more speed.
On the football field, Johnson has been flashing his elite speed for years. He got snaps at both RB and WR as a junior for Dillard, helping the Panthers to a 10-2 record in Florida’s 7A Classification. Then, when he transitioned to the track, Johnson won the double gold in the 100 and 200. This kid will kill you in open space and super glad the Hurricanes got this type of speed on the team.
I am very excited to see this kid progress on Greentree. And see how he works with offensive coordinator coach Shannon Dawson and running-back coach Tim Harris.
In conclusion, the Hurricanes have helped to transform their running back room with two recruiting classes that possess the talent to complement each other well. It’s amazing to look at what’s ahead for The U.
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Trinton is the owner of CanesToday. He writes for all sports, with a focus on football and recruiting, he is a freshman in high school and wants to graduate from the University of Miami
