The UCLA Football team has a stable of talented, athletic and capable running backs but not a single one took over as the leader of this group in 2016. The Bruins need to find a guy that can shoulder a heavier portion of the load if not find a workhorse if they are going to have a functioning offense in the Fall.
It isn’t that hard to think of a number of great UCLA Football running backs that have graced the Rose Bowl. Now try and think about who was rushing leader for the Bruins last year. If you said Soso Jamabo you’d be right but how many rushing yards did he have last year? 800? 700? 500? Wrong on all three accounts. He had 321. A 3.9 ypc average on 82 rushing attempts.
It goes without saying that’s not good.
The Bruins aren’t replacing any lost players to the NFL Draft or graduation nor did they sign any players at the position. They do however have a logjam of guys who could carry the load but either have had the opportunity to seize the job or have seemingly squandered their opportunities.
Related Story: The 30 Greatest UCLA Football Players of All-Time
Who’s Gone: FB Ainuu Taua (position change), FB Cameron Griffin (medical retirement)
Who’s New: No one
The Breakdown:
Jamabo has gotten the starting nod the past two years running but has only managed to rack up 724 yds on 148 carries which comes out to a respectable 4.9 yards per carry. Seems nice right? Box scores are not a scouting tool. I’ll say it again, don’t use box scores for talent evaluation.
Soso is an incredibly talented runner I will not dispute that. Check out his high school film and some of his high school highlights and it is clear the guy can move with the ball.
What you do see is a guy who’s a long strider and can gobble up yards with his gait. He showed quick feet and an ability to run through contact.
Those traits haven’t seemed to follow him to the college level. To be honest, his lackluster production isn’t all his fault. The UCLA offensive lines haven’t been the best during his time and don’t create many holes for him to run through. However his long legged, upright, slashing style of running haven’t suited the offense.
His upright running style is something that must be worked on and given he measures in around 6’3, he might be better suited to WR especially given his pass catching ability. I also worry when he seems to be constantly dinged up from either a long run or strong contact.
With UCLA incorporating more stretch runs into the offense I can see Jamabo bouncing back provided he is able to display the speed and ability to find the cut back lane that he showed in high school and has occasionally flashed. Yes I am also aware that the video posted with this article is from his freshman season however I think the video sums up my opinion on Soso well. That game was also one of his most impressive up to this point in his UCLA career.
Running Backs (cont.)
Next guy up for the Bruins is Bolu Olorunfunmi who is built low to the ground and like a bowling ball of muscle. Built how I like my RB’s, Bolu can break through arm tackles and has enough speed and wiggle to make guys miss in the open field.
However he too is always getting nicked up and most of the time it seems to be an ankle. I can’t have my bellcow, my go to guy in the backfield, dealing with ankle issues. Bolu also has some drops in the passing game and yes while his main job is to run the ball, to be a complete back he needs to improve his hands.
Vision is something else I’ve noticed Bolu struggling with. He often misses holes or runs right up into the backs of his offensive linemen. Just because you can run like a Mack truck doesn’t mean you should have the same kind of vision. If he can improve that facet of his game it will be hard to argue carries away from him.
The last of the veteran guys running the rock, and often the most forgotten, is Nate Starks. When Paul Perkins left UCLA, I figured Starks would be the guy to take over since he was the backup to Perkins although Jamabo was clearly more talented. I also enjoyed the power I saw Starks run with and that was a major appeal.
2016 wasn’t a good year for Starks and it wasn’t for lack of touches. While dealing with the same offensive line issues he actually had more carries than leading rusher Jamabo but only generated 3.3 yards per carry. The main reasons in my mind for that (besides the offensive line issues) are the overall lack of athleticism and vision Starks brings to the table.
Starks just seems a step slower than all the other backs and is outclassed in terms of just being a pure athlete by the other guys on the roster. Starks reminds me a ton of Arian Foster in the way he runs and the system that works for him but even though he doesn’t seem to be as gifted. His one-cut running style should suit the offensive changes but don’t expect him to have more than a handful of touches on any given game day.
Depth at Running Back
Brandon Stephens is a slasher much like Jamabo but in a much more compact package and that seems to give him the advantage. While he didn’t redshirt last year he seems to be on the upswing and brought probably the most complete game to the backfield.
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He doesn’t have breakaway speed but has more than enough burst and quickness to generate long runs and will thrive in this offensive system. I’d give him the starting nod if I was being honest and if there wasn’t one more guy that I think could actually shoulder the load.
Jalen Starks is my favorite guy in this backfield. If Bolu is built like a bowling ball, Jalen is like a wrecking ball. Built low to the ground with tree trunks for thighs, he’s a throwback kind of RB. He’s strong between the tackles but has underrated speed for a guy his size.
Reports from camp are that coaches are trying to get his weight down under 265 lbs. which is very big for a RB but no one has said that he seems to be out of shape. I personally feel Starks doesn’t get enough touches especially last year. He rushed the ball 26 times in 2016. Personally I’d like to see him get about half of that every game.
When you have a guy that big, that strong and moving that fast you aren’t going to see many guys stepping in front of him. Tackling that kind of guy will also wear opposing defenses down leading to bigger and bigger chunks in the run game. When he’s spelled by a quicker player the dividends will be even greater. As you can tell if you’re reading this I like Jalen a lot.
Next: UCLA Football Recruiting: Bruins Land 2019 4 Star Receiver
On the next episode of “Survival of the Offense” I’ll be taking a deeper dive into UCLA’s receiver group, give my two deep and as always let you Bruin fans know who my guy is at this position.