Heading into next season, one of the hottest position battles on the Ole Miss football team will be the running back position. The team returns its top two leading rushers and has plenty of younger backs that will compete as well.
The likely top two in the Rebels rushing attack next season will be I’Tavius Mathers and Jaylen Walton. Mathers led the Rebels in rushing with 563 yards on just 95 carries, and scored three touchdowns. Walton, a speedy outside runner, rushed for 523 yards on 113 carries and scored six touchdowns. In addition to his efforts on the ground, Walton also caught 29 passes for 322 yards and two more scores, and was also the Rebels’ primary kick returner.
Also looking to be in the mix is sophomore Mark Dodson, redshirt freshmen Jordan Wilkins and Eugene Brazley. Dodson saw time in a backup role last year, and carried the ball 22 for 124 yards and a touchdown, in addition to catching a 30-yard touchdown as well. Dodson has solid size at around 5-feet-10-inches, 200 pounds, and showed great potential in limited chances last year and should get a significantly larger workload this coming season. Brazley is a small back at 5-feet-9-inches, 183 pounds, but he showed good burst and quickness in the spring, and will look to get carries for the Rebels as an elusive, change-of-pace back. Wilkins, on the other hand, has showed potential to be a bruising back, as he came to Ole Miss at 6-feet-1-inches 209 pounds and added even more weight during his redshirt season.
The Rebels will also have a newcomer fighting for carries in the backfield next semester. Akeem Judd is a junior college transfer that will look to step in right away and contribute. Judd has good size at 5-feet-11-inches, 215 pounds, but also has the quickness and speed to be an all-purpose back.
The biggest problem with Ole Miss’ rushing attack last year was the lack of a power back. The Rebels did not have a larger running back that they could hand the ball to on short yardage situations. As a result, the Rebels would go to Mathers or Walton for those situations, even though neither one is listed as over 200 pounds, or would turn to quarterbacks Bo Wallace and Barry Brunetti to carry the ball. Ole Miss needs a back that can come in and push for the first down or touchdown, and pound the ball down the middle when opposing defenses are shutting down the outside. Ole Miss hopes that Judd or Wilkins will be able to fill this role, as both players have the size for this. Wilkins looks to be the more physical of the two, but Judd offers value with his junior college experience and complete running style.
Look for Ole Miss to continue using multiple backs to fill out its running back rotation. Also look for an increased workload for some of the younger players on the roster, as well as the offense to implement a power running element that was sorely needed last year.
