Position Preview: RBs & H-Backs

NORMAN ? Do you like strong, physical ball carriers? Backs with speed and elusiveness? Ones who are effective pass-catchers and can help protect the quarterback by picking up a key block? If so, you'll love the Sooners' 2018 stable of running backs.

One of several positions of strength for OU this season, Jay Boulware's running backs group returns largely intact following a very productive 2017. Of the 2,579 rushing yards and 21 rushing touchdowns amassed by the group last year, OU returns 2,036 yards and 20 TDs. That doesn't include another seven receiving scores.

Leading the charge is Preseason All-Big 12 back Rodney Anderson, a 6-1, 220-pound redshirt junior who in his first full season of action last year started seven of 14 games and finished with team highs of 1,161 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns. The strong-yet-fast Anderson was also lethal as a receiver, registering 17 catches for 281 yards (16.5 average) and another five scores.

As if those numbers aren't impressive enough, consider that the majority of Anderson's production came the last half of the season. Starting with OU's Oct. 21 game at Kansas State, he led all Power Five players the rest of the year (eight games) with 1,333 yards from scrimmage (166.6 average) and 16 total TDs.

With the help of another strong offensive line, Anderson figures to be as effective in 2018. If he replicates his late-season numbers for an entire year, he could very well find himself in the thick of the Heisman Trophy conversation come November and December.

The stable is once again full. #RBU #OUDNA

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OU's other primary returner at running back is sophomore Trey Sermon, who earned a reputation in his first collegiate season as a brute who doesn't shy away from contact. The 6-0, 224-pounder wasted little time impressing, rushing 121 times for 744 yards (6.1 per carry) and five touchdowns. He also caught 16 passes for 139 yards and two TDs.

Sermon was clutch in some of OU's biggest games last year. He ran for 62 yards and caught a key touchdown pass in OU's 31-16 win at No. 2 Ohio State, carved up Baylor for 148 rushing yards and two TDs on just 12 carries (all in the fourth quarter) in a tight road victory, bulldozed his way to 96 yards in a win over Texas and racked up 81 yards on 10 carries, including the game-clinching 53-yard score, in a 62-52 triumph at No. 11 Oklahoma State.

Anderson and Sermon represent the league's top returning running back duo from last year, as they combined for 1,905 rushing yards, 18 rushing touchdowns, 420 receiving yards and seven receiving TDs.

Senior Marcelias Sutton heads into game week as the team's apparent No. 3 back. Now that he's got a year at the FBS level under his belt following his transfer from junior college, Sutton, who is 5-9 and 192 pounds, appears poised to make a bigger impact this season than he did in 2017 when he rushed for 130 yards (5.9 average) and two scores on 22 carries. He was also OU's primary kickoff returner last season and figures to challenge for that role again.

"Marcelias Sutton has had a great camp," said OU head coach Lincoln Riley on Monday. "I think he's asserted himself as that No. 3 guy. I feel pretty comfortable saying that right now."

As for the No. 4 spot on the depth chart, Riley said it's a battle that may not be decided for several more days.

"We're still trying to figure out who No. 4 is between Kennedy Brooks and T.J. Pledger. They're two young guys that are really getting after it and getting better fast. They got a lot of reps throughout camp."

Brooks is a 5-11, 205-pound redshirt freshman who sat out due to injury last season. His legs probably needed a break from high school, where he recorded 7,658 career rushhing yards and 96 touchdowns on 885 carries (8.7 yards per rush). As a senior alone, he ran for 2,865 yards and 40 touchdowns in 11 games. He won the Landry Award as the top high school player in North Texas.

Pledger enrolled at OU in January after a stellar prep career that culminated with a U.S. Army All-American Bowl appearance. The consensus four-star recruit, who played last year at IMG Academy in Florida, was ranked as the No. 70 high school prospect nationally by Rivals and No. 107 by ESPN.

At 5-9 and 200 pounds, Pledger may be smaller in stature than Brooks, but displays a flashiness not possessed by most.

At H-back, redshirt senior Carson Meier finally gets his shot in 2018 after backing up current New York Jet Dimitri Flowers the last few years. The 6-5, 254-pounder from Tulsa should benefit from the addition of Shane Beamer, OU's new assistant head coach for offense who works with the team's H-backs and tight ends. Meier has played in all 40 games the last three seasons, but has yet to register a carry.

Meier will be backed up by redshirt freshman Jeremiah Hall, a 6-2, 252-pound consensus three-star 2017 recruit from Charlotte, N.C. Freshman walk-on Coby Tillman could also see the field this year. Tillman is a 5-11, 233-pound throwback who starred at Bixby (Okla.) High School.

Players Mentioned

Rodney Anderson

Rodney Anderson

Kennedy Brooks

Kennedy Brooks

Dimitri Flowers

Jeremiah Hall

Carson Meier

T.J. Pledger

T.J. Pledger

Trey Sermon

Trey Sermon

Marcelias Sutton

Marcelias Sutton

Coby Tillman

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics