Top 5 running backs for the 2024 college football season

As the college football season approaches, it’s the time of year where fans and analysts alike break down the top players around the country.

While quarterbacks reign supreme at any level of football, the running back position has been one with several superstars to emerge in the last decade. 

With so many incredible players at the position this year, FOX Sports college football experts Michael Cohen and RJ Young each ranked their top five running backs ahead of the 2024 season.

Let’s take a look: 

RJ:

1. Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma State

The reigning Doak Walker Award winner and unanimous All-American averaged 6.1 yards per carry on 285 rushing attempts in 2023. That means he’s the only FBS player who averaged more than 6 yards per rush and 20 rushes per game. He ran for over 1,700 yards and accounted for over 2,000 yards from scrimmage last year.

2. Jarquez Hunter, Auburn

Hunter has averaged better than 6.0 yards per carry for his career at Auburn, which means that if he was asked to carry the rock as often as Gordon, he’d likely put up Gordon-like numbers. In a sport where a bell cow tailback feels like a luxury item, Auburn has a player it can depend on to pick up hard yards and be explosive in the SEC.

3. TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State

Henderson rounds out a trio of tailbacks that could enter the 2025 NFL Draft and come off the board on Day 1. After a brilliant freshman campaign and a down sophomore year, he led the Buckeyes in rushing with 926 yards at 5.9 yards per clip last year. But his superpower is his explosiveness and his ability to take over a game when necessary, like he did last September when he tore off a 61-yard scamper that proved to be the difference in Ohio State’s 17-14 win over Notre Dame.

4. Quinshon Judkins, Ohio State

One of the biggest splashes in the transfer portal this offseason was Judkins’ decision to leave Ole Miss and join Ohio State. Two years ago, he earned recognition as the best newcomer and freshman offensive player in the SEC, rushing for 1,567 yards — second all-time for a freshman in the SEC behind Georgia great and Heisman winner Herschel Walker. Following another 1,100-yard rushing season, he’s easily one of the five best tailbacks in the sport. And yes, Ohio State has two of those.

5. Omarion Hampton, North Carolina

No player enjoyed more of a coming-out-party in the ACC last year than Hampton, who not only led the league in rushing (1,504 yards), but finished fifth in the country while carrying the rock nearly 20 times per game.

Michael: 

1. Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma State

Gordon received first-team All-America honors and was named the Doak Walker Award winner last season after leading the nation in rushing with 1,732 yards and 21 touchdowns. He was one of only two non-quarterbacks to finish among the top seven in last year’s Heisman Trophy voting alongside Ohio State wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. and could improve upon his seventh-place finish in 2024. A summer arrest for suspicion of DUI clouded his offseason with negative attention.

2. Quinshon Judkins, Ohio State

His decision to transfer from Ole Miss to Ohio State sent shock waves through the college football landscape in January as the Buckeyes secured one of the most productive tailbacks in the country the past two years. Judkins enters 2024 coming off back-to-back seasons with at least 1,000 rushing yards and 15 scores, statistics that are even more impressive considering he will be a true junior this fall. He and fellow tailback Henderson should form the sport’s best RB tandem.

3. Omarion Hampton, North Carolina

The former in-state recruit exploded into one of the most productive running backs in the country during his first year as the Tar Heels’ starter in 2023. Hampton led the ACC and finished fifth nationally in rushing with 1,504 yards and 15 touchdowns to earn second-team All-America honors from the Associated Press. No player averaged more than Hampton’s mark of 115.7 yards per game last season on fewer rushing attempts (19.5 carries) each week. 

4. Ashton Jeanty, Boise State

Kansas and California were the only two power-conference programs to offer Jeanty, a three-star prospect from Texas, a scholarship out of high school. He brushed those offers aside in favor of the Broncos and became an immediate contributor with 976 scrimmage yards as a freshman (seven touchdowns) and 1,916 scrimmage yards in 2023 (19 touchdowns). Jeanty’s average of 159.7 scrimmage yards per game led the country last season, edging Oklahoma State’s Gordon by 12 yards per game. 

5. Kyle Monangai, Rutgers

There are probably three or four other flashier, more statistically accomplished tailbacks that could be featured in this spot, but Monangai is deserving when considering his overall importance to the Scarlet Knights. He led the Big Ten in rushing with 1,262 yards last season on a team that ranked 127th in passing offense. Opponents knew Monangai was going to run the ball and still couldn’t stop it. He never fumbled in 242 attempts. 

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast “The Number One College Football Show.” Follow him at @RJ_Young and subscribe to “The RJ Young Show” on YouTube.

Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.

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