CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position

College football is only weeks away. There's no better time than now to look at five running backs who could be early-round NFL Draft picks after this season.

MORE FARRELL: Three-point stance | Godfather & Gorney podcast

MORE NFL DRAFT: Top 5 quarterbacks

Recruiting: In January of his senior year, the five-star running back committed to Alabama over a serious push from Kentucky and Ohio State. Harris had been committed to Michigan earlier in his recruitment.

Stats: Even though Harris split a significant amount of carries with QB Jalen Hurts and RB Bo Scarbrough, the former five-star led the Crimson Tide in rushing with 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns on 135 touches last season.

Farrell’s take: I liked Harris on film quite a bit, but the level of competition worried me until I saw him at the Under Armour All-America Game. He was thicker and stronger than I expected, his jump cut was awesome and he had vision and power. He not only held his own against the best in the country, but was dominant at times. A thick, powerful back with the speed to bounce it outside, Harris was our No. 1 running back when all was said and done for 2015. Now that he’s dropped weight and added speed, he’s simply dynamic and should be ever better this season.

Recruiting: Shortly before National Signing Day, Love picked Stanford over North Carolina, NC State, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and East Carolina.

Stats: Love was far and away the leading rusher in the Pac-12 last season with 2,118 yards and 19 touchdowns on 263 attempts. He put up nearly 100 more rushing yards than Christian McCaffrey did in his huge sophomore campaign.

Farrell’s take: Love showed serious flashes of talent a season ago filling in for McCaffrey at times, but he clearly took it to the next level this past year. Love was a four-star out of high school known for his ability in space as well as his receiving ability, so he fits in greatly as a replacement for McCaffrey. He didn’t match the overall numbers, no one could, but he had an amazing season and is living up to his ranking and then some. Will he be able to match his numbers this year? That’s an aggressive goal.

Recruiting: Oklahoma was considered the frontrunner in Anderson’s recruitment and he committed to the Sooners during summer camp. He had previously been pledged to Texas A&M.

Stats: Anderson was second in the Big 12 in rushing yards last season with 1,161 yards and 13 scores averaging 6.2 yards per carry. He had that yardage total on 188 carries. Oklahoma State’s Justice Hill led the league with 1,467 yards on 268 touches.

Farrell’s take: Anderson was a four-star prospect and well thought of coming out of high school. He had a very good senior season and was a leader on a winning team, although we questioned his quickness and burst, which led to a drop late in the rankings. We liked the way he could catch the ball and he had good vision and was elusive, but that lack of speed kept him out of our Rivals100. After overcoming a few different injuries, he broke out this past season despite a crowded backfield and should be the Big 12’s best back.

Recruiting: Snell committed to Kentucky in February of his junior year over Cincinnati, Toledo, Miami-Ohio and others About a week before Snell’s pledge to the Wildcats, Iowa became his first Big Ten offer.

Stats: Snell rushed for 1,333 yards with 19 touchdowns last season averaging more than 102 yards per outing. Only Auburn’s Kerryon Johnson and Georgia’s Nick Chubb had more rushing yards in the SEC.

Farrell’s take: Snell was a low three-star prospect who had good size, but we questioned his speed and footwork as did many other programs that passed. But Kentucky saw something many didn’t and it has turned out to be a home run evaluation for them so far. He’s added explosion, has shown great vision and runs with power consistently and is on a mission this upcoming season. He’s clearly one of the best backs in the SEC.

Recruiting: One of the top prospects in the state, Gaskin committed to Washington in the spring before his senior season. The only other offers for Gaskin came from Arizona State and Washington State.

Stats: Finishing sixth in the Pac-12 last season, Gaskin rushed for 1,380 yards and his 21 touchdowns led the league for running backs. On 222 carries over the year, Gaskin averaged more than 106 yards per game.

Farrell’s take: Gaskin was a high three-star recruit but he didn’t get a ton of evaluation out of the state of Washington and slid under the radar a bit. He's playing like a high four- or even five-star prospect at this stage. We liked Gaskin's film a lot coming out of high school. He was a prolific stat-stuffer with excellent lateral quickness. It's possible that we would have had him ranked higher had we saw more of him in person. Clearly, that’s our loss and he’s a guy NFL scouts like quite a bit.