Published Jun 15, 2016
Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge: Top running backs
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Adam Gorney  •  Rivals.com
National Recruiting Director
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@adamgorney

ATLANTA -- Five-star running back Najee Harris stood out in a loaded running back field at the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge presented by Under Armour. Here is a look at how they stacked up inside the Georgia Dome:

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So much has been written about the five-star running back dominating at every event. This was the most competitive yet, loaded with players at each position, and the Alabama commit took over and was unstoppable. Harris was not able to showcase his running ability, his skill at finding the smallest hole and then dashing for big gains, so instead he took over as a pass catcher. The 6-foot-2, 222-pound recruit has awesome hands, catches tough passes and has deceptive speed for someone his size. He can separate from any linebacker and he’s just more physical than every defensive back. Harris is a special player who showed this weekend why he’s the No. 2 overall player in the class.

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Akers is a rock-solid running back who looks like a million bucks in person and then also delivers on the field. The high four-star looked excellent in drills, showed off great speed and balance and is the prototypical back who can take the pounding, get back up and deliver another nasty blow to linebackers and defensive backs. He was also tremendous as a pass catcher during 7-on-7 play and had the ability to get behind defenders for big gains. Akers showed reliable hands, impressive speed and elusiveness and an ability to play all over the field.

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It is almost unfair to put Carr third on this list because he was especially fantastic during the 7-on-7 session and was nearly unstoppable coming out of the backfield, but it’s also an indication just how good Harris and Akers were all day. As for Carr, the soft USC commit has excellent size, surprising speed, a great burst to separate from linebackers and defensive backs and phenomenal hands to bring in short or deep passes. Time and again, Carr was seen running wide open on wheel routes and he found the end zone numerous times. The high four-star had an absolutely excellent showing.

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Swift had some strong moments as well, but this position was so incredibly loaded he finishes last in the group. That’s not to say he wasn’t impactful. The four-star showed off great assets. During drills, Swift had quick feet, he cuts on a dime and is tremendously shifty, so he can set up linebackers especially to bite on a move and then Swift breaks open the other way. In 7-on-7, there were some passes that were just out of reach that the others might have caught up to, but he made a lot of impressive plays, can definitely be utilized in the passing game and his ability to stutter-step and go or cut back into the open field was really impressive.

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