State of position: North Carolina and running backs
In the fourth part of a weeklong series, we look at states that have had surprising success in the Rivals era dating back to 2002 at a certain position. We continue with an in-depth look at North Carolina and just how many elite running backs it has produced during that stretch:
MORE STATES: Alabama and wide receivers | South Carolina and defensive ends | Maryland and defensive ends
There have only been two five-star running backs from the state of North Carolina during the Rivals.com era but the best running back out of there – and arguably one of the best in company history – is also from that state and ended up as a four-star in the final rankings.
Georgia’s Zamir White and former North Carolina running back Elijah Hood, now with the Carolina Panthers, are the two five-star prospects and both of them are in relatively recent recruiting classes, 2018 and 2014, respectively.
What is surprising for North Carolina is that the state has produced 22 four-star running backs unquestionably led by former Georgia star and current Los Angeles Rams standout Todd Gurley. The former Tarboro, N.C., prospect finished fifth in the position rankings for the 2012 class behind Johnathan Gray, T.J. Yeldon, Trey Williams and Mario Pender. The first three were five-star prospects.
Stanford standout Bryce Love, who finished his college career with 3,865 rushing yards and 30 touchdowns including 19 in his junior campaign, was also a four-star prospect out of Wake Forest, N.C.
Out of the four-star running backs, NC State has done the best job landing that talent as seven of them have signed with the Wolfpack during the Rivals.com era. North Carolina has only nabbed three.
From a geographical perspective, North Carolina is doing well against its peers. Virginia has had four five-star prospects out of high school but they’ve largely been misses and only 16 four-stars. South Carolina has produced just one five-star running back and only six four-stars. Tennessee has had two five-stars just like North Carolina but only 15 four-stars. Georgia has had the same amount of five-stars (two) but has loaded up with 40 four-stars in the Rivals.com era.
FARRELL'S TAKE
Remember the Keith Marshall vs. Todd Gurley debate? Not many do because everyone but Rivals.com had Marshall, who ended up at Georgia, ranked ahead of Gurley who joined him in Athens.
One of my biggest rankings regrets was not making Gurley a five-star after his performance at the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas and he’s been the best I’ve seen out of the state. White has potential but injuries have set him back early at Georgia and Hood was very good but not great for North Carolina.
When you think of North Carolina high school football you usually think of defensive linemen because there have been so many good ones, but running back has been even better, at least when it comes to rankings.
There’s a reason a program like Georgia, which resides in a state loaded with running backs every year, still targets North Carolina for running backs so often. That speaks volumes about the talent level in the state.
NC State has done a good job keeping some of them home like Toney Baker and others. However, with so much talent it’s become a state that allows other programs to come in and steal talent. Until that stops, NC State and North Carolina will struggle to take the next step. The competition level in North Carolina has increased exponentially since the mid last 15 years and the talent at running back is a great example of that.