MORE TAKE TWO: Will Jalen Hurts complete a Sooner Heisman three-peat?
Take Two returns with another offering tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.
THE STORYLINE
Penn State signed two outstanding running backs during the early period when high four-stars Devyn Ford and Noah Cain picked the Nittany Lions.
Ford is ranked No. 40 overall and is the top-rated all-purpose back nationally whereas Cain is right behind him at No. 43 and is third among running backs behind Alabama’s Trey Sanders and LSU’s John Emery.
They are close in the rankings, but the edge has been given to Ford by three spots. He is the more dynamic playmaker out of the backfield and Cain is the more power back who could run between the tackles to gain yardage.
Which one will end up having the better college career? And can coach James Franklin and his staff utilize the strengths of both Ford and Cain much like Georgia had done with Sony Michel and Nick Chubb, or will one running back emerge as the go-to player while the other one spends more time on the sidelines?
TAKE ONE: NATE BAUER, BLUEWHITEILLUSTRATED.COM
"Making a career prediction for Cain and Ford is probably a bit premature before we get to see them in action, especially compared to what's already on campus, but a more general point emerges now that they're both Nittany Lions. The reality is, either way, Penn State hit a home run by bringing in these two outstanding backs in this recruiting class.
"If the goal is to have an electric primary running back, in signing Ford, Cain, and (Ricky) Slade last season, chances are high that at least one will emerge to pick up the mantle Miles Sanders vacated when he turned pro earlier this month. Combined with another Rivals four-star brought in as a walk-on transfer in former Notre Dame running back C.J. Holmes, and Sanders' early exit for his shot at the NFL is a little easier to bear for Franklin and the Nittany Lions. Split the reps through the offseason, let the best man win, and most important, keep the competition level intense with reps to be gained and lost as performance dictates through the course of the season.”
TAKE TWO: MIKE FARRELL, RIVALS.COM
“I think Cain is going to have the better career. I know Ford is ranked higher, but I like the way Cain is built, the way he’s decisive, he’ll plant and cut and get up the field. He’s a little better breaking tackles or bouncing off tackles or falling forward for extra yardage. Ford is maybe a little more explosive as far as top-end speed and he catches the ball better. But Cain is going to have a better career just because he’s built for the Big Ten more than Ford.
“They could be a thunder-lightning type of combination. Penn State has to look at what Georgia has done with multiple talented running backs and how they’ve utilized them. If it can do that, you’re talking about two really good running backs who can bring different things to the table. Ford could be the Sony Michel-type and Cain would be the Nick Chubb-type.”
