Ranking the running backs Kentucky will face in 2018
Cats Illustrated is listing and ranking the best opposing players Kentucky will face when the 2018 football season begins.
You can read our ranking of the Cats' opposing quarterback situations 1-12 right here.
Now we're moving on to the running backs. It's the Southeastern Conference, so as you'd expect there are some big talents in opposing backfields. But some stars are also going to be gone in 2018 as well.
1. D'Andre Swift, sophomore, Georgia: Gone are Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, the Bulldogs' potent 1-2 punch in the backfield that helped power Georgia to the College Football Playoff and so close to the program's first national championship in almost 40 years. But Swift, a rising sophomore, is no slouch and it's probably safe to say he'll have plenty of holes to run through. Even as only a number three running back last year Swift posted impressive numbers (81 carries, 618 yards, 3 TD), and he was actually UGA's best receiving threat out of the backfield with 17 catches for 153 yards and another score. Swift rushed for 66 yards against Kentucky. He'll be a trendy pick to have a monster season and could even become a darkhorse preseason choice for some high honors as he assumes a greater workload.
2. Aeris Williams, senior, Mississippi State: Williams is probably overshadowed too often by quarterback Nick Fitzgerald but he's an outstanding player in his own right and rushed for 1,100 yards and six touchdowns last fall. He's got 2,000 rushing yards for his career. He's not the kind of guy who has had huge individual performances, but he can be counted on for good production week in, week out and nearly had 100 yards against Alabama - quite a feat. Williams runs angry and can tote the rock between the tackles but he also more than enough speed.
3. Trayveon Williams, junior, Texas A&M: Williams had a monster freshman season for Texas A&M in 2016 with more than 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns and took a slight step back (173 carries, 798 yards, 8 TD) in 2017. He caught 20 passes out of the backfield. He's not going to get as many carries as Benny Snell or some of the league's top workhorses but Williams is explosive and dangerous. He started last season with a 200-yard performance against a UCLA defense that wasn't as good as many expected it to be. Eliminating big plays will have to be Kentucky's focus against him.
4. Jordan Scarlett, senior, Florida: Scarlett was expected to have a big junior season for the Gators last year but he was one of several Florida players suspended before the season pending felony fraud charges. He was recently allowed to rejoin team activities. The Gators have several options in the offensive backfield and should employ several of them, so Scarlett will not only have to continue to work his way back into good graces, but he'll have to win every carry he gets. Still, he might be Florida's best option even as Dan Mullen plays musical running backs. He's a cutback runner with the power and balance to let defenders bounce off him.
5. Damarea Crockett, junior, Missouri: Crockett's numbers last year (80 carries, 481 yards, 2 TD) don't stack up with those of the SEC's better runners but he was injured and missed the majority of Missouri's season. Skeptics might point out that Missouri was better without him, but they probably would have been even better with him. Crockett was a 1,000-yard, 10 touchdown runner as a freshman when healthy in 2016, and he's going to see a lot of running lanes with defenses so spread out trying to defend Drew Lock (44 TD passes) and that passing game. Freshman Larry Rountree will get some of the carries Crockett would have gotten if he had stayed healthy, because he had a solid freshman season in 2017, but Ish Witter is gone so Crockett will get plenty of touches.
Where would Benny Snell rank?
Given that Snell has produced at an extremely high level over his first two seasons even facing defenses game planning to stop him, and got better as 2017 went on, it's safe to say the SEC's regular season rushing champion is one of the league's top backs. He has produced more than D'Andre Swift thus far, but I'll call Snell and Swift 1A and 1B in the Southeastern Conference going into 2018. Snell is the early favorite to win the league's rushing title again because he's likely to get the most carries.