College Football News Preview 2022 preseason unit rankings, looking at the top ten running back situations and rankings by conference.
The quarterbacks have turned into the stars of college football, but there are a whole slew of great backs and teams with terrific rotations of runners returning for 2022.
Who has the No. 2 and 3 backs to keep the main man fresh? Who has the guys to take the pressure off the quarterback so he doesn’t have to take a slew of big hits?
This isn’t a list of the top players – it’s about that depth chart along with the key starters in the unit rankings.
And remember, it’s not necessarily about the running games the crank up huge yards. How effective are these groups in the respective systems?
Sometimes, averaging over five yards per carry and being able to move the chains are more important than amassing big yard totals. So with all of that in mind …
Here are the 2022 running back unit rankings.
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CFN Preview 2022 Preseason College Football Unit Rankings: Running Backs
Unit Rankings By Conference: Running Backs
Top 10 | ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | Pac-12 | SEC
AAC | C-USA | Ind | MAC | M-West | Sun Belt
1 Texas
As long as Bijan Robinson is rolling, everything else about the Texas offense should work. He was banged up last year, but he still ran for 1,127 yards and 11 touchdowns. Roschon Johnson and Keilan Robinson are great reserves who can more than carry the load.
2 Wisconsin
Leave it to Wisconsin to find a superstar from out of nowhere. Braelon Allen was a load as a true freshman – running for 1,268 yards and 12 touchdowns – and the offense gets back Chez Mellusi, the main man early on before getting hurt. Isaac Guerendo can pound away, too.
3 Minnesota
Mohamed Ibrahim was cranking it up against Ohio State in the opener last year with 163 yards and two touchdowns, and then he tore his Achilles tendon and was out for the year. He’s back, Trey Potts and Bryce Williams are proven veterans, and it should all work behind another pounding offensive front.
4 Ohio State
Yeah, Bijan Robinson might be the best running back in college football, and Minnesota and Wisconsin have the Big Ten’s killer ground games, and CJ Stroud and the passing attack own the Ohio State offense … Buckeye RB TreVeyon Henderson takes a back seat to no one. He averaged close to seven yards per carry with 15 scores, and backup Miyan Williams averaged over seven yards per pop with 507 yards and three scores.