TBH I thought we had a clear picture of the running back room going into the 2024 season, boy was I wrong. I had pegged Carter to be the lead back, with Berger and Mangham providing experienced depth. Plus, the addition of two talented freshmen in Tullis and Frazier. Tullis is an early enrollee, getting him valuable reps this offseason. If Mangham and Berger were healthy, I would have graded this room as a solid B, with Carter doing a lot of the heavy lifting in that grade.
So what changed? Clearly, the staff wasn't as content as I was. They recognized that the drop from Carter to the rest of the RB room was something they were not comfortable with. Quotes came out of Spring practice about the ball being on the ground too much, and we saw that with the Berger fumble in the scrimmage.
What did they do about it?
Instead of staying pat with this group, they hit the portal. The staff was eying two 2 talented portal players and secured visits. The intention was only to take one of the two, and they made their move to land Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams.
Lynch-Adams is a springy, cut-on-a-dime type back. He plays similarly to Carter. So it will be more thunder & thunder, not so much thunder & lightning. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
As a result, Berger and Mangham saw the writing on the wall and entered the portal. It's worth noting Daveon Primm entered the portal this week as well, although he wasn't expected to contribute much.
What does the depth chart look like for 2024? We now enter the year with a clear 1-2 punch with Carter and Lynch-Adams. Both are proven and raise the ceiling of the team.
Carter's career numbers are impressive, with 2,050 all-purpose yards (1,781 rushing, 269 receiving) over 28 games. This includes 7 100-yard games, and 1.6 Catches/game, something I expect to be featured more with the new staff.
Despite being dinged up most of last year, a few stats pop for Carter
19 rushes of 10+ yards or more, 6th in the Big10
31 missed tackles forces, 5th best in the Big10
492 Yards after Contact, 7th best in the Big10
795 rushing yards, 6th best in the Big10
Lynch-Adams transfers in after being named First Team All-Independent at UMass with 1,150 yards rushing yards to go along with 12 TD in '23.
How does the run game look in 2024? Bad news, MSU was last in the BigTen for Yard per Carry in 2023. The good news is many signs point to an improvement in the running game:
Carter is back and healthy. He can improve on the numbers listed above.
Lynch-Adams comes in to form a strong duo with Carter. He is significantly better than any of the RB2's last year.
OL is a wildcard, but I'd like to think that the ceiling is higher with highly ranked recruits who are now entering the 2-deep. And we have a well-respected OL coach leading them.
The Aiden Chiles impact. As a true dual-threat QB, he will give defenses fits with the RPOs, threat of the option, play action, QB keepers, etc. This will slow the edge rush a bit and keep them honest. Hopefully buying more time for RBs to get past the LOS.will help overall numbers AND keep Edge players honest and not over-committing to the run due to the threat of the options/keepers.
What does this mean for 2025 and beyond?
Lynch-Adams is on his last year of eligibility.
Carter technically does have another year, but I think he is more likely to go pro with a strong season.
This leaves the two freshmen in Frazier and Tullis. Both are over 200 lb. I like what Tullis brings to the table. In HS he had 45 receptions and possesses track speed. We also got a glimpse of Tullis in the Spring Game, finishing with 48 yards on seven carries in the scrimmage.
With Carter and Lynch-Adams as co-starters. It's possible either Frazier and Tullis redshirt. They can still play 4 games each, serving as RB3.
Regardless of whether Carter leaves early, we will need to add a proven RB to the room next offseason, as we cant rely on two likely r-Fr.
What say you? Comment below!
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