Rodney Smith

We’re entering Year 3 of the Smith and Shannon Brooks tandem in the Minnesota backfield, and a new quarterback under center could lead to an even larger emphasis on the ground game. In 2015, Brooks (5.96 YPC) was decidedly more explosive than Smith (4.27), but Smith was more of the big play back last season, averaging 4.83 YPC over a grueling 240 carries. Both Smith and Brooks should see plenty of work this season, but we give the lean to Smith in terms of being the true workhorse behind a massive Minnesota offensive line. A healthy Brooks may cut into Smith’s overall workload to an extent, but Smith should still push for 200+ carries and double-digit touchdowns.

Although senior Rodrick Williams was expected to get the first real crack at locking down the starting running back role, Smith quickly ascended the pecking order in the Minnesota backfield last season. Smith, a redshirt freshman in 2015, led the Gophers in carries with 157 while running for 670 yards. Both Smith and fellow freshman Shannon Brooks combined to be a formidable one-two punch out of the backfield as both backs topped 650 yards on the ground and combined for nine touchdowns. The drawback with Smith is that he does not possess Brooks’ explosiveness as Brooks bested his yards per carry by nearly two full yards (Smith 4.3 YPC, Brooks 6.0 YPC). Still, Smith should have a healthy amount of carries in Minnesota’s offense this year. The primary concern will be his touchdown chances given that Brooks will likely get the first crack at those and quarterback Mitch Leidner is a threat on the ground running the read option in short-yardage situations.