Purdue Football: Running Backs This Fall

Purdue is loaded at running back. Especially with the upperclassmen. It really is a guess game when trying to figure out who may or may not be the starter. Last year, it was running back by committee and I think that trend continues this year. We used Tario Fuller, Markell Jones, Richie Worship and D.J. Knox.

So, this is my best, shot in the dark depth chart look for this upcoming season.

Starters:

1. Markell Jones - Columbus, Indiana, Senior
2. D.J. Knox - Fairburn, Georgia, Senior

Markell finished the year very strong. With great outings against IU and in the bowl game. With his strong finish and threat as a receiver out of the backfield, I have listed as the #1. I think it took him a while to get in the groove of the new offense, but after he did, we saw flashes of Markell from his freshman year.

D.J. was consistent all year. He has great speed and great power. He is listed at 5’7” and is the bowling ball of the back field. D.J. is probably the best blocker in pass protection and you may see him in on pure passing downs for that reason. He is also a threat out of the backfield. Really, I would be happy with either one of these guys as our starting running back this upcoming season.

Depth:

1. Richie Worship - Cleveland, Ohio, Junior
2. Tario Fuller - Sugar Hill, Georgia, Junior

Richie, the true power back, added some finesse to his game last year. He had some nice catches out of the backfield, a memorable one against Lousiville, and has shown to be capable of being more than in between the tackles type of guy. Coach Barclay said himself, he likes all of the backs to be Swiss army knives, Richie just needs to fine tune his pass pro and receiving skills. For short yardage he is perfect.

Tario was the full time starter early on in the season last year. He had a solid game against Louisville. But, he had great games against Ohio and Missouri. He as cruising along until his season ending injury. He has still be nursing that injury. He did not participate in the spring and has been limited this summer from what I have heard. Until he is healthy, I have him 4th. But, he can easily slide all the way to the top with his talent.

Deep Reserves:

1. Alexander Horvath - Mishawaka, Indiana, RS Freshman

An in state walk on with a build like Zeus, Horvath is going to find himself playing time in his years at Purdue. This year, there is too many guys in front of him. Horvath will help us a ton on special teams. He really does have the build of Zeus, this man is huge.

Redshirt:

1. Evan Anderson - Suwanee, Georgia, Freshman

Anderson will take a reshirt year to continue to develop, but he is a nice back with home run speed that we picked up late last recruiting cycle. Evan is about 6’1”, 220, he is built similar to Markell, but I do think he has a bit better break away speed. He will be good for us in the near future.