Brian Hill was one of the most productive runners in college football this season.
In a year where it seems like more players than usual have made the decision to stay in school, we have a couple of running backs entering early in Brian Hill of Wyoming and Jeremy McNichols of Boise State.
It’s worth that while I mentioned a high number of players are returning to school, one position that seems completely unaffected is the running back spot where we’ve already seen underclassmen Leonard Fournette, Christian McCaffrey and D’Onta Freeman declare, with Dalvin Cook a virtual certainty to join them.
Hill leaves the Cowboys as the most productive running back in the school’s history.
He finished third in college football in rushing yards this season while being named First Team All-Mountain West in the process.
Solidly built at 6-1. 219-pounds, Hill served as a true workhorse for Wyoming in 2016, carrying the ball 349 times for 1860 yards and 22 touchdowns. There will be some concerns about the high carry total and questions about his overall skill set as he caught just 8 passes on the year.
Hill is ranked as the #10 running back in the 2018 class by NFL Draft Scout.
Boise State’s McNichols celebrated his 21st birthday by announcing his intention to enter the NFL Draft.
“I feel like I’ve done everything I wanted to do at Boise State,” McNichols said Monday during Cactus Bowl media day in Phoenix. “I won a championship freshman year, won a couple bowl games, met a lot of great people in Boise, got great coaches behind me.”
McNichols is very aware of the short shelf-life of running backs.
“Playing running back, the lifespan is really short,” McNichols said. “… Talking to Jay was huge. He mentored me through the whole process.”
The 5-9. 212-poind McNichols carried the ball 314 times for 1709 yards and 23 scores in 2016. Unlike Hill, he’s also proven to be a weapon catching the ball, hauling in 103 passes over his three seasons in Boise.
NFL Draft Scout ranks McNichols as the #5 running back in the 2018 class, behind only Fournette, Cook, McCaffrey, and Royce Freeman (who is returning to Oregon).
