Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey seemed to separate themselves as the top two running backs in college football but why are they both successful?
Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey seem to be the top two running backs in all of college football. They are both able to take the ball and do remarkable things. The sports news media has also hyped up both players as likely Heisman trophy finalists this season. While they both do put up similar numbers to one another, there are some pretty big differences in the two playing styles.
Starting with Fournette, he is seen as more of an athletic power back. Most of this has to do with his size, as Fournette is 6’1 and 235 pounds. He is able to run behind his line and power his way towards the end zone. Fournette is also always moving forward to gain yards, rather than go up and down the line. While he excels at running the ball with good ball instincts, Fournette is far from a polished receiver. He caught only 19 passes out of the backfield last season, and was only able to convert one pass into a touchdown.
McCaffrey is more of a student of the college football game that relies heavily on his instincts. His dad, Ed, was a star receiver for the Broncos a few years ago and his gameplay seems to have rubbed off on his son. McCaffrey doesn’t have the size of Fournette, standing at 6’0 and 200 pounds. But one aspect that McCaffrey has an edge on over Fournette is that he does a little of everything with the ball, not exclusively run. He was the key to the Stanford offense last season and caught 45 passes, five of them for touchdowns.
Still, despite these different playing styles, both Fournette and McCaffrey have put up similar numbers. Even though there is an obvious difference in the receiving category, both Fournette and McCaffrey have similar rushing numbers, Fournette rushing for 1,953 yards last season and McCaffrey rushing for 2,019. Their return numbers are even strikingly similar, with both players returning a kick for a touchdown.
Looking deeper into the future, if both players end up making a move to the NFL, Fournette seems like the back that more college sports news media outlets are interested in. He does play in the tougher conference and has the NFL size. McCaffrey, however, seems to fit the mold of the new NFL running back, with his ability to a little of everything.
Regardless of how they do going forward, both Fournette and McCaffrey look to be two great players to watch going into the college football season.
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