Ranking the Big Ten: Running Back
As the 2022 college football season quickly approaches, it is time to look at the top players in the Big Ten Conference.
We continue our Ranking the Big Ten series by ranking the top five running backs in the conference.
Related: QB
1. Braelon Allen, Wisconsin
It’s Braelon Allen’s Big Ten, everyone else is just living in it.
Allen returns in 2022 for Wisconsin after setting the all-time record for most references to a player’s age in a television broadcast. All jokes aside, Allen pulled off one of the most impressive seasons ever for a 17-year-old in collegiate athletics.
He rushed for 1,258 yards and 12 touchdowns while averaging 4.48 yards after contact, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). He did all of that despite having 12 carries in the first four games of the season.
He set his season-high rushing total against Nebraska when he racked up 228 yards on the ground to go along with three touchdowns.
When the dust had settled in 2021, Allen had become one of four Badgers to run for over 1,000 yards as a true freshman, joining the likes of Ron Dayne, James White, and Jonathan Taylor. Allen was named an All-Big Ten second-team selection in 2021 and is preseason First-Team All-Big Ten in both Lindy’s and Athlon Sports.
Wisconsin seems to print running back talent, and Allen has the potential to become one of the Badgers’ best. He’s potentially the most fascinating player in the Big Ten for 2022.
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2. Mohamed Ibrahim, Minnesota
From the one of the youngest backs in the Big Ten, to the oldest.
Mohamed Ibrahim has been banging off bodies and breaking into the open field since 2018. He’s back for more of the same in 2022 following a season-ending Achilles’ injury in the first week of the 2021 season.
In his career, Ibrahim has rushed for over 3,000 yards, 33 touchdowns, and has fumbled just twice on 548 carries. 2020 was his last “full” season, in which he led the Big Ten in rushing yards (1,079), touchdowns (15), rushes of 10+ yards (30) and 15+ yards (17).
He won the Big Ten rushing title that year by over 200 yards and had five more rushing touchdowns than second-place finisher Stevie Scott III of Indiana.
Ibrahim is Lindy’s No. 18 national running back for 2022 and is a preseason All-Big Ten second-team selection in both Lindy’s and Athlon Sports. Questions about explosiveness may remain early in the season, but Ibrahim will undoubtably give defensive coordinators fits all season.
3. TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State
Treveyon Henderson is the second running back on this list who had an outstanding true freshman season.
Just like Allen at Wisconsin, Henderson became the fourth Ohio State Buckeye true freshman to surpass 1,000 yards in program history. He broke a 49-year-old record against Tulsa when he set OSU’s freshman rushing record with a 270-yard showing.
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Henderson has the highest preseason honors on this list after making the Big Ten’s second team in 2021. He is preseason First-Team All-Big Ten in both Lindy’s and Athlon. Henderson is on Lindy’s preseason All-American second team, in addition to being the preseason Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and the No. 3 running back in the country.
Henderson’s 2021 PFF run grade is the second highest among returning backs in the Big Ten.
4. Blake Corum, Michigan
What a sophomore campaign it was for Blake Corum and his Michigan Wolverines.
The Wolverine revival led to a 12-win season, a Big Ten Championship, and a College Football Playoff appearance. The one-two punch of Corum (944 yards) and Hassan Haskins (1,327 yards) was one of the best in the nation. As a result of split carries, Corum is the only player on this list to not rush for 1,000 yards in 2021.
With Haskins in the NFL, that backfield belongs to Corum in 2022.
Corum’s PFF run grade of 91.1 was the best in the Big Ten in 2021 and his offensive grade of 89.0 is the best among returning players. That was the No. 6 national run grade tied with Bijan Robinson of Texas.
He is an All-Big Ten second-team selection in Athlon and All-Big Ten third team in Lindy’s, as well as the No. 19 running back in the country.
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5. Chase Brown, Illinois
Chase Brown may be the most unrecognized name on this list, but he deserves to be in the same conversation as the names above.
After earning a All-Big Ten third team selection in 2021, Brown is poised for a big year and has multiple preseason honors. He is the No. 19 running back in the country according to Lindy’s and a preseason All-Big Ten second-team selection in Athlon.
Brown ran for 1,005 yards and five touchdowns in 2021 and was about as boom-or-bust as it gets. He had two games in which he ran for more than 200 yards and two additional games with more than 100 yards rushing. Those games add up to 73.5% of his rushing production.
He had four other games in which he failed to eclipse 50 yards rushing.
Brown’s 2021 run grade, according to PFF, was No. 5 in the Big Ten. His rushing total is fourth among returners, and his yards per carry is fifth. He deserves a spot on this list, to be sure, but consistency will be a sticking point this season.
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