In the last 25 years, who are the WPIAL RB's to rush for more then 1,000+ at the P5 level?
Miles Sanders
James Connor
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Miles Sanders
James Connor
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WPIAL RB's to rush for 1,000 yards?
- Thread starter steelcurtain55.
- Start date
They played in the WPIAL for a brief period of time.
When Conner was there?? Don't remember that, but could be?
Outside of Sanders and Connor, what WPIAL alums have rushed for 1,000+ at the P5 in the last 25 years?
We'll never know, but I think Lamont Wade, Jordan Whitehead, and Khaleke Hudson might have had a chance - particularly the latter two. Seems like there is definitely a surge of WPIAL guys who could play either side of the ball to choose defense as of late.
I can think back to 2017 when we couldn't get anything going running the ball. Narduzzi put Whitehead in at that Syracuse game, and it was easy to see that he had a gear Hall and Ollison did not. I have zero doubt he'd have been a 1,500-yard guy if he chose to play that position.
I can think back to 2017 when we couldn't get anything going running the ball. Narduzzi put Whitehead in at that Syracuse game, and it was easy to see that he had a gear Hall and Ollison did not. I have zero doubt he'd have been a 1,500-yard guy if he chose to play that position.
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This is what I was going to ask ... Let's set 1,000 yard seasons aside; which WPIAL players from the past 25 years have been P5 starters at the RB position?
Lamont Wade ends up short...
He's talking about doing it at the P5 level, not against the Burgettstown Bowlegged Buttholes.
Only busts that come to mind are Andrew Johnson, Shai McKenzie, and Russell Shell. Not counting guys like Cam Saddler and Derrick Davis who weren't solely running backs in college. I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but it seems like for the most part the better WPIAL players are choosing other positions.
Yeah, but you were on top of your research game this morning, in spite of that! 👏
You know, they really ought to come up with a new nickname for that school district.
Look at this even further. How many 1st rd picks out of the WPIAL/City over the last 25 years? AD. Revis. Hooker from New Castle. And???? Anyone else?
I don't think any of those guys could actually... that's why they made position switches. Rushell Shell was probably the only one who could have, I thought he had the size to take every down punishment of a back. Hard to say though, save for Barry Sanders and Derrick Henry, just about every back is only as good as the teammates blocking in front of them.
Whitehead had 43 carries in college for 362 yards. Assuming that's about a two game workload, that extrapolates to 2,353 yards in a season. Of course it's not apples to apples, as some (most?) of those weren't out of the backfield, and he wasn't enduring the number of hits you mentioned. But even if safety was his best position, which can't be anything more than assumed, it doesn't mean he couldn't have succeeded elsewhere as well. As an athlete, he jumped off the page more than Hall and Ollison, who had three 1,000-yard seasons between them.
As for Hudson, I thought he was an absolute animal at running back. In my opinion, he had some of the best WPIAL running back film since Lavar.
I think the point you are making is ... anyone who cares about WPIAL recruits going elsewhere needs their head examined.
Power 5? The answer is Miles Sanders. That's it. Do you think the WPIAL is sending 1000 yard rushers to the SEC or Pac 12?
I wouldn't call Shell a bust. Maybe he didn't live up to some expectations, but he still ran for 2600 yards & 24 TDs in 4 years at the p5 level.
Kevan Barlow, maybe he falls outside the timeframe? Larod S-H was close.
Boyd went on to have multiple 1000 yard receiving seasons after being a very productive running back in high school. Not at RB, but impressive as a WR.
after the VaTech game his freshman year, I thought Shell was going to be the next big thing. Kind of think both sides were wrong; Shell thinking he was gracing Pitt with his presence and maybe not working as hard as he should, and Chryst being a hard a-- and not realizing that maybe sometimes you can have two different sets of rules.
But all's well that ends well as maybe Conner didn't explode onto the scene and remained on defense instead of switching to RB. Conner one of the best RB's to play here and has been a solid pro while Shell is doing what exactly?
Sanders really fizzled after leaving the Eagles, but he had a great situation with the nits where he came out of college without a lot of wear and tear on his body. I think if Narduzzi would have been here a year earlier Sanders may have committed; this was before Narduzzi lost his recruiting mojo.
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