Texas – Three players from the Houston area have made names for themselves as part of Texa A&M’s core running back rotation: Klein Collins’s Isaiah Spiller, Fort Bend Dulles’s Ainias Smith and Fort Bend Marshall’s Devon Achane.
With a couple new additions from the 2021 recruiting class, the Aggies have a plethora of running back depth heading into the fall.
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Here’s A&M’s running back outlook in 2021:
Key returnees: Isaiah Spiller (junior), Ainias Smith (junior), Devon Achane (sophomore), Darvon Hubbard (sophomore), Earnest Crownover (sophomore), Deondre Jackson (sophomore), Bladen Reaves (redshirt sophomore)
One of the most loaded positions, A&M sometimes had trouble balancing its three star rushers, Spiller, Smith and Achane. Spiller and Smith took the majority of snaps throughout the season even as Spiller battled an injury, but Achane got his chance to shine late in 2020. Finding a balanced rotation with the three will allow A&M to keep the trio’s legs fresh while also maximizing their output.
Why production could be better:
Spiller got pretty banged up throughout the season, dealing with an unspecified lower leg injury through much of the second half of 2020. Keeping him healthy while also utilizing him to the best of his abilities will be a tricky line for A&M to walk, but it is a must for A&M to do just as well and better this fall.
Why production could be worse:
While the Aggies have a lot of talent at the running back position, the offensive line also played a large role in their success. With four of the five members of the line entering the NFL draft, A&M may have trouble replicating the same success in 2021.
Overall outlook:
The Aggies seem to have solved the running back problems they faced a year ago, which left Spiller and Smith as A&M’s only scholarship players at the position by the end of the 2019 season. Not only do the Aggies have high levels of talent in the Houston trio Spiller, Smith and Achane, but they also have depth at the position, something they didn’t have two years ago. Throw 2021 four-star signee LJ Johsnon from Cy-Fair into the mix, and A&M has the opposite of a depth problem.
