Who will be Penn State’s top rusher this season? Ja’Juan Seider says not to count anyone out
It’s easy to pencil Journey Brown as Penn State’s starting running back next season. The last time he took the field for the Nittany Lions he ran for 202 yards and two touchdowns on only 16 carries in their 53-39 Cotton Bowl win over Memphis to close out 2019.
While Brown may have finished last season at the top of the depth chart, run game coordinator and running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider isn’t ready to count anyone out of the races for touches.
“I think (Brown and Noah Cain) are going to do a great job going forward,” Seider said Tuesday morning in a teleconference with the media. “But be cautious. Don’t count out Devyn Ford. ... I think he’s a kid that you’re going to see another whole level of Devyn going forward. ... I view all three of those guys as starters in my mind right now.”
The trio of backs rushed for 1,627 yards and should see that number increase for a myriad of reasons. Cain and Ford should see improvement now that they’ve each and a year in the program, while Brown didn’t hit his stride late into the season.
“The last four or five games, and I know I’m biased, but I thought Journey Brown was playing as good as any running back in the country,” Seider said. “He’s got freakish athletic ability and strength that he’s finally starting to tap into.”
Brown has shown the most production of the three backs, racking up 890 rushing yards to lead the team last year.
He did so despite being the only back on the roster who was rated as a three-star running back out of high school, with the others ranking as four stars.
Now that he has the job, Brown will have to fend off even more talent next season.
Freshmen Caziah Holmes and Keyvone Lee will join the rotation, and both were rated as four-star running backs out of Florida. Holmes got to campus in January, in part, to get a headstart on the season, but lost a key part of that opportunity when spring practice was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Even so, Holmes was able to get past a key part in the transition to college in his time on campus.
“He got over the homesickness,” Seider said. “(Mid-year enrollees) come in January and most of the coaches are on the road recruiting. So he didn’t get to see the same faces that were recruiting him.”
The incoming freshman brings in a unique skill set in the stable of five backs. He can excel as a pass-catcher and has the ability to line up in the slot at wide receiver down the road. He should have an opportunity to earn snaps early in his career.
His classmate, however, is more of an unknown because he didn’t get to campus early.
“I don’t really like to talk about the kids until they get here,” Seider said. “I think he’ll be a kid who’ll fit our room. He’s built the right way.”
Even if Lee is more of an unknown than the other four running backs, he still has the talent to factor in the rotation this season. That will give Seider five running backs to manage this year, one more than last year, when no back carried the ball more than 129 times and only one surpassed 100 touches.
All five will have to be at their best to earn their share this season. That should lead to healthy competition in preseason camp, whenever that may be. Seider said some of the competition already started this offseason.
“I thought what really was cool was all of (those) guys pushing themselves to run with Journey,” Seider said. “They were trying to compete and beat him in some of the spring drills. Just different things to compete to get that competitive nature going.”
Seider has taught the unit to push for the starting job and build off its success in 2019. For now that means fighting to take Brown’s spot, who is doing everything he can to run away with the lead he has.
“It’s amazing to see,” Seider said about Brown’s play last season. “I thought the last five games he was playing as good as Miles (Sanders) played the year before. ... The way he was making safeties miss and outracing the defense, that’s impressive. You don’t wake up with that gift every day. I think he’s tapping into it. I don’t think he’s satisfied. I think he’s hungry because now he’s got a taste of it and realizes how good he can be going forward.”
This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 5:18 PM.
