A brief history of Texas high school running backs

I realized (somehow for the first time) that Ronald Jones II who has committed to Oklahoma State is rated as the No. 1 running back in the state of Texas by ESPN. My first though: That must be a hell of a historical list.

So let’s take a gander.

Here are the last 10 No. 1 ranked RBs from the state of Texas according to ESPN:[1. For some reason ESPN only separates by state back to 2011 so for 2010 and earlier I flipped over to 247. Comparable, though.]

2014

Samaje Perine (OU): Hasn’t done anything yet. Probably just got to campus.

2013

Keith Ford (OU): Averaged five yards a carry, had 46 yards against Tulsa.

2012

Johnathan Gray (Texas): He has 1,500 yards and 7 TDs in two years with the Horns but you’d probably expect more out of the best back in Texas.

2011

Malcolm Brown (Texas): 2,000 yards, 18 TDs for UT. Decent, not elite. Pretty similar to what Gray has given.

2010

Lache Seastrunk (Baylor): If Jones is 3/4 what Seastrunk was then we’re good.

2009

Christine Michael (A&M): Rushed for nearly 3K yards and 34 TDs in College Station. Also averaged 5.3 yards per carry. Strong.

2008

Jermie Calhoun (OU): Rushed 56 times for 202 yards in his career in Norman. Hurt his knee and finished up at Angelo State.

2007

Bradley Stephens (A&M): 4.4 yards per carry career average and one total TD. Bust.

2006

Mike Goodson (A&M): Let’s move on.

2005

Jamaal Charles (Texas): 3,300 yards on a 6.2 YPC average and 36 TDs. Monster.

2004

AD (OU): You have heard of this man, yes?

2003

Erik Hardeman (Texas): The first result that pops up when you Google him is “writeaprisoner.com” so I’m guessing that ended badly.

2002

Selvin Young (Texas): One of the more underrated dudes on that ’05 title team.

2001

Cedric Benson (Texas): Remember when Texas used to always get the best RB in Texas?

So the results aren’t as gaudy as I would have thought. Benson, Charles, and AD were genuine stars. Young, Michael and Seastrunk were all good players and the jury is still out on a lot of these guys.