Oklahoma State Stockpiling Talent at Running Back

After the 2016 season, the backfield in Stillwater will look a whole lot different with new faces in and familiar faces out. Chris Carson, Rennie Childs, and Barry J. Sanders will all be without eligibility after next year. Which means after 2016, there should be a major shakeup with fresh bodies and a very young group set to shoulder the load. Overall, the Oklahoma State staff has prepared themselves very well to absorb the losses of those veteran players.

In 2016, Oklahoma State was able to land a solid two-back class: Booker T. Washington’s Justice Hill and Desoto speedster LaDarren Brown.

Brown may be one who could benefit from a redshirt next year, while Hill, who had a monster season for the Tulsa powerhouse school, could be a sleeper competitor in fall camp. I’ve been told by several that he has transformed his body this offseason, which could position him well to possibly land somewhere on the depth chart by the season opener.

Beyond the two signees who will be on campus soon, the 2017 recruiting class is already loaded with ready-made talent who could have a real shot to play immediately.

As it stands there are two verbal commitments in the class: Thunder and Lightning.

JD King, the explosive, physically dominating back from Fitzgerald, Georgia, is Thunder. King embraces contact and is incredible at finishing runs off with power and excels in pass protection. Here’s his scouting report via Scout.com:

King is a downhill running back who knows how to run with power and authority. He carries tacklers with him and gets yards after contact. He does run a tad high, so he can run better behind his pads. He is a back who looks for contact and is at his best when going north-south. King knows how to hit the hole and he does not do a lot of dancing around. His speed is solid, but he can improve his burst and top-end speed. You will not see a lot of wiggle. He is unselfish and is a solid blocker out of the backfield.

King is similar to senior back Rennie Childs in that he’s more of a hit-the-hole and get upfield back. He won’t juke and jive you, but his ability to pass protect and put his pads down to get tough yards could definitely bode well for his playing time in 2017. With his size and mindset, at the least I could see him developing into a real goal-line option similar to what Dez Roland developed into.

Lightning, on the other hand, may make this 2017 pair the most intriguing running back duo in the country. Cuba Hubbard, the Canadian speedster, is more of a raw talent at running back than King. Hubbard is a track star who can complement King well and bring a whole different skill set to the table. Hubbard is your juke and jive back who doesn’t necessarily need to embrace contact in the way King does, because he can just flat out run away from you. Hubbard reportedly runs a 4.38 40-yard dash and is a national track champion in the 100-meter dash.

Although he can be seen as somewhat “raw” and the level of competition may be low comparative to other areas within the states, Hubbard certainly has all the physical tools to be an immediate impact guy in 2017. The 6-1, 190-pound speedster rushed for 3,213 yards and 40 touchdowns in his junior campaign, and if he can improve and sharpen his skills and get some more weight on before next year, there’s a real chance Hubbard and King could be a crazy Thunder-Lightning punch the Cowboys will need to replace the veteran talent they’ll lose after this year.