College Football: Top 30 skill position players for 2019 season
By Dakota Cox
Greg McCrae grew into the star running back for UCF, and they are going to have to rely on him more as a junior. With McKenzie Milton out for the year at quarterback, UCF will need more from the running game if they want to go undefeated in the regular season for the third straight season.
One issue with McCrae is that he has to share carries with Adrian Killins. The latter will be a senior this year, but McCrae is clearly the better back. I’m not sure how the Knights will handle the situation, but McCrae is going to have to get his carries. He’s simply too good to leave on the sideline, and proved that last year with 1182 rushing yards.
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With Brandon Wimbush at quarterback, the team should be pretty good. However, they will be great if they go through McCrae on offense.
Oregon is bringing back a great offense for 2019, and a lot of it is because of their running backs. Justin Herbert will be great with the passing game, but Oregon has one of the best running back duos in college football. The key back for the Ducks is CJ Verdell.
Last season, Verdell barely got over 1,000 rushing yards, but he got 10 touchdowns for the Ducks. He also added a couple of receiving touchdowns — he doesn’t get flashy with his carries. As soon as the football is in his hands, he gets down the field in a hurry and he is not afraid to truck over a defender, and he is often successful.
Verdell can get you a consistent five yards a carry. He doesn’t always get the huge play in the running game, but he rarely gets tackled for a loss. Despite sharing the backfield with Travis Dye, he will get plenty of yards as Oregon tries to steal the Pac-12 title from Washington and Utah.