College Football: 5 running backs who’ll contend for Heisman Trophy in 2020

Rakeem Boyd was a beneficiary of chaos in 2019. As Arkansas limped to an inept 2-10 record, the lone bright spot on the offense was the tailback. He gained 1,133 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground, and added 160 yards receiving. Those are solid numbers, but he could see huge jumps in 2020 for a few big reasons.

The first of those being the arrival of quarterback Feleipe Franks. After spending last year as the only threat that opposing defenses had to contend with, Boyd will now have a respectable passing attack to take a big chunk of the focus off of him. He’ll still be weapon number one for the Razorbacks, but that list won’t end after him anymore.

Arkansas also spent most of 2019 playing from behind, and a lot of that time they weren’t just down, but down big. Those situations are the opposite of conducive to production on the ground. With less time spent playing from big deficits, the Razorback rushing attack will have a much bigger role in the coming season.

That improvement, of course, will come courtesy of an overhauled coaching staff. Sam Pittman is the new head coach in Fayetteville, and that should excite Boyd. Pittman’s previous role was as the offensive line coach under Kirby Smart at Georgia. Pittman’s offensive lines paved the way for Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, and D’Andre Swift, all tremendously successful backs.

Additionally, offensive coordinator Kendall Briles will be calling the plays. He was a 2015 finalist for the Broyles Award, and should be a big asset to an offense that was disappointing under Chad Morris.

In a year of improvement for the Hogs, it is Boyd that could see the biggest jump.