Pokes Position Breakdown: Running Backs
LARAMIE -- Wyoming football season is right around the corner.
Jay Sawvel and his team will hit the practice fields in Laramie July 28, kicking off training camp just 31 days ahead of the Cowboys Thursday night opener at Akron.
Nearly 50 new players -- both freshmen and portal signings -- litter this new-look roster as this program attempts to put a disappointing 3-9 season even further in the rear-view mirror. Hopefully you're learning about all the new faces in our summer series Welcome to Wyoming Football.
According to ESPN, UW returns 56% of its production (104 combined starts) from last season, including its leading rusher (Sam Scott), receiver (Jaylen Sargent) and tight end (John Michael Gyllenborg). Three offensive linemen -- Wes King, Jack Walsh and Caden Barnett -- are back in the fold, too. So is quarterback Kaden Anderson, who took the reins late in 2024.
Now, let's break down this team, position by position, ahead of Mountain West Media Days July 16-17 in Las Vegas:
PLAYERS | Terron Kellman, Max White, *Sam Scott, Damashja Harris, Jaden Lawrence, Nico Hamilton, Patrick Broadway, Samuel "Tote" Harris, Dontae Burch, Nikos Varelas (* - Presumed starter)
POSITION COACH | Gary Harrell - 1st season
WHAT TO WATCH | Who will rise to the top spot in the running backs room this fall? That will likely be determined in training camp, if at all. Jay Sawvel said he isn't afraid to utilize a running back by committee. The second-year head coach might be facing that exact scenario. Terron Kellman, a junior transfer from Charlotte, won the eye test this spring. He's big, powerful and elusive. The 5-foot-8, 210-pound Maryland product was involved in a number of collisions throughout the Cowboys' 15 practices. Sam Scott, last year's leading rusher with 435 yards, was sidelined with a lingering knee issue in camp. Can one of the rookie make an early impact? Patrick Broadway II rushed for nearly 3,000 yards in the highest classification of Texas High School football. Jaden Lawrence broke all the rushing records at Colorado's Legend High School. Samuel "Tote" Harris averaged better than nine yards per carry as a senior. A late addition to the roster, Damashja Harris, has the goods. The North Texas transfer is listed at 6-foot-4, 224 pounds. He gashed Stephen F. Austin for 142 yards on the ground before being lost for the season with an injury. Harris, like Iowa transfer Max White, could also be fixtures on special teams.
SUMMARY | When it comes to the year-end stat sheet, Wyoming is typically only staring up at Air Force when it comes to the rushing category. That was not the case in 2024. The Cowboys instead slid into the No. 8 spot, averaging just 137.8 yards per game. Why? Let us count the reasons. Presumed starter Harrison Waylee again suffered a preseason injury that cost him most of the season. No worries. North Carolina transfer DJ Jones was waiting in the wings. The senior managed just 162 yards on 57 attempts before abruptly leaving the program. Dawaiian McNeely capped his Wyoming career with two carries last fall. He was injured on both snaps. That left Sam Scott and Jamari Ferrell to carry the load. Those two combined for more than 700 yards and just four touchdowns. Sawvel said he hesitated to bench an ineffective Evan Svoboda, who was the starting quarterback through the first eight games, because he was the main cog in a largely inconsistent rushing attack. The junior signal caller accounted for 237 yards and crossed the goal line a team-best five times. While the race to the starter's role will be fun to watch, this likely will take a group effort. The combination of power and speed from this unit, aside from Kellman, wasn't exactly on display in the spring. Jevon Davis and Nikos Varelas, both listed as safeties in '24, filled in throughout. Scott was injured. Five of these guys -- Samuel "Tote" Harris, Jaden Lawrence, Patrick Broadway, Max White and Damashja Harris -- weren't yet on campus. Nico Hamilton, who had his troubles holding onto the ball, suffered an injury during the annual spring game. He is expected to be ready to go July 28 when camp opens. Like the wideouts and tight ends, this unit should benefit greatly from consistency under center and in the trenches. Health and depth, something Sawvel said the staff focused on this offseason, will also be crucial.
QUOTABLE | "Like it was for the defense when I told you that before the spring, it's blank. It's a whiteboard. It's wide open. Nothing will get decided on that. And, look, starting running back, there's going to be multiple guys play anyway. Very rarely do you have one guy that you give it to 35 times. That was Ashton Jeanty at Boise State. The ideal thing, you're going to need somebody to carry it 20 times, and somebody to carry it 12 and probably somebody else that could get you a couple carries in some way, shape or form. If you're naïve enough to think that the one guy that's getting 20 lasts all 12 games, you better have depth. We're going to have depth at running back. That was one of the things that we've committed ourselves to was to have extra running backs that we carry," UW head coach Jay Sawvel said in April when asked who will start in the backfield this fall.
OTHER POSITIONS:
University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players
Gallery Credit: 7220Sports.com
- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players