Penn State Football: Way too early offensive position group rankings

2. Running Backs 

This time a year ago, running back would have been the landslide choice for the top spot on these rankings. However, some injury concerns and a newcomer have dropped this group a spot.

Freshman Keyvone Lee was the breakout player of 2020 on offense, leading the team in rushing with 438 yards and four touchdowns. Lee was used primarily in a backup role until the trip to Ann Arbor where he took over the job, rushing for 134 yards. Lee is cut from a similar cloth of Noah Cain, a down hill physical runner but also has incredible patience and vision.

The potential X-factor for this offense next fall is the health of sophomore back Noah Cain who suffered an apparent achilles injury on the first drive of the season against Indiana. Cain was impressive in his freshman campaign, but also dealt with injuries then as well. Cain is a one-cut, downhill back like Lee however has great burst for a big back and talent wise is the best the Nittany Lions have.

Transfer John Lovett from Baylor is intriguing because he too is a big physical runner, but has a lot of experience in over 300 rushing attempts in his college career. He was awarded a single digit number at Baylor in every season, a number given to a player who exemplifies exceptional leadership and dedication to the program.

Once again in 2021, this group will be deep and it will be interesting to see how running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider rotates them throughout the season.