The special teams only has one coach -- Larry Lewis -- so despite their multiple positions (kickers, returners, etc.), they were easy to bundle together.
However, the offense is a little different in that there are more positions with unique responsibilities. For example, we can't just group the wide receivers and tight ends together because even though they both catch passes, they need totally different skill sets and thus have different coaches.
This means that these previews for the next few weeks -- starting with this one -- will be a little more specific. I will keep the same general format listing the starters and the depth behind them, but because the groups are more narrow, I will devote more time to specific players. For example, technically only one running back is listed as a starter -- Kevin Parks. However, I can't just list Parks and then include everyone else under depth, so I will also add a role of a third down back in this post (along with a fullback). Each week will be a little different depending on the position unit, so I just thought I'd throw that out there.
Now let's get back to business -- running backs. Just like the special teams, they are coached by Larry Lewis. According to his bio on virginiasports.com, his first season coaching running backs was just three years ago in 2011. He has really coached everything from defensive ends to safeties to receivers to now running backs.
To his credit, despite little experience coaching the running back position, he has produced some excellent runners. At Nevada in 2011, he coached Stefohon Jefferson, who rushed for 1,883 yards and 24 touchdowns -- both second in FBS that season. Then last season here at Virginia, Kevin Parks was the first 1,000-yard rusher since Alvin Pearman in 2004. Obviously it helps when you're coaching good players, but he certainly aided both of these runners to their historic seasons.
Entering 2014, we will have basically the same running back depth chart we did last season. The newcomer, Jordan Ellis, shouldn't need to contribute this season. We lost no one to graduation, and the only departure via transfer was Kye Morgan, who never showed promise and had since been recruited over.
Returning are the big three, if you will, at running back -- Parks, Taquan "Smoke" Mizzell, and Khalek Shepherd. These guys should handle the bulk of the carries. This threesome provides a great stable of backs that, in my opinion, rivals anyone in the ACC. Obviously Parks is the bell-cow, but Smoke has been lighting it up in practice. And Shepherd can spell either of them. Fullback provides some questions, but as we use more and more of the shotgun and pistol formations, the fullback's importance has decreased anyways.
I like the look of this group. Now let's delve a little bit deeper.
Running back likely starter: Kevin Parks (Sr.)
There is little question here -- Parks is our main guy. He will receive the bulk of the carries. Despite Parks's lack of recruiting hype -- he was only a three star player -- we in Charlottesville knew we could have a special back. He set basically every high school rushing record in North Carolina -- he was on the map.
After receiving the benefit of a redshirt during his first year on grounds, he exploded onto the scene as a redshirt freshman, rushing for three touchdowns in his debut against William and Mary. In that Chick-fil-a bowl season, he lead our team with nine rushing touchdowns and added 709 yards on the ground while splitting carries with Perry Jones.
After a similar sophomore season, we know how 2013 went -- in an abysmal offense, he was our lone bright spot. If it was not for Parks, this offense might not have ever gone for more than 200-yards in a game -- he was that important. He rushed 227 times for 1,031 yards. Shepherd had the second most rush yards among running backs with 315 (David Watford was actually second on the team in rushing with 373 yards, although he averaged just 2-yards per carry).
Parks is built for this type of 'abuse'. At only 5'8" (and honestly, that's stretching it), he is every bit of 205 pounds, and likely a good 10 pounds more. He is built like a tank. While he doesn't have game-breaking speed (his long of 61-yards was against a far inferior VMI squad), he can break out for 20 to 25 yard gains. Plus, his ability to bounce off of would-be tacklers allows him to gain plenty of extra yards after contact. He just keeps driving his legs and carrying defenders with him. This will help him get pretty high on the UVa all-time yardage list after next season.
We know his strength of running inside, but I think all of the UVa fan base under appreciates his skill set in the passing game. He is very solid in protection, willfully taking on linebackers. I cannot remember him ever being a liability in that regard. Also, his ability as a receiver is quite impressive. In 2014, he was tied for second on the team in receptions and also was third on the team in receiving yards. He had the longest reception on the team of 54 yards (which speaks to this offensive's inability to make big, explosive plays). Who can forget his one-handed catch and tumble into the endzone against Duke. The guy can play.
Unfortunately, there seems to be little love among NFL scouts for Parks's game. Basically, he does everything okay, but nothing good enough that he will jump off the charts. His lack of speed will really hurt him at the next level -- small running backs, even the power ones like MJD, need to be able to break off a long gain. I'm not sure if Parks will ever be that guy. If he chooses to play in Canada or something, he should continue to be a very good workhorse back.
Regardless, he was not named to Phil Steele's preseason All-ACC second team offense (UVa's lone offensive representative) for nothing. His pro career is in question, but he'll graduate as one of the best UVa tailbacks in recent memory.
Third down running back likely starter: Taquan Mizzell (So.)
Smoke had a largely disappointing 2013 season. The first consensus five-star to come to UVa since Eugene Monroe in 2005 battled injuries all season long. Everyone was dissapointed, including himself. I mean, the guy was the No. 5 running back in the class according to Rivals -- we all wanted a little more than his 184 yards on the ground and 164 through the air.
Smoke saw his carries decrease as the season went on, when it was clear Parks was the better option. The frustrating part was despite his struggles, we could all see his talent. With a fairly severe ankle sprain, he still was very quick on his carries and kick returns.
His real problem was a lack of vertical, forward movement. He would stay in generally the same spot or bounce a run out wide, but ultimately he never gained more than a few yards. He needs to stay smarter in his movement and focus more on getting upfield. Obviously a redshirt season would have been beneficial, but there was no way this guy was going to redshirt. He deserved to play.
Reports from spring camp and summer workouts say Smoke is on track to have a hell of a 2014 season. They say he has his initial burst back, and there are multiple highlights of him doing a fantastic job catching passes out of the backfield -- which is why I listed him as the third-down back. Smoke will be great running routes out of the backfield and even splitting out wide, which is why we need him in a third down role. He provides the explosiveness that we lacked on offense last season.
Mizzell will be the unquestioned starter in 2015 and 2016, although he is still likely to share carries. However, assuming he returns to pre-injury form (which he has yet to do on game-day in a UVa uniform), our backfield should be in good hands going forward.
Depth
The first player off the bench after Parks and Smoke will be senior Khalek Shepherd. Shepherd has been a solid contributor for all of his past three seasons at Virginia. He never developed into a starter, but he never needed to -- there was always an unquestioned better running back playing infront of him.
While we would have liked to have seen more from Shepherd -- a former three-star recruit -- we really cannot complain too much about his production. Stuck behind Parks and Jones his first and second year, he only received carries in garbage time. Last season, he received a few more opportunities, gaining 304 yards on the ground and 125 through the air. His stats might have been inflated if he had not missed the VMI game, but I've never been about stats -- they don't tell the whole picture.
If Shepherd had received more carries last season, I think he had the ability to put up around 700 yards as the lead running back. Obviously, if you're the main guy and not splitting carries, that would not be enough, which is why Parks took by far the most carries (Shepherd had just 51). However, he is the perfect backup running back. He has plenty of experience and he can run and catch out of the backfield. If Parks were to go down, it would likely be Shepherd -- not Smoke -- who would receive the majority of the carries. While he has always played a bigger role on special teams than on offense, his depth needs to be appreciated.
Waiting behind Shepherd is the sensational Daniel Hamm. Hamm came out of nowhere, literally. He did not receive a carry in either of the first two games against BYU and Oregon. Then with Shepherd and Smoke sitting out due to injury against VMI, he exploded to the tune of 136-yards. I had to take a look at the roster to even find out who #22 was.
Unfortunately, Hamm was injured the next week against Pitt and sat out the rest of the season. The good news though, is that Hamm received a medical hardship redshirt, meaning he still has four more years to contribute now that he is a redshirt freshman instead of a sophomore.
He likely won't receive many carries in 2014 with the emergence of Smoke, but he should be a solid contributor from 2015 until 2017. Hopefully we'll get to here announcers tell the story of a kid who didn't even receive any stars from recruiting services and how he became a stud. While this sounds absurd, I really liked the way he played against VMI. Yes, I know it was VMI, but he played the way you want a running back to play. He was quick to plant his foot and get upfield while maintaining a low center of gravity. Plus, he was a triple jump state champion in high school, so he still has speed. He has all of the intangibles to be a very good running back. Hopefully VMI was the rule and not an anomaly.
Behind Hamm is LaChaston Smith, who is a very, very weird case. He enrolled early as a linebacker for 2013 spring drills. However, for some reason, he was moved to running back during summer camp. While he had some success as a running back at the high school level, he was widely recruited as a linebacker -- ESPN even gave him four stars. But for whatever reason, to running back he went in August.
While the move can be debated and analyzed, the coaches ultimately thought Smith had more upside as a running back. I have no complaints there -- they know best. Where I will complain, however, is the fact that the coaches burned his redshirt for 10 garbage-time carries against VMI. That is absolutely absurd and almost unfair to Smith. By the time the VMI game rolled around, Smith had practiced as a running back for about a month, and had four or five guys clearly ahead of him on the depth chart. There is absolutely no reason why he needed to play against VMI. To make matters worse, he did not play again the rest of the season. It was a terrible, worthless move by this coaching staff.
On the brightside, he does seem to have potential as a runner. While I don't want to read too much into this, he hurdled a VMI player which was pretty sweet. At 230 pounds, his running style compares to that of a smaller Keith Payne or a less talented Marshawn Lynch. I doubt he'll ever be the primary guy, but he will be a good pounder and short-yardage back in 2015 and 2016.
A likely redshirt candidate will be Jordan Ellis. He is just a two-star prospect, but he has potential to become a solid, consistent ball carrier. He is not a homerun hitter, but he always moves forward, and keeps his legs moving. At 5'11" and 210 pounds, his style can be compared to Kevin Parks. It's doubtful he'll have the same impact as Parks did, but he could be a solid guy to rotate in.
With the benefit of the redshirt (which he should get due to our depth), he will have some time to develop and hopefully contribute. While it's not likely he would do much in 2015 as a redshirt freshman with Smoke, Hamm, and Smith ahead of him, he could begin to see some time in 2016 and 2017.
But really, who knows? Ellis could just as easily become a solid back as he could be recruited over. Only time will tell. Also as a side note, I would not put a move to fullback out of the question. As I will soon show, we have not had a good fullback since the Groh years (Jason Snelling and Rashawn Jackson). Ellis has the measurables to make such a move while still providing an offensive threat as a ball carrier or receiver in goal-line situations.
Lastly, I will mention redshirt freshman Anthony Calloway. I will commend him for playing running back at a FBS school at a mere 155 pounds. Unfortunately, unless he puts on at least 30 pounds or so, the Lynchburg product simply will not make it as a successful DI running back. Kudos to you, Anthony, but I don't really ever expect to see him take meaningful snaps.
Fullback likely starter: Connor Wingo-Reeves (So.)
Like I mentioned above, London has never had a true fullback. We have experimented with the likes of Terence Fells-Danzer, Max Millien, and Billy Skrobacz with little success. To run the true up the gut run game that London likes, we'll need a true fullback.
The problem with fullbacks is no one comes to college wanting to be a fullback. Even on high school teams, fullbacks are usually just linebackers who want some time on offense. Good fullbacks are tough to come by.
Wingo-Reeves, however, could become that guy. I'm not going to lie, he didn't look that great last year. At 6'3", he's definitely taller than you would prefer. He was a two-star player coming out of high school. While he played linebacker and tight end in high school, none of the recruiting services specified his position.
The reason I think he could do all right at fullback is because he was slated there from day 1. Fullbacks go by instinct as much as anything. They might be assigned a linebacker to block, but plays rarely go perfectly according to plan. The best guy can not only block, but also find the hole and allow the running back to run behind him. Whether Wingo-Reeves will become successful in the backfield remains to be determined, but the fact that he can develop and focus only on fullback plays to his benefit. I think he has the best shot of any fullback in the London era to play the position well.
Depth
Behind Wingo-Reeves are junior Vincent Croce and sophomore Israel Vaughan. Croce, listed as 6'-4" and 260 pounds, would be a huge fullback -- that is because we was widely recruited as a defensive tackle. In fact, basically every recruiting service gave him three-stars. I'm not sure when he made the switch to fullback, but I do know that he has never gained substantial playing time. After redshirting in 2011, he appeared in just four games in 2012 and eight in 2013. His only playing time in 2014 will probably be on special teams.
Similarly, Israel Vaughn is unlikely to see much of any playing time this season. He redshirted 2012 and only appeared in one game -- VMI -- in 2013. He was a high school quarterback, but he simply was not a collegiate-level quarterback. In terms of measurables, Vaughn seems to be the most ideal fullback on the roster. At 6' and 250 pounds along with his track background, he could be a bruiser. Unfortunately, he is listed as the third fullback on the depth chart for a reason. Maybe he can develop, but the odds don't seem in his favor. I doubt he'll see much action -- with the exception of special teams -- in 2014.
Conclusion
I don't think there is any doubt that the running backs are our deepest position unit on offense. We still are not at the point where if one guys goes down, I am just as confident in the next man up, but we would still have the ability to compensate for injury.
Parks is our main guy, no if's, and's, or but's. You don't rush for over 1,000 yards behind a pitiful offensive line and not get rewarded. Smoke -- if healthy -- should provide an explosive alternative to Parks's consistent inside rushing. And then when you throw in guys with some good game experience such as Shepherd and Hamm, the group starts to look pretty solid.
What also pleases me about this group is our mix of veterans and young-guns. Seniors Kevin Parks (who was voted a captain) and Khalek Shepherd have the experience to help out the younger backs. But even after Parks and Shepherd graduate, we should still be solid in the backfield. Parks' consistency will be hard to replace, but I am excited about the dynamic type of player Smoke can become. Furthermore, I see a little of the 2007 Mikell Simpson in Hamm (hopefully without the injury concerns). Even LaChaston Smith will contribute as a nice power back.
Let's face it, the Virginia offense has seen much better days. In fact, I'm not sure I remember a worse season than 2013. Even when we were starting Greg Olsen and Kevin McCabe at quarterback, we still had good offensive weapons in Kevin Ogletree along with a solid offensive line. Last year, we were devoid of any serious offensive weapons that struck fear into defenses.
While an argument can be made for Kevin Parks as a player that strikes fear into defenses, that wasn't really his game last season. Watford was really bad, so opposing defenses crowded the box and Parks had to reach 1,000 yards one five-yard carry at a time. This year though, I think Mizzell can be that offensive weapon that we so desperately lacked while Parks continues to grind the defense down.
This group cannot carry the offense -- it would take a backfield of Adrian Peterson and LeSean McCoy to do that. But this group should be just as good if not better than last season with some help from a young offensive line. These guys won't win us any games -- it takes a quarterback to do that -- but they should keep us close enough to give Lambert a fighting chance. When running backs are becoming less and less important, you can't ask for much more.
Next Week: Wide Receivers
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