MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The position battle with the least amount of suspense in WVU training camp is for the starting running back spot. Leddie Brown cemented his status as the featured back long ago.
Brown rushed for 1,010 yards in his 10-game junior season. He was the nation’s 14th-leading rusher with 9 of the 13 backs ahead of him on the list playing in more games. Running backs coach and co-offensive coordinator Chad Scott recalls the moment he knew Brown was poised for a breakout season.
“It was April 29th (2020). He sent me a text that said, ‘I am tired of being overlooked. I’m going to ball, coach. I want to learn everything’. From that point, he just took his whole mental preparation and learned the entire playbook in and out, from run game to pass game. He caught the ball really well but we didn’t do a lot outside the backfield. He learned all the concepts. It was really from that point when he just took off from a maturity standpoint and a leadership standpoint,” Scott said.
Brown also proved himself proficient catching the football as well. His 31 receptions were tied for second-best on the team last fall. Scott has been busy on the chalkboard trying to find creative ways for No. 4 to get the ball in his hands from different angles.
“That was one of my biggest projects in the offseason, to find non-traditional touches and ways to get him the ball without physically handing it to him and letting him take a pounding. We have done a great job with that in the springtime of repping it and we are doing it right now.”
Although some quality depth appears to have been established behind Brown, keeping him fresh throughout the grind of a 12-game regular season will be a priority.
“It is a feel throughout the game. You get to the point where he is running really well and he is productive, you have a decent lead and there isn’t much time left in the game, you’d like to get him out. But if it is a close game, it is kind of a feel.”
Three more scholarship running backs are competing for playing time. Tony Mathis earned praise from head coach Neal Brown following Saturday’s scrimmage. Mathis had 18 carries for 55 yards and a touchdown last season. A’Varius Sparrow (3 rushes, 10 yards) is entering his second season in the program.
“(Sparrow) has got to continue to come along. Being in the program for a year, we would like to see him be a little further than where he is right now. He has capabilities to do it. He just has to do it,” Scott said.
A pair of freshmen running backs signed during the offseason but Jaylen Anderson has not yet arrived on campus. Justin Johnson, Jr. has showed potential in areas beyond just toting the football.
“Pass protection is the toughest responsibility for a young running back. First of all is the recognition of it. Second is the actual, physical part of picking up bigger guys that you have never picked up in your life. He has done a phenomenal job of both of them. He has phenomenal balance and great vision. Since I have been with Coach Brown, from a freshman standpoint he has probably had the best summer from a freshman we have been around.”
In-state walk-ons Marcus Chafin (Spring Valley) and Mark Rucker (Tyler Consolidated) are also in the mix for playing time. With two weeks remaining before Maryland game week, Scott says playing time decisions will ultimately be made by the players themselves.
“That is the easy part for me. We always talk about — does your talent equal your production? They are all talented but they have to be able to produce. Production in our room is — what do you do beyond what is blocked?
“The offensive line does a great job up front of blocking everybody in the box. Those guys that are safeties or free-hitters that show up, those are the guys we have to be able to make plays. Whether that is true avoidability by making people miss or breaking tackles after contact, their ability to be able to do that on a consistent level will help me determine that.”