Upon the graduation of former Cavalier running back Kevin Parks and the dawn of the 2015 Virginia football season, junior running back Taquan Mizzell was named the starter for the Cavaliers. Through two games, coach Mike London has stayed true to the decision, putting the lion’s share of carries in the respected but unproven back’s hands.
Mizzell was a highly regarded five-star recruit entering the University, ranked by Rivals.com as the fifth-best running back in the class of 2013. In fact, at the time he was the first five-star recruit Virginia landed since current-Ravens starting tackle Eugene Monroe committed in 2005. The pickup was a welcome addition for the Cavaliers, who haven’t sent a top-notch running back to the NFL since Thomas Jones in 2000.
In Charlottesville, however, Mizzell has yet to shine. Touted for his breakout speed and versatility, Mizzell’s longest rush came when he was a freshman, and it was only for 36 yards. Since then, his longest rush has been a modest 25 yards, coming just this past week against Notre Dame. During the season so far, his first as the starter, he’s averaging a meager 3.3 yards per carry — on pace for the worst average by any starter under London.
Mizzell’s biggest weakness is his inability to make something out of nothing. Quality every-down running backs can consistently power through a prepared defense for three or four yards. Mizzell, on the other hand, rushed for two or fewer yards on nine of his 18 carries against Notre Dame and eight of his 16 carries at UCLA. Mizzell is also frequently used in the screen game, where his catches go for negligible yardage more often than not.
Part of the issue here is size, with Mizzell listed at 5-foot-10 and 195 pounds. According to the much-respected source of knowledge Yahoo Answers, “Feature backs are usually pretty big and strong, since they have to be able to take the punishment that goes along with taking 20+ handoffs a game.” While I can’t speak to Mizzell’s ability to “take the punishment,” his size is certainly getting in the way of easy yardage play after play.
But Virginia has found success with small running backs under London in the past. Following what seems to be a tradition at this point, Mizzell is now the fourth straight starting running back who’s no bigger than 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds. However, the previous three — Parks, Khalek Shepherd and Perry Jones — were all able at some point in their careers to produce seasons of at least 4.7 yards per carry on at least 50 attempts, something Mizzell hasn’t approached yet.
Not only is Mizzell not living up to an every-down back role, but he’s also not even all that explosive. Parks and Jones both popped runs of more than 40 yards by the time they entered their junior year, compared to Mizzell’s aforementioned long of 36. While the difference isn’t particularly stark, Mizzell has been praised over and over for his speed and playmaking ability, and while he’s shown flashes, those skills have yet to come to fruition.
In defense of Mizzell, I still think he’s a great weapon. While his play hasn’t gelled with offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild’s system, Mizzell certainly is fast and versatile. He’s dangerous downfield and in open space, and for those reasons I’m all for play-calling around him throughout games. And who knows: maybe in a different system under a more competent OC, Mizzell could be a star.
But I don’t want to see Mizzell in the backfield as often as he currently is. That inability to power forward for yards is very disconcerting, especially since he’s now being used as the primary back in every type of situation. On the other hand, I liked what I’ve seen so far from junior Albert Reid, who has 15 pounds on Mizzell and seems better suited for the more standard running back duties. On top of that, freshman back Olamide Zaccheaus had one of the most exciting plays of the season with a 35-yard pickup in crunch time against Notre Dame Saturday and could also find a place in a rotation system.
The best path forward for London and the offense would be to give significant reps to Reid and Olamide Saturday against FCS foe William & Mary, prepping for a much more diverse rushing attacking going forward.
Matt Comey is a weekly Sports Columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at m.comey@cavalierdaily.com. Follow him on Twitter @matthewcomey.
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