For a school that once claimed the title of 'Running Back U,' the Miami running back has underperformed during the course of an entire season in recent years. The last time Miami had a 1,000-yard running back was Mark Walton in 2016.
Henry Parrish Jr. had a decent season last year rushing for 617 yards and averaging 4.7 yards per carry. But at 5'10" and 190 pounds, he is not a back that you would want carrying the ball more than 15 times per game, which he did three times last season.
In the second game of the season against Southern Miss, he carried the ball 23 times for 109 yards (4.7 yards per carry). Against Texas A&M he carried the ball 16 times for 85 yards (5.3 yards per carry) and at Virginia he toted it 25 times for 114 yards (4.6 yards per carry).
He would then miss the Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech games, due to injury and was on a pitch count for his final three games of the season, not carrying it more than seven times.
Although Miami graded out 88.7 run game by Pro Football Focus, good for 31st in the country, the Hurricanes averaged 1.6 yards per carry against Middle Tennessee State, 1.8 against North Carolina, 1.5 against Duke, and 1.3 against Clemson - all losses.
In order to have a productive running game this season, Miami will need another physical running back to run inside the tackles, and the Hurricanes' staff is hoping that will be Don Chaney Jr.
The fourth-year redshirt sophomore is coming off an ACL injury in 2022 and is looking to have a comeback year in 2023. At 5'10" and 208 pounds, he can be that big bruising back that the Hurricanes need if he can stay healthy. Chaney has carried the football 13 times for 52 yards in his last two seasons. He played in just two games in 2021 before suffering a season-ending injury.
His true freshman season was his most productive by far. Chaney rushed for 322 yards on 68 carries (4.7 per carry) and had 11 receptions for 143 yards. He scored three touchdowns that year.
Chaney is a player to watch in the 2023 spring game. If he shows any signs of that same explosiveness in 2020, Miami fans should feel confident going into fall camp.
The summer will be a true indicator of what this running back room will look like with freshmen Mark Fletcher, and Christopher Johnson Jr. stepping on campus. The much-anticipated return of highly-touted sophomore running back Tre'Vonte Citizen returning from a significant knee injury he suffered in fall camp last year, gives reason for optimism.
The departures of Jaylan Knighton, and Thad Franklin via the transfer portal leave room for the young running backs to earn playing time. Head coach Mario Cristobal has also inferred that Miami will look into the transfer portal to address depth concerns, including the running back position.
But this needs to be Don Chaney's year to re-emerge, and if it is, we will get an indication of that during Miami's spring game at DRV PNK Stadium Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 PM EST.
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