Welcome to part two of this ongoing series where we introduce you to the prospects that UW has offered so far in the 2027 recruiting class. Today, we are looking at the running back position.
I am keeping
the same tier list as the quarterbacks which breaks down into four tiers:
Committed: Just as the name implies, these are prospects that have already committed to other schools and the staff is no longer actively recruiting them.
Tier 1: Would accept their offer no matter when they are ready to commit. Reserved for the prospects at the very top of their board.
Tier 2: Prospects they are actively recruiting and would really like to have. If they were forced to choose between a prospect in tier 1 and 2 they would select tier 1, but tier 2 are very talented players who UW would have a good shot at.
Tier 3: Prospects that UW are not seriously in the running for or they are still evaluating more than actively recruiting.
Committed Tier (0)
Tier 3 (6)
Ty Keys (Poplarville, MS) National Rank: 153 Position Rank: 7
At 6’1 200 Lbs., Keys is a strong and powerful runner with deceptive speed. In his sophomore season, he lead his team to a state championship in 4A in Mississippi and won MVP in the game as well. He is still picking up offers, as evident by UW offering just this week, but already holds offers from the likes of Miami, Oregon, and Penn State among others.
Tyson Robinson (Brandon, MS) National Rank: 165 Position Rank: 8
A durable speedster at 5’10 200 Lbs., Robinson leaves defenders in his dust. As impressive as he is as a runner, he could easily be a WR at the next level as well. He caught 42 catches for 668 yards and 10 TDs last year which adds to his usability in college and the pros. With such a talented RB, national powers come calling and he appears focused on Alabama, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Texas A&M at this time.
Elijah Kimble (Buffalo, NY) Position Rank: 15
If you give him an opening, Kimble has a chance to take it to the house every time. He is explosive and sudden with his movements to make defenders miss. His change of direction doesn’t detract from his top end speed and continues to leave defenders in his wake. Kimble has gotten some major offers including Michigan, Notre Dame, and Ohio State among many others. Given such major programs after him and him being on the other end of the country, it doesn’t seem likely that he will end up at UW.
CaDarius McMiller (Tyler, TX) Position Rank: 25
With 10.4 100M times since his sophomore year, if he gets to the second level of the defense he is gone. At 6’1 185 Lbs. he can also split out wide and be a mismatch nightmare for opposing LBs trying to cover him on a route. McMiller has been focusing more on his junior campaign than his recruitment, but has offers from Florida State, Nebraska, and Tennessee among many others. UW has not had very much luck recruiting the state of Texas and for that reason, I couldn’t move him into a higher tier.
DaJon Rhodes (Washington, DC) Position Rank: N/A
Rhodes shows very impressive speed and balance for a 6’0” 215 Lbs. RB that just makes defenders look silly by either bouncing off him when they try to tackle him or he just leaves them in the dust. UW is the only P4 school west of Texas to offer Rhodes, so the odds of UW getting him to go from one Washington to the other seems quite unlikely.
Ar’Mand Stevens (Dumfries, VA) Position Rank: N/A
From watching his tape, it is obvious to see why Graham likes Stevens. He looks like Jonah Coleman the way defenders bounce off him and can’t take him down. While it is unlikely that UW will be a serious contender since he lives in Virginia, with the wide geographical range that Graham has shown in his offers, he is looking anywhere and everywhere for the best RB prospect to help the team.
Tier 2 (3)
Terrance Grant Jr. (Las Vegas, NV) Position Rank: 21
With how fast his feet move, I thought he might have been about 165 pounds. Imagine my surprise when I found out he was a well built 6’0” 200 Lbs. Not only do those quick feet keep him agile, but he keeps his legs moving at all time to keep churning out additional yards after contact. If you had asked me in May where I thought he would land, I would have said UW. Since June he has picked up offers from Oklahoma, Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia, and Tennessee. Seems like schools finally got around to watching his tape and it will make his recruitment take that much more time to sort through. UW has liked him for quite some time and I struggled placing him between tier 1 and 2.
Ezra Sanelivi (Henderson, NV) Position Rank: 59
Sanelivi is a very sudden and decisive runner. He waits for his blocks to set up and then explodes through an opening. He has a very good blend of speed and power. Sanelivi has already received offers from BYU, Michigan State, and UW among others and there should be more pouring in after his junior film is seen by college coaches. UW has landed some top recruits from Liberty HS before and Graham clearly likes Sanelivi quite a lot. Like Grant, I struggled not placing him in tier 1.
Kennie Leggett Position Rank: 73
Leggett is an electric runner who not only has great top end speed, but excellent acceleration as well. Despite only being 175 Lbs. defenders seem to bounce off him as if he were 200 Lbs. He had to wait his turn and play behind Oregon commit Jordon Davison last year at Mater Dei, so I look forward to seeing what his junior campaign develops into. UW is only one of three offers to his name right now, but with an increased role that list should be growing sooner rather than later.
Tier 1 (2)
Noah Roberts (Chandler, AZ) National Rank: 217 Position Rank: 12
Not to hype him up too much, but I see a lot of Myles Gaskin in Roberts. Such tremendous vision, contact balance, and that ‘it’ factor. Roberts is being praised as the best RB prospect to come out of Arizona since Bijan Robinson and that is a big comparison to live up to. Roberts has a ton of top offers including Alabama, Michigan, and Notre Dame just to name a few. UW appears to be one of his early favorites, but it will be very hard to fend of Oregon, Ohio State, and Texas.
Tranard Roberts (The Villages, FL) Position Rank: 23
Roberts appears to be the complete package for a RB prospect. He can power straight ahead, he has the speed to bounce runs outside, and can catch very well out of the backfield. He looks to be in the mold of the type of RB that Graham likes. Normally I wouldn’t place a prospect on the opposite side of the country as one that UW could realistically land, but after the continued effort by coach Graham UW made his top 5 along with Auburn, Florida, Michigan, and Ohio State. What is more surprising is that they made the cut from the top 10 that previously included Alabama, Texas, Tennessee, Indiana, and Georgia Tech. UW will need to get him on campus to have a realistic shot, but the coaches wouldn’t put in this amount of effort if they didn’t think they could realistically land him.
