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Yes, Kyren Williams produced big time for us at ND, and he's currently one of the best running backs in the NFL. He can certainly do it all (run for speed, run for power, run for evasion, pass block, pass catch, run good routes).

However, he's the lone exception.


I'm not bashing the guys who played for us (except Wood). I'm simply pointing out that each of them had deficiencies that prevented them from having productive NFL careers.



Let's look at the backs who played during the Kelly era:


Jonas Gray:

He could have been a big time NFL player, especially after that amazing breakout game when he played for the Patriots. Unfortunately, one day, he missed team meetings after oversleeping, and got into Bill Belichick's doghouse, and that basically killed his career.

Cierre Wood:

He was arguably the most talented out of all of the Brian Kelly era backs. Unfortunately, his work ethic was pretty bad, which is why Kelly suspended him, and he couldn't quite get up to speed with the NFL offenses, and this was before the murder incident...

Tarean Folston:

Had all of the tools, but the injury bug killed his career even while he was at ND.

CJ Prosise:

Nice career at ND, way too injury prone, and didn't have the durability for the NFL.

Josh Adams:

One trick pony in the running game, where he was a straight ahead charger with long strider speed. Harry Hiestand's excellent lines hid his deficiencies.

Dexter Williams:

Also a one trick pony in the running game, where he was a good shifty runner, but was below average in the passing game, especially blocking. Again, Hiestand's excellent players hid his weaknesses.

Tony Jones Jr:

Big back, did a solid job in 2019, and out of all of the above, had the longest NFL career with reasonable consistency. He was relegated to being nothing more than a short yardage back, though.



Looking at Marcus Freeman's stable of running backs, they look a lot more complete than the above guys (again, except for Kyren Williams), that they have all proven that they're good runners, but also at least decent in the passing game as well.

Aneyas Williams will get a chance to show it all this year, and he was arguably the best back last year when it came to the passing game.