If you love watching college football, and more importantly, if you love watching über-dynamic running games, this could be your season.  Going through the depth charts and spring reports of many of the known run-heavy teams, I just kept finding more and more quality players at the running back position, not only in the big name programs, but all over the country.

For this exercise, being the best starting running back in the country isn't enough to carry your team to the honors of top unit.  Apologies to guys like Adrian Peterson and DeAngelo Williams who are 1A and 1B for me, as the most dynamic NFL prospects in all of college football.  Also there are some very deep running back units, including a pair like Patrick Cobbs and Jamario Thomas at North Texas.  Keep in mind this is the first time in the history of college football two players who've been rushing champions were on the same team.  You mix in LSU, Minnesota, and Florida State and you see how tough this decision is. 

When I first started writing this, USC was my pick.  With Reggie Bush and LenDale White, that tandem leads the deepest running back unit in the country, when you add depth like Hershel Dennis, Chauncy Washington, Mark Coleman and Desmond Reed.  But when Dennis and Washington are out for academic troubles, and Coleman gets hurt, the waters get murky.  Just murky enough that I decided to go another direction. How many teams go 5 deep at running back?  By my figures, just one ― the University of Georgia.

The Georgia running back herd kicks off with...well, it depends on who you ask who you start with, but for this, I am going with Super Sophomore Danny Ware.  At 6'1" and around 220lbs, this kid is the mix of size and speed NFL scouts look for.  He’s as shifty as guys 30 lbs. lighter, and can be a blur in the open field.  If he could stay healthy, he's the kid who should get the lion’s share of the carries, but with the depth the Bulldogs have, they can afford to platoon him in order to keep him healthy.  Keep in mind though; there is talk of moving him to fullback, just to keep him on the field.

So, if he's moved to fullback, who's he blocking for?  Probably fellow sophomore phenom Thomas Brown.  Not the flashy player Ware or some others are, but he proved to be the team’s best performer last season.  Brown is a little smaller at only 5'8" and 190 lbs., but he is super quick and runs with surprising power.  He's also a more complete back, with great hands out of the backfield.

That's probably enough right?  Heck, that's not even all of their sophomore backs.  Next on the list is redshirt sophomore Kregg Lumpkin.  Another bigger kid, at 6'1" and 222 lbs., he's back from a 2004 season-ending knee injury, but everyone saw what he could do in 2003, when he was the second leading rusher on the team.  He'll have his work cut out for him cracking the top 2, but he's a nice mix of the size of Ware and the speed of Brown, so he should get some touches.

Now, what do you do if you are either senior, Tyson Browning and Tony Milton, on the Georgia depth chart at RB?  You enjoy your senior year, watch your team make a run for a national championship, and you wonder how two guys with starter skills end up 4 and 5 on the depth chart.  Browning is a small, very quick player, who may end up sliding out to wide out in hopes of some playing time.  Milton is a very talented player, who has simply struggled with injuries since 2003, and although he's now healthy, is just buried on the depth chart.  These two guys are the insurance policy in case of a rash of injuries.  Not bad insurance.

And so who's left?  Well, there's redshirt sophomore Jason Johnson who looked good in practices, but won't sniff the field.  I was going to tell you all about the great freshmen who are waiting in the wings, but what a surprise with 4 sophomores who could start, those top prep recruits opted to go elsewhere.  Regardless, this is a diverse and deep group, and although they may not have the star power of some of the other programs, they are indeed the best of the bunch.