2025 Gophers Position Previews: Running Backs

On the other side of this interminable heat, humidity, and rain is a precious thing in Minnesota: fall. To get you ready for it, Ski-U-Blog is again previewing this year's Gopher football team, one position group at a time. The second post in this series covers a deep running back room.

Likely Starter

When I put these previews together, I usually start with the newcomers first. Counterintuitively, seeing a player for the first time, watching a hopefully representative video sample of their abilities, forming an opinion, and synthesizing my findings is easier than writing about the players who have been on the roster.

Former backups stepping into meaningful roles are obviously difficult to analyze because, as an outsider, I often can only go off the information I had when they first arrived to campus. That might have been a year ago, or it might have been three or four. While I do my best to offer insight, I must be honest about my limitations.

Contrastingly, there are the players everyone knows. Those cases are hard in a different way. What can one say about Darius Taylor that is novel? If you watched even a couple of Minnesota games last season, you know what Taylor is.

His style is well-established. There are faster, shiftier, stronger, and more explosive running backs, but what makes Taylor stand out is how multidimensional his game is. He is a power back, capable of breaking tackles and keeping his balance through contact, but he also can cut and accelerate into the open field.

When you combine these skills with his intelligence and background as a receiver, you get one of the most well-rounded, all-around best tailbacks in the country. If Taylor leaves for the NFL after the season, he should close his Minnesota career with his first all-conference selection.

Key Backups

Following the departure of head coach Charles Huff for Southern Mississippi, Marshall saw an unparalleled mass exodus. 247Sports lists 55 players at least entering their names to the transfer portal. While a handful returned to Huntington, and a few more transferred down to FCS, most followed Huff to Hattiesburg or found other homes in FBS.

Among the departures was A.J. Turner, last year's Division I leader in yards per carry (8.3) and Taylor's newest partner in the Minnesota backfield. Turner comes in 25 pounds lighter than Taylor and is much more of a home-run hitter. According to Pro Football Focus, 10.6 percent of Turner's carries gained at least 15 yards — compared to Taylor's 7.4 percent — and Turner averaged almost 25 yards more on these attempts. In other words: Turner took runs into the third level more often, and then he went farther.

While Turner can be a patient, balanced runner, there were moments last season where the only thing that mattered was how much faster he was than the opposing defenders.

Marcus Major turned out to be an excellent addition to the Gophers, but he very much aligned with their preferred type of running back: smart, efficient, not too flashy. Turner's presence gives them something the team has not had for a long time: a true "thunder and lightning" pairing in the backfield. He and Taylor should do a lot of damage this season.

Cam Davis comes from a more familiar mold. He is a tougher runner and more accomplished receiver than Turner but also no threat to break off a big run. In 2022, Davis was Washington's leader in touchdowns from scrimmage, using his thick frame to bulldoze into the end zone. A knee problem the following fall camp forced him to miss all of the Huskies' run to the national title game.

He came back last season in a lesser role, even lining up at fullback on occasion. In his best moments, Davis showed he can still churn his legs and pick up extra yards.

Davis is still hunting for his first post-injury touchdown. Considering Taylor and Major accounted for all but 36 of the Minnesota running backs' carries last season, I am not sure Davis will get many chances at the goal line to find it. He nevertheless can do a job for this team if asked.

Potential Rotation Options

A year ago, Fame Ijeboi intrigued me with how hard it was for high schoolers to take him off his feet. He made enough of a mark on the coaching staff as well that he was the only one of the Gophers' five freshman running backs to record a rushing attempt. Against Maryland, he had two carries for 13 yards.

Don't ask about the carry that didn't gain 13 yards.

Though Ijeboi is fourth on the depth chart at the moment, I can see him taking a significant role in a post-Taylor running back room. Maybe he complements Turner in 2026.

Frank Bierman switched his jersey number to 44 this offseason, which could indicate the Gophers will finally use a fullback. Bierman had a smattering of snaps in the backfield last year and is at best second in line at his natural position, tight end, so he could spend more time as Taylor's lead blocker if Minnesota goes back to a run-first approach.

Notables Unlikely to Contribute

Redshirt freshman Johann Cardenas originally committed to Vanderbilt when Jayden Everett was the Commodores' running backs coach. Two years later, Everett has the same job with the Gophers, and the 230-pound Cardenas is wearing maroon and gold. Minnesota may plan to make Cardenas a fullback in time, but his 79 all-purpose touchdowns in high school are proof he can handle the ball. He has the right traits for a back his size: power, agility in tight spaces, acceleration to burst through a gap. Whether that all plays at this level will determine whether he eventually becomes a regular.

To fill out the room, Minnesota added three true freshman tailbacks. The most atypical of the three is Xavier Ford, a burly and deceptively nimble tailback out of Louisiana with only five other FBS offers. Ford only visited and signed with Minnesota this January, after transfers thinned out the depth chart. I would be lying if I said I think he will play much at all for the Gophers, but I am incredibly interested in seeing him prove me wrong. I mean, look at him go. If he sticks around, even in a bit part, Ford could be a lot of fun.

Grant Washington, like Ford, only had one power-conference offer and took it. (The Ivies and service academies were among Minnesota's competitors.) Unlike him, though, Washington is a more traditional slasher, shimmying past defenders and finding open space through sheer finesse. That will not totally make up for what looks like only good-enough speed, but it makes him a potentially useful player in a zone-heavy scheme.

Tre Berry was more highly rated than either of the other two but had the least productive senior year. In fact, his 4.8 yards per carry are a little disconcerting when you consider he averaged almost twice that the previous season. Berry still showed traits that will make him a fit in this program. He has excellent lateral quickness and delivers punishment to defenders. If the explosiveness isn't there, the power will be. He is leaner and smoother than Ford, and he is tougher to bring down than Washington. That makes Berry the most likely of the three to play a meaningful role down the line.