Hear me out. As many people know, I am a HUGE QB guy, and will ride or die with that position until the day I die. It is the most critical position in all of sports and can make or break your team. Now, while I may be a Gunslinger Stan, I love watching some of the other electric positions in football. For example, every week since the start of this season, one player has been catching my attention on the tv screen, twitter, etc.
Enter Benny Snell Jr. The 5’11 Junior Running Back has taken CFB by storm, as well as his team. Kentucky is by far a Basketball school, with Coach Cal dropping the bag to get 5-star players like I drop money on parlays every week. But this season has been something else for the wildcats. They are 5-0 with 3 wins in the SEC East so far, and have been making a name for themselves since week 1.
So, why am I all the sudden sneaking my way aboard this Heisman Train? Well, many reasons, but I have narrowed it down to a solid few. Kentucky plays Texas A&M this week, my team, and A&M has opened as a -5.5 favorite over the Wildcats. A&M has the nations 6th best rushing defense (85 yards per game) while Kentucky has the nations 7th best rushing attack (127 yards per game), I was surprised (and might of possibly put some money down on the Wildcats +5.5) due to that A&M is 3-2 (both losses to top 3 teams; Clemson by 2 and Bama by 13) and has not been all that Jimbo Fisher has spoken this team is.
So, like any dedicated CFB fan, I dug deeper into some film on Benny, and boy oh boy, he is insane. This kid had killer Freshman and Sophomore seasons, but he was under the radar due to being a lower tier team in the SEC, where if you’re name isn’t Bama, LSU, or Auburn, you don’t exist to ESPN, Bleacher Report, etc.
“He reminds me of the way Emmitt used to run” Jimbo Fisher stated while referencing how Snell runs, comparing him to Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s leading rusher. Once you watch him play, this pops up at you. Snell has a North-South mentality, unlike majority of players who will bounce around trying to make a fancy spin move or juke someone to make it on SC Top Plays. Snell will drop his shoulder even if it is just for a handful of yards, and it is what separates him from the rest of the RB crowd in the Heisman talks.
Enough of me riding Snell like ESPN rides Tua and Lebron for views, let’s get down to brass tax. Snell in 5 games has a stat line of:
115 Rush Attempts, 639 Yards. 5.6 Average. A Long of 52 Yards. 8TD’s. 4 Receptions. 39 Yards.
He has broken the century mark 4 times this season, only coming up short once against Murray State, with 85 yards. He scored 4 TD’s against Mississippi State and has averaged over 5 yards per rush in all 5 of his games.
So folks, while we may have only seen September and there is still a lot of football left to be played, keep Snell in mind once early December comes around and we start hearing his name more and more. Also, just a quick reminder from Snell himself…