SEC StatCat's Top5 Short Yardage Rushers for 2021

Even for some of the most ardent passing zealots, it’s hard to ignore the ground game in short yardage situations. With three yards or less to gain, most follow the conventional wisdom of plowing ahead instead of dropping back. Having a good offensive line is nice; but at the end of the day backs often have to fight through carnage, work in phone booths, and overly fall forward in order to obtain sustained success. In an ideal sense, you’d have a bull in a china shop. Though things can change, here are the SEC’s 5 best returning short yardage backs ahead of 2021. 

5. Chris Rodriguez

On firsts where runs are many teams’ preferred way to start a set of downs and short porches when a conversion is needed, Chris Rodriguez oozed efficiency. The Wildcat sported the SEC’s best Success Rate of the former and its 3rd-best clip of the later. But while he’s certainly a hoss after the handoff, Rodriguez’s environment looks to have been the primary engine for his stats in this context rather than his might. I mean, when one averages 2.72 yards before contact in situations with three yards or less to gain, you should be golden on arrival most the time. His result metrics were laudable, but his stable metrics are meh. Though his YAC average is top10 ahead of 2021, his Broken Tackle Rate isn’t. C-Rod has it in him to be an elite tackle breaker, but failing to do so will continue to allow haters to dismiss his game.  

4. Dameon Pierce

Florida’s run game was forgettable on the surface but rather serviceable situationally. Though Q-runs helped skew the team’s average in these spots, Dameon Piece proved to be a pretty good short yardage back himself. Despite his Yards/Carry and Broken Tackle Rate falling outside of the top5 amongst his peers, the Gator thrashed and thralled above expectation. No he wasn’t particularly explosive, but he finished the season without logging a season negative try in these spots despite behind hit behind the line on a seventh of his carries. A 6th-ranked YAC average isn’t exactly the most praiseworthy figure, but Pierce moved the chains and owns the SEC’s 4th-best Success Rate for 2021. 

3. Dillon Johnson

Short porch touches overly buoyed Dillon Johnson’s overall bottomline. Only Rodriguez posted a higher percentage of chances with three yards or less to gain last year, and three-fourths of these short yardage touches got the job done. Plus, he projects to have a top5 Yards/Carry amongst returners. Run blocking really wasn’t Mississippi State’s thing last year. But behind a thunderous 66.7% Broken Tackle Rate and league-leading 3.92 YAC average ahead of this fall, Johnson did his damnedest to negate a piss poor 0.5 yards before contact average. In fact, he was hit behind the line on nearly a third of his tries. But hammering home his hard running, his 16.7% Gumption Rate — or percentage of runs where a positive gain occurs after negative contact — was a 2020 high within the SEC. 

2. Tank Bigsby

During a fantastic freshman season, Auburn’s Tank Bigsby overly shined in short yardage situations Only Dillion Johnson was hit behind the line at a higher rate than the Tigers’s 30% clip. But behind a 15% Gumption Rate, 50% Broken Tackle Rate, and 3.05 YAC average, he was able to deliver plenty of valuable carries for his team. For what it’s worth, all of these stats sit inside the SEC’s top3 for this season. All the while Bigsby commands an 80% Success Rate  which also cracks that plateau. Not too shabby considering only a quarter of his yards came before contact with three yards or less to gain.  

1. Zamir White

By volume, no SECer rushed for more short porch yards than Zamir White’s 229 nor totaled more than his 25 combined first downs and TDs. Along with awesome counting stats, the Georgia running back also delivered the conference’s most efficient performance in these situations. No doubt being gifted 4.58 rush yards before contact played an immense role in his bodacious bottomline, but it wasn’t like he was just running to space. While not logging a single negative try, White’s Gumption and Broken Tackle Rate crack the top8 while his 2.81 YAC average is a top4 clip ahead of this fall. And in the end, no conference running back bested his 83.9% Success Rate or 7.39 Yards/Carry.