National Cyning Day Position Recap: Running Backs

Jirehl Brock

One of Iowa State’s two top ten running backs in the 2019 grades out as the second best recruit in school history, as a four-star prospect with a 0.9112 composite rating on 247. Brock’s offer list included Michigan State, Notre Dame, Purdue, Minnesota, Iowa, and a host of other major programs. He’ll also be playing in the Polynesian Bowl, an all-star game for the best talent in the country of Polynesian descent.

Brock is an excellent all-around running back that can be a workhorse in the Cyclone offense on all four downs. Watch him completely obliterate this defender.

Among Iowa State players, Brock’s most immediate comparison would probably be Stevie Hicks. Hicks was known as hard running, one cut-style halfback, and Brock is in the same mold. However, Jirehl is a better pass-catcher than Hicks was, and has a higher ceiling as an overall player. His cuts are sharp, and almost seeks out contact when running, as demonstrated above. He’s VERY hard to bring down. This evaluation is fairly short only due to the fact that there aren’t really any weaknesses in his game.

Breece Hall

The other half of Iowa State’s top ten duo is Breece Hall, a high three-star running back from Wichita, KS. Hall grades out at a 0.8833 composite rating on 247 Sports, and is the #1 ranked player in the state of Kansas. He ran for over 2,000 yards in each of the past two seasons at Northwest High School.

Breece will also be taking part in the Army All-American Bowl, an annual showcase of some of the best high-school talent in the country. Hall fielded offers from a ton of Power 5 programs, including Michigan, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Kansas State, Iowa, Missouri, Ole Miss, Baylor, Louisville, TCU, and Nebraska, among others

Hall is another powerful, workhorse back similar to Brock that will have an opportunity to earn carries next fall. He doesn’t sport elite top-end speed, but is very similar to David Montgomery in that he’s very efficient the good speed he does have. When watching his tape, it’s really easy to see some of David Montgomery in his game, as brings a lot of elusiveness to the field.

However, one of the things that makes David great is his incredible balance and low center of gravity that allows him to bounce off people. Hall is three inches taller, thus running with a higher center of gravity. If he can learn to really use leverage and to lower his center of gravity on cuts, he has a chance to be really special.

Leonard Glass

Last, but far from least, is Leonard Glass. We see two-way players listed as “athletes” all the time in recruiting classes, but few players personify that classification better than Glass. Coming out of Fresno, CA, he sports a 0.8485 composite rating on 247 Sports, and is 89th ranked athlete in the country. We’re listing him under the running backs, but Glass will likely play all over the field. He’s listed at just 5’9” but he brings speed, speed, and more speed to the table. Iowa State currently sits as his only Power 5 offer, but I have absolutely no idea why.

Glass is a true home run threat with the ability to take it to the house on any touch, and will be deployed all over the field. As far as play style, Glass falls somewhere between Kene Nwangwu and Jarvis West. Kene might have a quarter of a step on him in a foot race, and Jarvis may be just a **tad** shiftier, but Glass is just about the closest thing you’ll find to a perfect marriage of the two. His versatility will give him a shot to contribute from day one.