247 sports, a college football recruiting heavyweight, just released their top 25 running backs list for the 2019 college football season. They also included 10 ‘Honorable Mentions’. Here is the list (Honorable mentions in blue, all tied for 26th rank):
| Rank | Player | Team | HS Year | HS Rating | HS Stars |
| 26 | Stevie Scott | Indiana | 2018 | 0.8402 | 3 |
| 26 | Brian Robinson | Alabama | 2017 | 0.9361 | 4 |
| 26 | Isaiah Bowser | Northwestern | 2018 | 0.8639 | 3 |
| 26 | Larry Rountree III | Missouri | 2017 | 0.8435 | 3 |
| 26 | Kylin Hill | Mississippi State | 2017 | 0.9184 | 4 |
| 26 | Jordan Cronkrite | USF | 2015 | 0.8853 | 3 |
| 26 | Anthony McFarland | Maryland | 2017 | 0.9537 | 4 |
| 26 | Master Teague | Ohio State | 2018 | 0.9132 | 4 |
| 26 | Chuba Hubbard | Oklahoma State | 2017 | 0.8868 | 3 |
| 26 | Trey Sermon | Oklahoma | 2017 | 0.9232 | 4 |
| 25 | Zack Moss | Utah | 2016 | 0.8389 | 3 |
| 24 | Spencer Brown | UAB | 2017 | 0.758 | 2 |
| 23 | Pooka Williams | Kansas | 2018 | 0.9055 | 4 |
| 22 | Darrynton Evans | Appalachian State | 2015 | 0.7519 | 2 |
| 21 | Joshua Kelley | UCLA | 2015 | 0.7667 | 2 |
| 20 | Rakeem Boyd | Arkansas | 2018 | 0.8467 | 3 |
| 19 | Ben LeMay | Charlotte | 2016 | 0.8273 | 3 |
| 18 | Lamical Perine | Florida | 2016 | 0.8699 | 3 |
| 17 | Salvon Ahmed | Washington | 2017 | 0.9476 | 4 |
| 16 | Ricky Slade | Penn State | 2018 | 0.9853 | 5 |
| 15 | Cam Akers | FSU | 2017 | 0.9984 | 5 |
| 14 | CJ Verdell | Oregon | 2017 | 0.8752 | 3 |
| 13 | Ke’Shawn Vaughn | Vanderbilt | 2015 | 0.8953 | 4 |
| 12 | Michael Warren II | Cincinnati | 2017 | 0.8707 | 3 |
| 11 | J.J. Taylor | Arizona | 2016 | 0.8396 | 3 |
| 10 | Kennedy Brooks | Oklahoma | 2017 | 0.9159 | 4 |
| 9 | Jermar Jefferson | Oregon State | 2018 | 0.8619 | 3 |
| 8 | Greg McCrae | UCF | 2016 | 0.8135 | 3 |
| 7 | Najee Harris | Alabama | 2017 | 0.9984 | 5 |
| 6 | J.K. Dobbins | Ohio State | 2017 | 0.9791 | 4 |
| 5 | D’Andre Swift | Georgia | 2017 | 0.9838 | 5 |
| 4 | AJ Dillon | Boston College | 2017 | 0.8803 | 3 |
| 3 | Eno Benjamin | Arizona State | 2017 | 0.94 | 4 |
| 2 | Jonathan Taylor | Wisconsin | 2017 | 0.8854 | 3 |
| 1 | Travis Etienne | Clemson | 2017 | 0.9171 | 4 |
There’s nothing on the list that I really care to disagree with. As a Gator fan, I would Perine number one, but there may be some bias occurring there. I certainly think he is better than 18th, but I digress…
The 2018 statistics were taken for each player on the list and analyzed. Of note, only the stats for those players who were in the top 290 in performance last year were included (because this is how many were available at my source). In the above table, the production for each of the players on 247’s list is displayed. There were four 5-star players on the list and three 2-stars, comprising 11% and 8 % of the list, respectively. The key statistic here is where each of the star categories averaged their rank on the list. The 5-stars averaged the 11th (10.8) overall ranking and the 2-stars averaged 22nd (22.3). 4-stars were ranked evenly with 3-stars on average, 16.9 to 17.0.
When we take each of these categories and ranking them from 1 to 4 (1 being the highest), here is what we get:
The 5-star running backs averaged the best ranking, number of receptions, and receiving touchdowns. However, they were last in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, plays from scrimmage, total yards, and total touchdowns. Overall, their production was barely better than that of the 2-stars (2.8 to 2.9) on average across the categories.
For the statistics folks, the difference between the 2-star averages in terms of where they are ranked on the list and that of the 5-star averages is statistically significant:
An independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare the rank of 2-star and 5-star players. Given a violation of Levene’s test for homogeneity of variances, (F= 32.775, p = .002), a t-test not assuming homogeneous variances was calculated. There was a significant difference in the scores for the 2-stars (M=22.33, SD=1.528) and 5-stars (M=10.75, SD=5.560) conditions; t(3.58)= 3.436, p= 0.02. The size of this effect (d = 2.84), as indexed by Cohen’s (1988) coefficient d was found to exceed the convention for a large effect size (d = 0.80).
These results suggest that 5-star players were ranked significantly higher on this list than were 2-star players. But did the production between the two groups warrant the disparity in the ranking?
An independent-samples t-test indicated that total yards were not significantly higher for
5-stars (M = 995.66, SD = 304.93) than for 2-stars (M = 1319.0, SD = 102.22), t(4) = 1.741,
p = .157, d = 0.35. Equal variances were assumed.
Ricky Slade from Penn State was not included in the statistical comparison of yards because he wasn’t among the top 290 performers last year. His low production scores would’ve drug the 5-stars overall average down. (Did he redshirt last year?).
So why the disparity? 5-star running backs are given the highest ranking, but overall had the lowest production (if you included Slade) of each of the groups? I think there was certainly a bias for those players in effect in this particular ranking. When we look at each player’s high school year and average them out per star ranking, we can see the 5-stars are typically newer. This goes down the line:
| Stars | Avg HS yr |
| 5 | 2017.3 |
| 4 | 2017 |
| 3 | 2016.8 |
| 2 | 2015.7 |
As you can see, the lower the star ranking, the more likely the player was to have been in college longer. This players ranking was likely on potential and subjective opinion.
Disclaimer because some college football fans get upset about everything:
This is just a case study of one list that was put out by 247 sports. Their list may be complete garbage and invalid in every way, not representative of the population, etc. I know. The point here was to take a micro-level look at the potential bias that occurs when sports reports, journalists, etc do these rankings.
Yes, the 5-star players play against tougher competition than the typical 2-star. Yes, that matters. But they don’t play against tougher competition than the 4-stars and most of the 3-stars.
Also: Alabama (Brian Robinson and Najee Harris) and Ohio State (Master Teague and JK Dobbins) have 2 players each on the list. Florida has 2 players it recruited on the list (LaMical Perine and Jordan Cronkite), but Cronkite transferred (now as USF).
