A couple of days ago, 247Sports put out a list of the 25 best running backs nationwide prior to the 2022 season commencing, and obviously, Syracuse football All-American RB Sean Tucker was included in this feature.
The top-25 rankings, published by Brad Crawford of 247Sports, were made by factoring in numerous criteria, including statistics from the 2021 stanza, NFL Draft chatter, what this media outlet is “hearing from insiders after spring practice,” and projected production in 2022.
Tucker, who broke the Orange’s single-season rushing record in 2021, checks in at No. 5 on this list. Personally, I think he should be higher, but this placement seems reasonable.
Now, the ‘Cuse dropped its final three games a term ago to finish up at 5-7 overall in 2021, failing to qualify for a post-season bowl battle.
I’m excited about the team’s prospects this fall, but at the same time, I also feel like Tucker’s outlook among experts does get sometimes diminished by the fact that the Orange isn’t a super strong program, at least as compared to many of its Power Five conference peers.
Let’s examine Syracuse football star Sean Tucker versus other highly ranked running backs.
Ahead of Tucker in the 247Sports ratings are Bijan Robinson of Texas at No. 1, TreVeyon Henderson of Ohio State at No. 2, Braelon Allen of Wisconsin at No. 3 and Deuce Vaughn of Kansas State at No. 4.
You’ll notice that some of these running backs ahead of Sean Tucker suit up for teams that are definitely stronger as a whole than the ‘Cuse. Does that account for why Tucker isn’t higher than No. 5? It could be a factor, absolutely.
Just out of curiosity’s sake, I went on the NCAA’s Web site and looked at how Tucker’s 1,496 rushing yards in 2021 compared to those four running backs we mentioned above.
Of course, the five running backs didn’t all play in the same number of games, so this isn’t a perfect apples-to-apples comparison, but nationally speaking in 2021, Tucker was No. 6 overall, Vaughn was No. 9, Allen was No. 20, Henderson was No. 23 and Robinson was No. 34.
Thus, a season ago, Tucker outrushed every running back ahead of him in the 247Sports national rankings for 2022. Simply putting that out there for my fellow Orange fans to consider.
Hey, if Sean Tucker rushes for around 1,500 yards this coming stanza, and the ‘Cuse wins six or more games, I’d hope and frankly expect him to be deemed by pundits as better than the No. 5 running back on a national scale.
Tucker, by the way, is receiving some early 2023 NFL Draft buzz from ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. as far as this expert’s positional rankings are concerned.
Also, not too long ago, Athlon Sports placed Tucker on its pre-season All-ACC first team for 2022, with Syracuse football linebacker Mikel Jones also making this first squad.