ACC football rankings: Which running backs will make their mark in 2022?
The Atlantic Coast Conference may have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the quarterback position, but the same can't be said about running backs.
Heading into the 2022 season, two of the four top returning rushers are quarterbacks — Louisville's Malik Cunningham and Syracuse's Garrett Shrader — and the league looks to be pass-heavy entering the final year of split divisions.
But there is still plenty of talent in the backfield with the potential for some major breakouts.
Here's a look at the USA TODAY Network's rankings of the ACC's Top 10 running backs entering the 2022 season.
WHO WILL WIN THE ACC: ACC predicted order of finish for 2022: Clemson picked to win conference football title
UNC'S EXPECTATIONS: UNC football picked 3rd in ACC’s Coastal Division. Is it underrated enough for Mack Brown?
PLAYER TAKES: ACC superlatives: Most overrated, underrated players for the 2022 football season
10. British Brooks, North Carolina
Brooks may have been UNC's third-leading rusher last fall, but when he touched the ball, the junior made things happen. He rushed for 295 yards and four touchdowns on just 31 carries, good for 9.5 yards a carry. With the Tar Heels still searching for a quarterback, Brooks may be asked to carry the load for a UNC team looking to rebound from a disappointing 2021 season.
9. Dylan McDuffie, Georgia Tech
McDuffie has yet to play a snap of ACC football, but his statistics at his former school put him on this list. The redshirt junior played in 29 games over four seasons at Buffalo and rushed for 1,049 yards in 2021 including four games with over 100 yards rushing and 12 total touchdowns. We'll see if he can do the same in the ACC.
8. Justice Ellison, Wake Forest
With Christian Beal-Smith transferring to South Carolina, Ellison will be the main guy in the backfield for the Demon Deacons. Despite sharing carries with Beal-Smith in 2021, Ellison still rushed for 541 yards and seven touchdowns on 107 attempts and had over 50 yards rushing in six games last fall.
![Wake Forest Demon Deacons running back Justice Ellison (14) looks on before the game as teammate wide receiver Nick Ragano (38) is reflected in his helmet Friday, Dec. 31, 2021 at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville. The Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights faced each other in the 2021 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/TbqZLUlZhVHRuUoW585QKw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzOQ--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the-fayetteville-observer/e8c727f74cfd5465f5de747803efe66b)
7. Kobe Pace, Clemson
Will Shipley looks to be the main back for Clemson in 2022, but the bruising Pace will still find plenty of action in the Tigers' offense. Pace rushed for 641 yards and six touchdowns on 104 carries last fall, adding 12 catches for 131 yards. He missed the spring game after having surgery on his big toe.
More: Why Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney calls Will Taylor 'a special dude'
6. Israel Abankanda, Pitt
The reigning ACC champions return their top-three rushers from last season, including leading rushing Abankanda. As a sophomore, Abanikanda rushed for 651 yards and seven touchdowns but was held to just 16 yards in a Peach Bowl loss to No. 10 Michigan State. Abankanda's talent is unquestioned, but we'll see if splitting carries makes it harder for him to have a breakout season.
5. Jalen Mitchell, Louisville
Mitchell started all 13 games for Louisville in 2021 and finished with 722 yards and five touchdowns on 155 carries. The question is, will his production slip with a crowded running backs room that included Travion Cooley (431 yards) and Tennessee transfer Tiyon Evans. Let's not forget that Louisville's leading rusher is quarterback Malik Cunningham.
4. Jaylan Knighton, Miami
The third-year sophomore made an impressive jump in 2021, rushing for 561 yards and eight touchdowns after producing 209 yards and a single score in 2020. Knighton is expected to make another big jump this fall under first-year coach Mario Cristobal. Knighton is also a receiving threat. He caught 20 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns including six catches for 83 yards and a touchdown during a Top 25 win over NC State last season.
3. Pat Garwo III, Boston College
Garwo finished the 2021 season as the fourth-leading rusher in the ACC and was a workhorse for a Boston College team that did not have a healthy quarterback for most of the year. He eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark with 205 carries and seven touchdowns but will run behind a more inexperienced offensive line in 2022.
2. Will Shipley, Clemson
Despite missing almost a month of football last season due to a broken left tibia, Shipley was still one of the best ACC running backs as a freshman. The former five-star prospect rushed for 739 yards and 11 touchdowns on 149 carries and had more than 100 yards rushing in three of his final five games. Shipley arguably has the biggest upside of any running back in the ACC and should be the first Clemson RB to rush for over 1,000 yards since Travis Etienne in 2019.
More: Backfield in motion: How 'Mafah Man' stepped up to fill void in Clemson running back room
1. Sean Tucker, Syracuse
Tucker returns as the ACC's leading rusher from 2021. The third-year running back rushed for 1,496 yards and 12 touchdowns on 246 carries last fall, surpassing the 100-yard mark in nine games and rushing for a career-high 207 yards in a win against Boston College. Syracuse is so confident Tucker is primed for another big year, the Orange launched his Heisman campaign in late July. Syracuse running back Ernie Davis is the program’s only player to ever win the Heisman Trophy.
David Thompson is an award-winning reporter for the USA Today Network covering NC State and Duke athletics. He can be reached at dthompson1@gannett.com, at 828-231-1747, or on Twitter at @daveth89.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: ACC football rankings: Which running backs will make their mark in 2022?
