BYU Football Backfield Ranked Among Nation’s Best

PROVO, Utah – Everyone wants to know who BYU football will pick to be the next starting quarterback. There’s a handful of quality options. But the good news for that next quarterback, whoever it ends being, will have talent around him.

Especially in the backfield.

Bleacher Report ranked BYU as having the fifth-best backfield in all of college football for the 2021 season.

Best RB Units in CFB according to Bleacher Report:

1. Oklahoma
2. App State
3. Oregon
4. Notre Dame
5. BYUhttps://t.co/Ug5el41oOg

— WestCoastCFB.com (@WestCoastCFB) May 25, 2021

That’s a nice luxury to have for any quarterback stepping into the enormous shoes left behind by Zach Wilson.

The player leading the way in BYU’s backfield is Tyler Allgeier. Allgeier was one of the nation’s top running backs last season, rushing for 1,130 yards on 150 carries. That was good for an average of 7.53 yards per carry.

. @tylerallgeier17 is a GAME CHANGER 💥 pic.twitter.com/yOiZ31oeAr

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) May 26, 2021

Zach Wilson garnered all the headlines last season as BYU put together its best season since 1996, finishing No. 11 in the final AP Top 25 poll with an 11-1 record. But Allgeier was vital to BYU’s offense as he found the end zone 13 times on the ground last year.

After Allgeier, BYU returns Lopini Katoa. Katoa is a Matt Bellini-type of player out of the backfield for the Cougars. He can carry the rock when called upon, but his best skill might be as a receiver out of the back. 

Katoa had 23 receptions for 293 yards and three touchdowns. During the Boca Raton Bowl win over UCF, Katoa put together one of the best highlight grabs you’ll find from any BYU player over the years.

LOPINI KATOA WHAT A SNAG pic.twitter.com/8kMuh7ko43

— PFF College (@PFF_College) December 23, 2020

The depth continues in the backfield as BYU returns Jackson McChesney from a season-ending injury he suffered in the Cougars season-opening win over Navy. 

Sione Finau, BYU’s leading rusher in 2019, is also back. JUCO transfer Hinckley Ropati who suffered a season-ending ACL injury during fall camp last year, is a big-bodied back that will likely see carries this season.

BYU also has speedster Miles Davis. Davis scored two touchdowns in his first season ever, playing the running back position as a true freshman last year.

Ahead of BYU in Bleacher Report’s top backfield rankings included Notre Dame, Oregon, Appalachian State, and Oklahoma.

BYU opens the 2021 season in Las Vegas against the Arizona Wildcats from the Pac-12 Conference.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.

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