The NFL Draft is set to take place later this month, and former Pitt running backs Darrin Hall and Qadree Ollison will learn their professional fates in just a few short weeks. Those two backs became the first tandem in Pitt history to each rush for 1,000 yards in the same season.
Simply put, the 2018 Pitt offense was built around the running of Hall and Ollison.
Heading into the 2019 season, things look mighty different on many fronts. Pitt has brought in a new offensive coordinator that is expected to throw the ball more, Pitt has to replace four offensive linemen, and of course, a new running back or two has to emerge to carry the load.
Enter A.J. Davis and Todd Sibley.
Both backs were highly touted guys in the class of 2017, but had to wait their turn backing up Hall and Ollison. Davis has 174 career rushing yards and Sibley has touched the ball just once in his career.
“Those are the older guys in the room and it’s crazy to say, but time’s flying,” quarterback Kenny Pickett said of the two new running backs. “Those are the two older guys now and they’re taking the reigns and they’ve been doing a really good job.”
Getting used to Davis and Sibley being the main guys is taking some getting used to by the rest of the team, but even to the two players themselves it hasn't set in yet.
“It feels weird right now, but I’ve been getting used to it that environment,” Davis explained. “They gave us big steps on what to do for next year. They were role models for us, for real.”
Added Sibley, “It’s definitely really different," he said. “Just their presence, they brought a lot to the game, brought a lot to the room, their leadership."
Not only will the two guys carrying the ball be different, the coach calling the plays is new as well. Mark Whipple was brought in to wake up Pitt’s offense, especially the passing game. Still, can the running game still be a force in 2019? Sibley certainly hopes so. After all, Pitt was third in the ACC in rushing yards per game with 227.9 a contest in 2018.
“We plan to prove that we can run the ball. Coach Whipple, he came here and he established, ‘hey we’re going to throw all over the field’ and we’ve established to all these people that we can throw it, but I think the big question everybody wants to know is, will Pitt be able to run the ball next year?”
“So we’re trying to answer that question and we’ve taken that to heart and Coach Powell has taken that to heart too,” Sibley said. “Darrin and Q, they set the standard for us and we’re shooting for the stars and we’re just trying to establish that we can run the ball and we can still dominate the ACC.”
Even though the running backs want to still be that same power running team, they understand that the added passing that will only make things better. Of course, the backs will be happy to be part of the passing game themselves.
“We’re lining up at wideout, we’re lining up in the slot - he has us doing things that we weren’t normally doing last year, so coach Whipple has kind of blown up the playbook,” Sibley said.
Davis added, “That’s one thing that I like about Coach Whipple, he spreads the ball out and he involves the running back in the passing game too.”
Much like the Hall and Ollison battles, it appears to be friendly between Davis and Sibley as well. As a matter of fact, V’lique Carter joined the running back room this spring and he actually had more rushing yards than Davis and Sibley combined in 2018. There does not appear to be any resentment there either.
“I think V’lique, he’s a good player, he’s really an athlete,” Davis said. “He can play any position on the field. I mean he’s a speed back, he can make plays, so I really like him a lot.”
“It was big for me, AJ to step up and kind of take control of the room and be the next two guys that really have the leadership role and V’lique has done a good job too, stepping up and we’re just trying to replace what they brought and bring our own little style to it as well,” Sibley noted.
