AWC has big shoes to fill at RB

AWC has big shoes to fill at RB

Arizona Western sophomore running back Kendon Walker evades a defender during Tuesday night’s practice at AWC. Walker, who played receiver for the Matadors last year, is competing for the starting running back spot this year.

AWC has traditionally had what coach Tom Minnick likes to refer to as a “dude” at running back over the years. From Reggie Bullock (2009-10) to Damien Williams (2010-11) to Darrell Monroe (2014-15) to Greg Bell (2016-17), there has usually always been a next-level talent in the Matadors’ backfield to give the ball to.
This year, Minnick is unsure if he has such a “dude.”
“We just don’t know, it’s unproven right now,” Minnick said Saturday night after an intra-squad scrimmage. “We’ll just try to weave through it and see how everything plays out. It remains to be seen right now.”
Two players have emerged as the primary ball carriers so far in camp: sophomore Kendon Walker (5-10, 170) and freshman John Oliver (5-8, 175).
Walker, who’s in line to be the starter as of right now, is an interesting story given his lack of experience at the position. At Chandler High School — where he won a 6A state championship as a senior in 2016 — Walker played only on defense, at safety. Then as a freshman at AWC last year, he moved to offense, but as a receiver.
“I always had this love for any offensive position, whether it was receiver or running back,” Walker said. “We had Greg Bell playing running back last year, so I said I’ll play slot.”
Bell, who’s now at the University of Nebraska, was a two-time NJCAA First Team All-American with the Matadors, rushing for 1,217 yards last year and 1,187 yards the year before that.
Walker, meanwhile, failed to earn much time at receiver last year, catching just one pass for four yards on the season.
Walker’s move to running back this year was a matter of team needs.
AWC’s top two running backs last year — Bell and Dejhion Parrish (618 yards, 8 TDs) — were both sophomores. Third-stringer Ali Kelley (250 yards, 2 TDs) was a freshman, and showed enough promise that he figured to entire 2018 entrenched as the Matadors’ featured back. But he was dismissed from the team in the spring.
On the recruiting trail, meanwhile, Minnick missed out on several sought-after running backs — East Mississippi and Fort Scott both got ones that he “wanted bad,” and he was also on a Florida transfer that ultimately didn’t get into AWC.
All of that coupled with AWC’s depth at receiver — a position Minnick’s staff recruited very well — led to Walker’s move to the backfield.
“I did (embrace it),” Walker said. “It was a new thing. I’m just trying to show Division I coaches I can play whatever.”
“He’s been doing well,” Minnick said. “At the beginning he was struggling a bit with pass protection, but he’s a thick kid, and he’s a track kid.”   
So too is Oliver, who’s out of Upper Marlboro, Maryland.“(Walker and Oliver) are both like kids we’ve had in the past, they can get out in the open and can score,” Minnick said. “The key is getting them in space and you’re not going to touch them.”
On Saturday, Walker provided one of the few offensive highlights for the Matadors in their intra-squad scrimmage when he busted an inside run 50-plus yards for a touchdown.     Walker said the biggest adjustment has been getting used to the physicality of playing running back.
“You can’t go in there with a receiver mentality that nobody’s going to hit you,” he said. “You’ve got to get in there, you’ve got to block defensive ends, defensive tackles, and run the ball and get hit by anybody..”
Also competing for time at running back — among others — is sophomore Caleeb Roberson (6-1, 180), a transfer from Georgia who opened camp at quarterback, but was used only at running back during Saturday night’s scrimmage.