UVA’s 2017 running back depth chart will look much different from this season, when seniors Taquan Mizzell and Albert Reid saw the bulk of the snaps and produced the majority of the team’s rushing yards. Mizzell (940 yards) and Reid (480) combined for 1,420 yards on the ground in 2015, while no other player reached the triple digit rushing yard mark.

The Cavaliers figure to return two scholarship running backs from this year’s squad: Daniel Hamm, a rising senior who impressed in his first full season as UVA’s punt returner, and rising junior Jordan Ellis, who rushed for 61 yards on 14 attempts in 2015. A thin depth chart provides an opportunity for immediate playing time for a trio of incoming class of 2017 running back recruits, including Lamont Atkins, who was just named the 2016 Gatorade Virginia Football Player of the Year.

Atkins, a product of Lake Braddock (Burke, VA), received the Gatorade honor and many other accolades following a senior season in which he rushed for 1,886 yards and 31 touchdowns on 156 carries and compiled 61 tackles and two interceptions. The Bruins fell short of the goal of a state championship but still enjoyed a successful season, finishing with an 11-2 overall record.

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