Running back is arguably the biggest concern on Michigan's whole team heading into the 2019 season following the graduation of last year's leading rusher, Karan Higdon.
Higdon ran for 1,178 yards last season, marking the most yards by a Michigan running back since Mike Hart — the school's all-time leading rusher — compiled 1,232 in 2007.
The Florida native's departure leaves a high level of uncertainty at the position, with basically no proven production remaining; redshirt freshman Christian Turner, freshman Zach Charbonnet and senior Tru Wilson are expected to be the top three contributors at the spot, but the trio has just 464 combined career yards between the three of them.
U-M has obviously been in a situation where it has had to replace 1,000-yard rushers before, with it being a regular occurrence during the Lloyd Carr era (1995-2007) and before.
Higdon and Fitzgerald Toussaint (in 2011) are the only two running backs to hit the 1,000-yard plateau since Carr retired following the 2007 season, a statistic that would have been thought to be unfathomable just over a decade ago.
Hart obviously dominates the list above, recording 1,000-yard seasons in three of his four years at Michigan (an injury-riddled 2005 campaign was the lone exception).
He is the only running back to appear on the chart three times since Carr took over in 1995, with Chris Perry and Anthony Thomas each making two appearances as well.
Two new starters performed admirably in attempts to replace departed 1,000-yard rushers in Clarence Williams (837 yards) and B.J. Askew (902) in 1996 and 2001, respectively, though each of them came up just short of 1,000 yards.
Others — such as Brandon Minor and Toussaint — haven't been as fortunate, with the former only compiling 533 yards in 2008 following Hart's graduation, and the latter unable to duplicate his 1,041-yard season in 2011 by accumulating just 514 as a redshirt junior in 2012.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh's clubs will obviously have an opportunity to start a new string of 1,000-yard backs, beginning this season with the young tandem of Turner and Charbonnet (and perhaps Wilson as well).
If one of his running backs is able to accomplish the feat in 2019, it will mark the first time a new starter has hit the plateau in the wake of a departed 1,000-yard back since Hart did so as a freshman — replacing Perry — in 2004.
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @BSB_Wolverine, @JB_ Wolverine, @AustinFox42, @Balas_Wolverine and @DrewCHallett
• Like us on Facebook
