Mississippi running back tradition continues in upcoming classes

In 2016, famed Mississippi sports writer Rick Cleveland wrote this from Batesville:

“These eyes saw Walter Payton play at Columbia High School. These eyes saw Marcus Dupree play at Philadelphia. They saw Jerious Norwood play at Brandon, Deuce McAllister at Morton and Jimmy Johns at Brookhaven.

“But these eyes have never seen a better Mississippi high school football player than Cam Akers, Clinton’s 17-year-old wunderkind, whom I saw in person for the first time here Thursday night.”

Akers was a five-star running back in the same recruiting class as Najee Harris as the two went back-and-forth as the top prospect at that position in the 2017 class.

After running for nearly 3,000 yards with 27 touchdowns in three seasons at Florida State, Akers was a second-round NFL Draft pick and has been in the league since 2020.

One of the next big-time running backs in Mississippi is 2027 four-star Tyson Robinson from Brandon, who remembers watching Akers play against his brother’s team.

And Robinson recalls as a little kid being wowed by Akers’ ability.

“When I was growing up, Cam Akers played against my brother so he was one of the big ones,” Robinson said.

“He is really well known and then Walter Payton is a great. Those two are the big trendsetters in Mississippi. Watching him on the field was crazy. He played my brother one time and the game was tight but Cam just took over. He was playing quarterback, running back, he was the greatest show on turf.”

The entire state of Mississippi has about the same population as Las Vegas – around three million people – but the state has produced (and continues to pump out) an inordinate amount of elite running backs.

Dupree was one of the best ever but never panned out for various reasons and was the focus of an ESPN 30 for 30 called ‘The Best That Never Was.’

Payton is arguably the best running back of all time. Akers, besieged by some injuries, might have been in that conversation as well but is still in the elite category. Lena, Miss., native Deuce McAllister is still the all-time leading rusher at Ole Miss.

Robinson is one of the next big-timers with Tennessee, Mississippi State, Miami, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Arizona State and Washington pushing the hardest. He plans to release a top 10 sometime this fall.

Because Robinson’s grandfather just so happens to live in Columbia, Miss. – Payton’s hometown – the Brandon running back knows Payton’s history better than others.

“We know his relatives well,” Robinson said. “I watched him a little bit on YouTube and it was just like, man, he was tough.”

There could be another superstar in the making in the 2028 class.

In his freshman season at Louisville, Miss., Zaiden Jernagin had more than 2,200 all-purpose yards with 31 touchdowns and in the initial 2028 rankings he’s No. 13 overall and the top-rated running back.

Funny thing is, Jernagin always wanted to play receiver growing up after seeing Odell Beckham’s one-handed catch against the Dallas Cowboys, one of the best receptions maybe in NFL history.

“When I was younger, I really wanted to play receiver because the first time I watched football was in that game when Odell had that one-handed catch and I always wanted to replicate that catch,” Jernagin said.

“In Little League we always ran the ball, so that’s how I became a running back.”

Mississippi State has been most actively recruiting him so far since Starkville is just about 30 minutes away and his Louisville team was there recently for a 7on7 event.

The dream school for Jernigan was Alabama because of how many running backs the Crimson Tide develops – just like the state where Jernagin is from. The 2028 star could be next up.

“Running back is really the main position here,” Robinson said. “Running back and d-line are the big two in Mississippi but we produce running backs down here.”