Chris Rodriguez Jr. named All-American by Phil Steele

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It’s not a college football summer until you get your hands on a copy of Phil Steele’s College Football Preview. KSR acquired our own this week, and we’re already diving into all 352 pages.

The 28th edition of the preseason magazine is jam-packed with information on all 131 FBS teams to go along with gambling data, multiple computer rankings, and two-deep depth charts for every squad. Steele puts out the ultimate college football reference guide yearly, and a college football season is not complete without owning a copy.

In this year’s edition, one of the first pages of the magazine has four All-American teams listed. Kentucky’s Chris Rodriguez Jr. was one of eight tailbacks to be honored. Here’s how Phil Steele sees the position shaking out in 2022.

First-Team All-American: Bijan Robinson (Texas), Deuce Vaughn (Kansas State)
Second-Team All-American: Chris Rodriguez Jr. (Kentucky), TreVeyon Henderson (Ohio State)
Third-Team All-American: Sean Tucker (Syracuse), Lew Nichols III (Central Michigan)
Fourth-Team All-American: Braelon Allen (Wisconsin), Zach Charbonnet (UCLA)

Chris Rodriguez Jr. was the only SEC tailback to make this group. The redshirt senior out of McDonough (Ga.) Ola enters his fifth year with the Kentucky program with 2,739 rushing yards and 30 total touchdowns. The 224-pound tailback logged 1,379 rushing yards in his first season as a starter in 2021 with nine 100-yard rushing games. The First-Team All-SEC selection in 2021 needs 1,134 yards this fall to break the Kentucky career rushing yards record held by Benny Snell Jr. (3,873).

Expectations are high for Rodriguez entering the year as Kentucky is now on its third offensive coordinator in three seasons. Even with the turnover, the identity is expected to remain mostly the same under Rich Scangarello. Establishing a physical brand of football with the running game is this program’s bread and butter. However, there are some availability concerns.

On Tuesday, Kentucky added FCS All-American Ramon Jefferson to the roster to help add depth to the position. There seems to be a chance that Rodriguez could miss multiple games this season. Regardless, Kentucky is showing that this is a program that values the running back position and establishing the ground game will be a top priority.

However, there is no hiding the fact that Chris Rodriguez Jr. is the clear top guy for Kentucky. The tailback is one of the most efficient players in college football, and having him set the tone with the ground attack should open up a lot of room for Will Levis to carve up defenses with his arm.

The redshirt senior could have a banner year on the field.