The past 10 years have seen a number of dominant backfields propel schools to crazy heights. From leading teams to national titles to both being high selections in the NFL draft, elite tandems have found great results. Looking at the upcoming 2023 season, Michigan football hopes Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards have a chance to cement themselves as members of that conversation.
The two both played incredibly well in 2022, and return surrounded by an incredible offensive line and quarterback.
With the surrounding pieces at their disposal, they could come out as the best running back duo the country has seen in a long time. But who exactly is the Michigan football tandem competing against for that title? Let’s examine that and their chances.
Oklahoma’s Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine, 2016
The 2016 Oklahoma Sooners’ offense was stacked. Future Heisman winner Baker Mayfield at quarterback, with Biletnikoff winner Dede Westbrook and now star tight end Mark Andrews at his disposal. The Sooners’ rushing attack, however, truly completed the offense. Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine, who both went on to the NFL, split carries pretty evenly, and made the offense run. Both tallied over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns and combined for a total of 2,334 yards and 10 touchdowns on over six yards per carry.
The duo’s best season saw the Sooners narrowly miss out on the College Football Playoff. However, the team made it in 2015, with Perine and Mixon once again carrying a large part of the offensive load.
Mixon was drafted in the second round of the NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, where he still plays. Perine was a fourth-round pick by the Washington Commanders, and after bouncing around the league is now with the Denver Broncos.
Georgia’s Nick Chubb and Sonny Michel, 2017
In what was arguably the most exciting College Football Playoff we’ve seen thus far, the second-ranked Bulldogs were a play away from winning the national championship. Carrying them to this point were running backs, Nick Chubb and Sonny Michel.
This is another elite tandem to compare to Edwards and Corum of Michigan football. Chubb was the “lead” back and carried the ball about 70 more times, but both put up over 1,200 yards and combined for 31 touchdowns. Michel, as the second back, averaged nearly eight yards per carry on over 150 carries, or about 10 per game.
An incredible Georgia team that was carried by their rushing attack. Chubb and Michel nearly outgained quarterback Jake Fromm through the air, and if you add in contributions from other backs on the team, including future second-round pick D’andre Swift, the Bulldogs tallied almost 4,000 yards on the ground.
Both were drafted in 2018, with Michel going in the first round and Chubb going in the second.
Alabama’s TJ Yeldon and Derrick Henry, 2014
Before Derrick Henry was a Heisman winner, he was the perfect complimentary back to TJ Yeldon. The two didn’t put up as gaudy of numbers as some of the other pairs, but when you’re on a team that’s as loaded as the #1 Crimson Tide were that year, it’s virtually impossible to accomplish that. Yeldon and Henry still dominated though, putting up nearly identical stats en route to almost 2,000 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns.
Unfortunately for the Tide, the team was bounced by Ohio State in the semifinals of the first-ever CFP. But the duo still placed Alabama as the favorites entering the playoffs.
After college, Yeldon narrowly missed out on being a first-round pick, going 36th overall. Henry was selected firmly in the second round but has become one of the best running backs in the NFL.
What Would Put Corum and Edwards in this Conversation?
If we’re being honest, last year’s performance might’ve done it alone for the Michigan football duo. The combination of over 2,400 yards and 25 touchdowns puts them on par or above these three duos. The Big Ten Championship and CFP appearance gives them the accolades. All that’s left is for these two to be drafted.
With that being said, another dominant season for Corum and Edwards could firmly cement them as the best duo in recent history. If both tally over 1,000 yards and 10-12 touchdowns, they’ll leave no doubt in the statistics. If Michigan football can make it past the first round of the CFP or even win the National Championship, the team’s success will leave no question.