Texas A&M Post Spring Depth Chart: Who's After Devon Achane at RB?

Isaiah Spiller is gone. Devon Achane will be the bell cow. But who is next?

Matt Galatzan | Apr 12, 2022

Texas A&M had one of the most dangerous rushing attacks in college football last season, nearly finishing the year with two running backs rushing for over 1,000 yards in a single season.

Unfortunately for Jimbo Fisher and company, the top rusher from that group, Isaiah Spiller, is heading to the NFL next season.

However, there is still plenty of talent left in the Aggies backfield, and junior Devon Achane is looking to fill the void left by Spillers's absence as the feature back.

So who will help Achane carry the load in 2022? After Saturday's Maroon and White Spring Game, we got a look at some of the candidates, with one in particular showing out.

Stick with AllAggies.com as we break down the Aggies' spring football depth chart outlook.

RB1 Devon Achane

Coming off of yet another explosive season as a change of pace back, Devon Achane will get an opportunity to take over as the lead back for Jimbo Fisher in 2022, and could have a monster year.

Last season, Achane 130 times or 910 yards and nine touchdowns, averaging seven yards per carry, and 75.83 yards per contest. Achane also finished as the team's third-leading receiver, catching 24 passes for 261 yards and a touchdown.

Achane spent most of the offseason running track and field and was unavailable on Saturday. But make no mistake, he will be the primary ball carrier in 2022.

It will take a lot of production to replace the likes of Spiller. Achane might now have the power to do that, but he does have the speed and is arguably the fastest back in the nation.

The only question will be, can his 5-foot-9, 185-pound frame hold up to the beating that a No. 1 running back takes?

RB2 Amari Daniels

Sophomore Amari Daniels looked the part of the second back for the Aggies in the Maroon and White game and looks primed for the role behind Achane. Daniels has the talent and the speed to make an impact from Week 1 as well.

In 2021 Daniels finished with 20 carries for 119 yards and one touchdown in four appearances.

On Saturday, he exceeded those numbers in one afternoon, rushing 16 times for 128 yards.

"I thought Amari ran the ball nicely, showed signs of really playing (well)," Fisher said after the spring game. "What the team's got to do now is we've got to get everybody back healthy and we've got to have a great offseason and get ready for fall camp and be able to do what we got to do."

RB3 LJ Johnson

Where Achane provides lightning and a home run threat in the Aggies backfield, redshirt freshman LJ Johnson will need to provide some thunder.

Standing 5-foot-11 and 205 pounds in 2021, Johnson will have to add some bulk to his frame this offseason but has the talent to be a big contributor out of the gate. If he can do that, the Aggies could have a chance to replace Spiller's production in a committee-type approach.

Johnson did see the field in 2021, rushing 21 times for 76 yards in four games.

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Published Apr 12, 2022

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.