The Memphis Tigers fall camp is right around the corner as they report on August 1st and the first practice is August 2nd.

We've already looked at the quarterbacks. Next up is the running backs.

Darrell Henderson and his 1,909 yards left for the NFL but Tiger fan shouldn't be worried. Senior Patrick Taylor (6-foot-3 227 lbs.) returns and he had a great year as well last season.

He rushed for 1,122 yards and 16 touchdowns and is primed and ready to produce even more this year.

"I'm just trying to be consistent in every area of my game to help impact my team. Continuing to be a leader on and off the field. Our main focus as a team is to get 1% better and maximizing out the day," Taylor said at the AAC Media Day.

Head coach Mike Norvell likes what he has in Patrick Taylor.

"He's such a well rounded back. He's a home run hitter for us. He shows great versatility and he can catch the ball out of the back field. He's big, powerful back and I look forward to him taking the next step this year."

Let's take a look at the PFF grades for Taylor last season.

His best graded game came against UConn where his grade was 82.3. He rushed for 161 yards on 11 attempts and 3 touchdowns against UConn. His pass blocking wasn't great that day as he graded out at 23.2 that day but made up for it with his rushing yards and touchdowns.

Taylor has improved each year at Memphis. Let's look at his yearly grades since he began his career at Memphis. One thing that pops out to us is that he doesn't get called for penalties. He only has 1 penalty in his Memphis career and that came last season at Tulane.

Where does he get most of his yardage? Let's look at those stats. He was slightly more productive running to the left last season but as you can see from the chart below, he gets yards no matter the direction.

With Taylor Jr taking over the top spot at running back, who's ready to fill in the back up role?

This is where the fun begins. The cupboard is certainly not bare. The Tigers have plenty of depth at the position and the fall camp battle at running back will be must see TV.

The stock of running back include redshirt sophomore Tim Taylor, redshirt sophomore Kylan Watkins, redshirt freshman Kenneth Gainwell, redshirt freshman Cam Fleming, redshirt sophomore Marquavius Weaver, and true freshman Rodrigues Clark.

We honestly are having a hard time to figure out a projection here. This group is a very solid group and it's a good problem to have trying to see which talented back will backup Taylor.

As we've said before, the fall camp will go a long way to determine the depth chart but the battle won't end at camp. We can see all of these guys getting playing time this season but we'll make a pre-camp prediction on the depth chart. We reserve the right to change our minds after the fall camp.

RB1- Patrick Taylor

RB2- Tim Taylor

RB3- Kenneth Gainwell/Kylan Watkins (used like Pollard was last season)

RB4-Cam Fleming/Rodrigues Clark

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