Texas Football: Ranking the 5 best running backs since 2000

It won’t be long until Texas football gets someone in the mix in the backfield to separate from the rest of the pack and become a true force in the Big 12.

Texas football is usually a program that boasts some of the best running back talent in the nation. In recent years, that narrative has changed a bit for the Longhorns. While Texas is still recruiting some top notch talent in the backfield of late, it hasn’t translated on the field in the past five years outside of current Houston Texas second-year running back D’Onta Foreman.

That does not mean that the Horns have not seen any quality running backs over the past 18 years. Since the turn of the century, Texas has still been one of the most talented programs year in and year out. That includes the running backs.

Some All-Americans, Heisman Trophy contenders, and top players in the nation since the 2000 season are running backs that suited up on the Forty Acres. Just because some more difficult times fell on the program during the tenure of Charlie Strong also does not mean we should forget some of the best Texas running backs in recent memory.

Recruiting has also done the Horns a favor to have talent continuously rolling in at that position. That gave way to some of the most athletic rushers we’ve seen in the Big 12 over the past 18 years.

If Texas can get back to that sort of production level coming out of the backfield in 2018, maybe we’d be able to add another name to a list like this soon. For now, Texas needs some help to get the ground game looking like it once did under Mack Brown.

Here’s a look at a ranking of the five best running backs for the Texas Longhorns since 2000.