The number of reported offers out to 2017 running backs should tell you the UTSA staff really wants to land some good ones at the position in the upcoming senior class. The 2016 signing class - one admittedly hampered by the fact that the entire previous staff was replaced with mere weeks to go before Signing Day - boasted exactly zero running backs, which might have been excusable had there been a lack of quality options available, but there wasn't.
The 2015 class included four or five potential running backs, but Jess Anders has already left the program, 5'8" 160-pound Matt Guidry is a wide receiver, Halen Steward is a fullback and not a run threat, and (then-Juco signee) Corbin White will be a senior in 2016 and probably won't be taking significant carries from Jarveon Williams or a healthy Jalen Rhodes (White played in only four games in 2015, producing 14 yards on 4 carries). With Williams graduating after 2016 and only an injury-plagued Rhodes and the explosive but undersized (5'9" 185) Brett Winnegan set to man the position afterwards, new blood is sorely needed at RB going forward, hopefully an every-down play-maker or two with some muscle.
The new staff isn't shy about offering recruits they know they likely don't have a shot at landing, such as four-star RB O'Maury Samuels (now committed to Michigan) and a player I've been a big fan of in Louisiana All-State RB Travis Etienne (whose laughable two-star grade by Rivals is belied by the fact that he now has a half-dozen SEC offers).
Out in east Texas there's an all-but-unknown athlete I hope UTSA sends a coach to evaluate this spring. His name is Ted Fuller, and during his junior season at Class 2A Division I Harleton (a small town 16 miles northwest of Marshall and the same distance northeast of Longview), he rushed for over 1,700 yards and 20 touchdowns, passed for another 300 yards while spending time at QB, and made 84 tackles at safety, all en route to being named his district's MVP.
His head coach likens him to a faster version of former Mount Enterprise running back/linebacker Kevin Pope, who went on to be a four-year letterman at SMU from 2011 to 2014.
His Hudl highlights have all of 26 views, which suggests his film hasn't gotten around yet, and the only coaches following him on Twitter as of yet are from Ivy League programs like Harvard, Columbia, and Penn. That he is ranked among the top students in his class should come as no surprise. It can be hard to get a good feel for a 2A running back who can only be seen on film evading 2A level defenders (nothing against small town 2A players, but there's a world of difference in outrunning defenders from West Sabine and ones from West Mesquite, or Plano West).
That being said, I've watched his highlights 2 or 3 times now and I keep coming to the conclusion that Fuller, A. is a legit D1 recruit at running back and could possibly play safety at the next level, and B. has some of the most breathtaking acceleration I can remember seeing from a running back at any level in the last two or three classes.
He might not offer a lot of elusiveness, but the sheer suddenness with which he can turn on the jets and put distance between himself and his pursuers is uncommon. He's a physical player who deals out some hard hits, and in the very first play of his highlights you see his helmet come off but he continues on with the play and gives a LB a powerful shove that knocks him to the ground. Contact-averse, he is not. As for closing speed, check out the play at the 3:46 mark, where he's on the field defending against a PAT attempt, and when a bad snap botches the play the holder picks up the ball, turns and runs around the right end and almost scores to convert an unlikely two-point conversion but a hard-charging Fuller meets him at the goal line to prevent the score. It's one of my 3 or 4 favorite plays from the whole video.
The 2015 class included four or five potential running backs, but Jess Anders has already left the program, 5'8" 160-pound Matt Guidry is a wide receiver, Halen Steward is a fullback and not a run threat, and (then-Juco signee) Corbin White will be a senior in 2016 and probably won't be taking significant carries from Jarveon Williams or a healthy Jalen Rhodes (White played in only four games in 2015, producing 14 yards on 4 carries). With Williams graduating after 2016 and only an injury-plagued Rhodes and the explosive but undersized (5'9" 185) Brett Winnegan set to man the position afterwards, new blood is sorely needed at RB going forward, hopefully an every-down play-maker or two with some muscle.
The new staff isn't shy about offering recruits they know they likely don't have a shot at landing, such as four-star RB O'Maury Samuels (now committed to Michigan) and a player I've been a big fan of in Louisiana All-State RB Travis Etienne (whose laughable two-star grade by Rivals is belied by the fact that he now has a half-dozen SEC offers).
Out in east Texas there's an all-but-unknown athlete I hope UTSA sends a coach to evaluate this spring. His name is Ted Fuller, and during his junior season at Class 2A Division I Harleton (a small town 16 miles northwest of Marshall and the same distance northeast of Longview), he rushed for over 1,700 yards and 20 touchdowns, passed for another 300 yards while spending time at QB, and made 84 tackles at safety, all en route to being named his district's MVP.
His head coach likens him to a faster version of former Mount Enterprise running back/linebacker Kevin Pope, who went on to be a four-year letterman at SMU from 2011 to 2014.
His Hudl highlights have all of 26 views, which suggests his film hasn't gotten around yet, and the only coaches following him on Twitter as of yet are from Ivy League programs like Harvard, Columbia, and Penn. That he is ranked among the top students in his class should come as no surprise. It can be hard to get a good feel for a 2A running back who can only be seen on film evading 2A level defenders (nothing against small town 2A players, but there's a world of difference in outrunning defenders from West Sabine and ones from West Mesquite, or Plano West).
That being said, I've watched his highlights 2 or 3 times now and I keep coming to the conclusion that Fuller, A. is a legit D1 recruit at running back and could possibly play safety at the next level, and B. has some of the most breathtaking acceleration I can remember seeing from a running back at any level in the last two or three classes.
He might not offer a lot of elusiveness, but the sheer suddenness with which he can turn on the jets and put distance between himself and his pursuers is uncommon. He's a physical player who deals out some hard hits, and in the very first play of his highlights you see his helmet come off but he continues on with the play and gives a LB a powerful shove that knocks him to the ground. Contact-averse, he is not. As for closing speed, check out the play at the 3:46 mark, where he's on the field defending against a PAT attempt, and when a bad snap botches the play the holder picks up the ball, turns and runs around the right end and almost scores to convert an unlikely two-point conversion but a hard-charging Fuller meets him at the goal line to prevent the score. It's one of my 3 or 4 favorite plays from the whole video.
Last edited:
