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Joe Yearby
RB - Junior 5'9 207 - Miami, Fl
2015 Key Stats: 205 carries, 1,002 yards, 4.9 ypc, 6 TD's, 23 receptions 273 yards, 2 TD's.
Started all 13 games last year, and became just the 9th runner in school history to surpass 1,000 yards in a season.
Has had a very steady, solid career already at UM:
Very quietly, Joe Yearby needs only 465 yards next season to move into the top 10 on Miami's all-time rushing yards list.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) December 27, 2015
Outstanding receiver out of the backfield, underrated in blitz pick-up situations, good slasher between the tackles, and brings pretty good power and elusiveness combination to his running style.
Summary: Yearby is an above average college back in all regards. I expect him to be a key cog in the offense this season, especially in the passing game. Keep an eye on June 20th though. Fellow talented back, sophomore Mark Walton, has a court date in less than 2 weeks for an April arrest on DUI/suspended license charges. Walton is expected to be re-instated from an indefinite suspension at some point, but could possibly miss a few games depending on how the 20th goes. If Walton is missing for any key stretch, the workload on Yearby increases significantly. Gus Edwards is also expected to be a factor this year, after missing all of 2015 due to injury, so Yearby would be hard pressed to get another 1,000 yards this season given he is going to be sharing a lot of carries. Either way, in Mark Richt's pro style attack, running the ball is going to be a key part of the offense and Yearby is going to be a weapon they utilize often. The junior to be is very effective between the tackles, runs with good patience and vision, and can run through arm tackles as well as make people miss. If he is lacking one ingredient that would make him even better, it's breakaway speed at the second level. Nonetheless, I expect Yearby to average over 4.5 yards a carry this season, accumulate anywhere from 600-1,000 yard rushing (depending on how many carries he gets), and add at least 20 catches to his numbers as a very steady safety valve for Brad Kaaya. Behind a very mediocre offense line, he managed 1,000 yards last season and close to 5 a carry. That's a testament to both his toughness and overall abilities.