In this installment of The Recruiting Notebook, we meet a 3-down back with power and speed: Lake Charles (LA) College Prep 4-star RB TreVonte’ Citizen.

Bio

Citizen pulled a shocker and committed to the Canes today, so here’s his Welcome to the U piece as this part of the narrative.

Recruiting Ranking

On the 247sports composite, Citizen is a 4-star prospect, the #9 RB nationally, #10 in the State of Louisiana, and #107 player overall in this class.

Citizen shocked the recruiting world by committing to Miami over Florida, Auburn, and LSU from a list of 27 scholarship offers from around the country.

As a Player

Citizen is well built for the RB position at 6’0” 217lbs. The All-American RB runs downhill behind his pads, and puts his chiseled physique to good use by delivering vicious contact and finishing runs through defenders on a regular basis.

Not a dancer on the field, Citizen is 1-cut-and-go. He finds his hole, hits it hard, making one move along the way, and trusting his speed to do the rest of the work. Citizen is a decisive runner, and has equal affinity for cutting the play inside through the teeth of the defense (which some younger players don’t like to do), and taking it outside to show his speed.

Citizen has great size at nearly 220lbs and shows a willingness to block. That will serve him well in pass protection, a skill which is the main barrier that keeps younger RBs off the field. Citizen is in the neighborhood of the size of most blitzing LBs and bigger than most blitzing DBs he’d be tasked with blocking, so as long as he has the proper mentality and appropriate technique, he should be fine in this area.

While he wasn’t asked to do it much, Citizen shows the ability to catch passes out of the backfield. He lined up in the slot a few times in HS on film, but those were basically spot routes or defacto screens. So, hit him with a checkdown, yes. Expect him to Moss a defender 25 yards down the field? Maybe not.

For another look at Citizen, here’s an eval from 247sports Midlands Recruiting Analyst Gabe Brooks:

Good build relative to the running back position. Owns college-ready size so lack of length is not much of a concern in regards to frame potential. Played both ways at running back and linebacker through junior seasons and produced solid numbers in each capacity. Profile would be great as an off-ball linebacker but physical tools definitely lean running back in the long term. Shows impressive initial burst. Accelerates naturally with urgency. At his best as a linear slasher or in one-cut situations. Can more consistently finish runs but generally runs hard and with conviction. Generally ran with good pad level and leverage as a junior, but shows an upright gait at times, including during senior season. Displays enough top-end play speed to provide a big-play threat. Also runs track. Personal bests are 11.31 in the 100 and 22.19 in the 200, the latter of which particularly suggests good top-end speed. Not a dart-and-dodge back, but shows enough close-quarters athleticism to make the first defender miss. Stays fast through subtle redirections and looks improved in that capacity as a senior. Can improve inconsistencies in contact balance. Very limited pass-catching reps. Will enter college with very low mileage relative to the vast majority of running back recruits. Pure football player who projects to the Power Five level at running back with potential to become an impact starter. Intriguing player who combines high-floor physical traits with untapped potential as a true running back given extensive two-way duties during high school career.

Strengths

• Physical build
• Productivity
• Versatility
• Speed

Weaknessees

• Not a lot of wiggle
• Plenty of blue chip players in front of him on the depth chart
• Good not great receiver

Miami Outlook

Note: changed this up from just a freshman-season outlook to a career outlook for each player last year and we’re continuing that style this year as well.

Miami is blessed with PLENTY of riches at the RB position currently. Citizen is the 6th blue chip RB on the roster, so his path forward to the top of the depth chart may take a while.

Mario Cristobal likes to employ a spread offense that can pound you on the ground, and exploit you through the air. Citizen could easily fit in as the lead back in a Cristobal-style system that features a star RB as one of the foundational components. Sure, it might take a year or two, but the skill for the player should fit the scheme employed by the team perfectly. Cristobal had an honorable mention all-conference RB each of his years at Oregon, and Citizen should set his sights on that, or higher, while at Miami.

The most likely path forward for Citizen is light usage early on in his career with the potential to take a big step forward in 2023 when 3 of the other 5 players in the RB room could move on. If he’s able to accelerate that timeline, good for him. Cuz there is a LOT of competition between him and the RB1 job at present.

That’s it for this installment of The Recruiting Notebook.

Go Canes