[jwplayer fLEqMANG-Esf0Ippc]
2018 Mountain West Football Top 50 Players: #49, Fresno State RB Jordan Mims
Fresno State’s top running back in 2017 is next on our list of Mountain West football’s top 50 players.
Contact/Follow @MattK_FS
Mims will look to help the Bulldogs offense become more explosive in 2018.
Next on our countdown of the Mountain West’s 50 best football players is Fresno State running back Jordan Mims, who spearheaded a youth movement and led the Bulldogs’ resurgent running attack.
Head coach Jeff Tedford surprised many by enabling true freshmen Mims and Ronnie Rivers to play right away, and though Rivers received justifiable hype for his family name at the onset, it was Mims who ended up leading Fresno State with 627 rushing yards, chipping in 14 catches and 143 receiving yards for good measure.
His 4.2 yards per carry may seem modest at first glance, but it’s worth keeping in mind that the Bulldogs’ ground game had bottomed out in 2016, averaging a meager 3.17 YPC that season. And despite just one run of more than 20 yards, Mims’s steady contributions helped the Bulldogs leap from 126th in Success Rate (50 percent of necessary yardage on first down, 70 percent on second down, and 100 percent on third and fourth down) to 42nd.
If Mims can create a few more big plays on the ground — Fresno State ranked 129th in rushing explosiveness (IsoPPP) — the Bulldogs will be in great shape as they take aim at the Mountain West crown.
[lawrence-related id=7391,7071,6916]