Jahvid Best vs. Joe McKnight – Battle of the #1 #4s.

I know, I know. It’s WAY too early to begin the comparisons. They’ve both only played one season (with Jahvid not even finishing his). It’s retarded to compare two players just because they’re sophomore running backs in the Pac-10. Joe McKnight is sooo much better than Best. Best is sooo much faster than McKnight…blah blah blah.

Forgive me, it’s the college football offseason, and I have to indulge in various comparisons and inane stretches of “analysis.” But some of the similarities are worth looking at, even on my blog.

Both have been compared to Reggie Bush, with Desean Jackson going so far as to call Best “Little Bush.” Both were some of the most highly recruited running back prospects in the country, with McKnight obviously having received a bit more press. Both played as true freshman and immediately got playing time, and subsequently, both made immediate impacts for their teams. Oh, and both wear number 4.

That’s enough for me to take a look at both players and compare and contrast their performance thus far, and a take glimpse at who might end up eclipsing the other when it’s all said and done.

Let’s take a quick look at a quick Tale of the Tape

Name: Joe McKnight

DOB: 4/16/1988

Hometown: River Ridge, Louisiana

Height: 6-0.

Weight: 180 lbs.

Name: Jahvid Best

DOB: 1/30/1989

Hometown: Vallejo, California

Height: 5’10.

Weight:193 lbs

Instant Impact?

Both backs began their respective college careers as the third string backups on their team. With Emmanuel Moody’s transfer to the Florida Gators, McKnight would jump to near the top of the ridiculous RB deep depth chart, backing up CJ Gable and Chauncey Washington.

Best was projected to back up senior Justin Forsett and Redshirt Freshman James Montgomery.

Both coaches Jeff Tedford and Pete Carroll recognized there was far too much talent in the players to keep them redshirted. However, it is important to speculate that a big reason why Tedford (who had typically only heavily used two backs per season in his time with Cal) would choose not to redshirt Best would be because of his skill at the punt return gunner position (more on that later).

Despite being third on each team’s depth charts, both backs were expected to see their fair share of playing time. And play they did.

At various points in the season, both players made the presence felt in numerous facets of the game (rushing, receiving, and special teams). Fans for both USC and Cal grew increasingly excited not only in what future seasons would bring, but what the 2007 season would bring, and how many ESPN highlights would go along with it.

Jahvid Best’s 1^st Collegiate TD

Joe McKnight 1^st Collegiate TD

Here’s a quick statistical breakdown of how they did in their first seasons.

2007	Joe McKnight	Jahvid Best
Rushing
Attempts	94	29
Yards	540	221
AVG	5.7	7.6
LNG	65	64
TD	3	2
Receiving
REC	23	13
Yards	203	74
Average	8.8	5.7
Long	32	16
Touchdown	1	1

RUSHING

As you can see, Best had significantly fewer carries than McKnight, only 30.8% as many as McKnight to be exact. He never had a game in which he saw more than 4 carries, and his injury midway through the USC game, sidelined him for the rest of the season, allowing him to only play 9.5 games versus the 12 that McKnight played, including USC’s Rose Bowl win over Illinois (McKnight did not play versus Washington).

Despite that, Best was a threat every time he touched the ball, ripping off a ridiculous 7.6 YPC to go along with 221 yards. McKnight benefited from having more than three times as many more carries as Best, but only more than doubled Best’s rushing total. It’s difficult to try and extrapolate those numbers and see what Best would have done with as many carries as McKnight. He may have gained as many yards, but the increase in the number of carries may have also adversely affected his high YPC.

Both also showed the ability to break the big one on a number of occasions, with both of their longest rushes being nearly identical at 65 yards for McKnight and 64 for Best.

RECEIVING

More or less the same story. Best gets fewer balls thrown to him, and hence gets fewer yards. But it’s a bit harder this time to deny that McKnight was utilized more often as a receiving threat than Best, and given the opportunity, did more when he did catch the ball. With nearly twice as many catches, McKnight almost tripled the number of receiving yards as Best. But again, given how few yards and catches we’re talking about here, the differences are almost negligible.

SPECIAL TEAMS

This is where it gets a little bit more interesting and perhaps a bit more difficult to compare because Best and McKnight were utilized heavily but very differently in a Special Teams capacity.

McKnight was used as USC’s top punt returner, returning 19 punts for 160 yards for a 8.4 YPC, and a long of 45. While he had a few breakout punt returns, specifically against Illinois in the Rose Bowl, he was a bit more quiet with the majority of his other returns.

Best on the other hand was selected for kickoff return duties alongside wide receiver Lavelle Hawkins. He returned 15 kickoffs for 405 yards (with a long of 54), and an average of 27.0 YPC, finishing second in the Pac-10 in that category.

Finally, one of the areas that might go statistically under the radar is Best’s performance as a standout punt team gunner. In 2007, he tacked on 12 tackles and a fumble recovery onto his short but impressive resume. Many argue that it was this X-Factor that ultimately pushed Coach Tedford to choose Best to play as a true frosh over other highly-recruited freshman Shane Vereen, given both were and still are, considered incredibly talented players.

2008 and Beyond…

McKnight has been declared academically ineligible…but it won’t affect his eligibility for the fall. That’s got to be a relief for Trojan fans who were hootin’ and hollerin’ at USC’s practices when they saw McKnight rip off huge plays as a receiver, tail back, and in the return game.

McKnight already has some early Heisman hype, but Desean Jackson will be the first to tell you that it doesn’t matter what you do in Spring, or even the first game. It matters what you do consistently throughout the season to even be considered. Even in a best case scenario, I can’t image McKnight being seriously considered for the award as a true sophomore, although he may set himself up beautifully to run away with it his Junior year if all goes well for him and his Trojans.

Best’s hip pointer injury has held him out of spring contact drills, allowing him to only participate in individual drills, but should be ready to go for the fall. Given the depth and youth of Cal’s running back group, the starting position is fairly open which may jeopardize the number of carries Best might receive. But having the most game time experience of the group (at a whopping 29 carries), expect Best to have the larger share of carries next year.

The good news is that assuming both players can stay healthy, eligible, and out of trouble, we’re in store for at least two more years of debate. That is of course unless a player begins to fade with his productivity on the field, but considering what we’ve seen thus far, it’s highly unlikely that that will be the case. They’ll be pushed for playing time by the competition and depth at their respective tail back spots, but as of now, these guys expect to be the featured backs in the next season or two. This will most likely be an issue that we’ll revisit more often, especially as the season breaks out and college football fans nationwide begin to see what these guys can do as main men in the spotlight.

My Opinion?

My bias as a Cal fan has naturally pushed me in favor of Jahvid Best, also because I’ve had the chance to see him play more than the few highlights I’ve been able to catch of McKnight. But more than anything, I’m excited that we may even have a true discussion of the best running backs in the conference and possibly the country in the next few years.