Washington releases Bryce Love, pretty much extinguishing any faint hopes of him truly returning from the major knee injury he suffered his final season at Stanford. Unlikely that he shows up on an NFL roster again.
At Stanford, Love for a while looked like a similar player to Christian McCaffrey. The measurables weren’t as good and without the elite pass-catching skills, but Love piled up some huge rushing numbers, running for 2,118 yards in the 2017 season. If we wind the clock back to December that year, there's Love at the Heisman Trophy presentation, posing for photos between Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson
Washington selected him in the fourth round, hoping he might be able to put things together, but in two years there he never actually got on the field in a regular-season game. It released him today.
Love joins the long list of runners who were successful at the college level but weren’t big factors in the pros. It got me looking into previous players who ran for over 2,000 yards in college.
At the sports-reference.com website, they’ve got a list of 35 players who ran for over 2,000 yards at the major college level. About half of those guys went on to run for over 1,000 yards in at least one NFL season (and those players are tagged with black dots). Only two have gone over 2,000 for both college and NFL teams (Barry Sanders and Derrick Henry).
PLAYERS RUNNING FOR 2,000 YARDS IN COLLEGE | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Yards | College | Best Pro Season | Team |
1988 | • Barry Sanders | 2,628 | Oklahoma State | 335-2053-11 | Det. |
2014 | • Melvin Gordon | 2,587 | Wisconsin | 284-1105-8 | LAC |
2007 | Kevin Smith | 2,567 | Central Florida | 238-976-8 | Det. |
1981 | • Marcus Allen | 2,427 | Southern Cal | 380-1759-11 | Oak. |
2017 | Rashaad Penny | 2,248 | San Diego State | 85-419-2 | Sea. |
2015 | • Derrick Henry | 2,219 | Alabama | 378-2027-17 | Ten. |
2018 | • Jonathan Taylor | 2,194 | Wisconsin | 232-1169-11 | Ind. |
1996 | Troy Davis | 2,185 | Iowa State | 75-271-0 | N.O. |
2013 | Andre Williams | 2,177 | Boston College | 217-721-7 | NYG |
2000 | • LaDainian Tomlinson | 2,158 | Texas Christian | 348-1815-28 | S.D. |
1976 | • Tony Dorsett | 2,150 | Pitt | 342-1646-4 | Dall. |
1983 | • Mike Rozier | 2,148 | Nebraska | 251-1002-10 | Hou. |
2016 | Donnel Pumphrey | 2,133 | San Diego State | 0-0-0 | Phil. |
2007 | • Matt Forte | 2,127 | Tulane | 289-1339-9 | Chi. |
1998 | • Ricky Williams | 2,124 | Texas | 383-1853-16 | Mia. |
2017 | Bryce Love | 2,118 | Stanford | 0-0-0 | Was. |
1996 | Ron Dayne | 2,109 | Wisconsin | 194-773-6 | Hou. |
2019 | Chuba Hubbard | 2,094 | Oklahoma State | ? | ? |
2002 | • Larry Johnson | 2,087 | Penn State | 416-1789-17 | K.C. |
2008 | Donald Brown | 2,083 | Connecticut | 134-645-5 | Ind. |
1985 | • Lorenzo White | 2,066 | Michigan State | 265-1226-7 | Hou. |
2000 | Damien Anderson | 2,063 | Northwestern | 18-68-0 | Ariz. |
1994 | • Rashaan Salaam | 2,055 | Colorado | 296-1074-10 | Chi. |
1979 | • Charles White | 2,050 | Southern Cal | 324-1374-11 | LAR |
2014 | Tevin Coleman | 2,036 | Indiana | 167-800-4 | Atl. |
1999 | Ron Dayne | 2,034 | Wisconsin | 228-770-5 | NYG |
2016 | D'Onta Foreman | 2,028 | Texas | 78-327-2 | Hou. |
2015 | • Christian McCaffrey | 2,019 | Stanford | 287-1387-15 | Car. |
2004 | J.J. Arrington | 2,018 | California | 112-370-2 | Ariz. |
2019 | Malcolm Perry | 2,017 | Navy | 3-5-0 | Mia. |
2007 | • Ray Rice | 2,012 | Rutgers | 291-1364-12 | Balt. |
1995 | Troy Davis | 2,010 | Iowa State | 55-143-1 | N.O. |
2019 | • Jonathan Taylor | 2,003 | Wisconsin | 232-1169-11 | Ind. |
2019 | J.K. Dobbins | 2,003 | Ohio State | 134-805-9 | Balt. |
1996 | Byron Hanspard | 2,000 | Texas Tech | 136-383-1 | Atl. |
—Ian Allan