While the Pack’s backfield has been plagued by inexperience and injuries, junior running back James Washington has been providing a steady output for the offense in an uncanny fashion. Washington leads the team in rushing yards with 68.2 yards per game and touchdowns with five. He’s also second in all-purpose yards with 102.2 yards per outing.
In his junior season Washington has been asked to take the reigns of the ground game after two injury plagued seasons as the backup running back, and statistics suggest he has done so through his versatility out of the backfield. The Orlando native has 409 rushing yards and 204 receiving yards through the first six games of the season.
“It’s been a smooth adjustment,” Washington said. “I started four games last year, came in this year and worked my way back up to starting. I’m just taking it one game at a time and working out and doing whatever I need to do, whether it’s pass blocking, running the ball or catching out of the backfield.”
When you look at his physical stats, standing six feet tall and 180 pounds with blur like speed, you would expect him to stick to tosses and pitches to the outside. But Washington prefers to take his game in between the tackles and run down the middle. According to Washington, this has always been his style of play.
“I’m pretty used to running in between the tackles because that’s what I was doing in high school,” Washington said. “We do a couple of tosses here and there but you have to be good at both running in between the tackles and running outside, so I play a vertical game.”
Washington’s speed even garnered him the nickname “Sonic” from senior receiver Jay Smith.
“It came from freshman year,” Washington said. “When I first got here we were in spring workouts. We did running and stuff, and actually Jay Smith gave me the nickname because of how fast I was running.”
According to Washington, his offensive line and the other running backs, freshman Tony Creecy and junior Brandon Barnes also create opportunities for him to run between the tackles consistently. In the Pack’s loss to Georgia Tech, Washington broke out for a career-high 131 yards rushing.
“We came out firing out front,” Washington said. “My line did a great job of pushing their defensive line back to get to the second level. I just had to read out where they were blocking and make plays off of that.
“Creecy is a good player, he finally got his chance to play in a star role with the [top unit]. He just had to adjust his speed after the first couple of series, but after he adjusted he did a lot better. Brandon got a chance to play this week. It’s been a while since he’s played because he got injured, so it’s good to see him out there.”
With Washington carrying a heavy load on the offensive side of the ball, he has proven that versatility and attitude towards being a smaller back on the field will give him the upper hand.
