COUNTDOWN TO ARMY-NAVY GBK RELATED ARTICLES:

- GBK: Seniors Prepare To Stop Navy (11/24)

- Offensive Seniors ready to go against Navy (11/27)

- QB Ahmad Bradshaw’s Legacy: The Player, The Cadet, The Leader & The Son (11/27)

- Part I - GBK Preview Navy (11/28)

- Part II - Army-Navy Football 2017: Head to Head Comparison - Offensive Lines (11/29)

- Q&A with Sr. LB Alex Aukerman (11/29)

- Part III: Army-Navy Football 2017 Head to Head Comparison - Receivers

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The Army Black Knights and the Navy Midshipmen have the first and second best rushing offenses in the country; so one would expect them both to have very good running backs, but unlike most teams, both Army and Navy spread the load among several running backs, including the quarterbacks; so their running backs don’t rank high in the list of top running backs in the country. Army has 9 players who have carried the ball 10 or more times this season and Navy also has 10. but 3 of Navy’s players with 10 or more carries are quarterbacks. Army’s leading rusher this season is the quarterback, Ahmad Bradshaw, but we will treat quarterbacks separately in our next article.

Since both offenses are derivations of the triple option created by Paul Johnson, it’s not surprising to find that the names associated with the 3 running backs in their formations are the same and that the B-back (aka fullback) normally gets more carries than either of the two slotbacks. In recent years we’ve noticed a trend at Navy to have the quarterbacks carry the ball more and to a lesser extent we’ve seen Army install some plays that give the ball to the quarterback as well.

While we are unable to cite exact numbers, in Navy’s offense quarterbacks account for approximately 50% of the carries, the B-backs approximately 30% and the slotbacks the remaining 20%.

In the Army West Point offense, the B-backs account for approximately 47% of the carries, the quarterbacks approximately 32% of the carries, and the slotbacks 21% of the carries.

The Black Knights have 4 fullbacks who have carried the ball 40 times or more, but only one of them can be the starter. The other 3 are rotated into the lineup regularly keeping them all fresh. Slotbacks are also rotated but less frequently than the fullbacks.

Fullback: Darnell Woolfolk (5-9, 235 lbs) played fullback at USMAPS in 2014 and saw limited action in 6 games as a plebe in 2015. He moved into the regular rotation last year and came on strong in the second half of the season, finishing third on the team in rushing with 604 yards in 109 attempts including 2 hundred-yard games and a 95 yard game against Notre Dame.

Woolfolk was sidelined for 3 games this year, but he has started 7 games and played in reserve against North Texas. He is the second leading rusher on the team with 668 net yards in 124 carries for an average of 5.4 yards per carry. He is tied for the team lead in rushing touchdowns with 11.

Slotback - A: Kell Walker (5-9, 195 lbs) gained a lot of admirers last season operating primarily out of the A-back position. Walker had 58 carries for 378 yards, which placed him 5th on the list of Army rushers last season. Walker also caught 2 passes for 30 yards in 2016.

Offensive coordinator Brent Davis has found some new ways to get Walker more carries this season, and he currently ranks third on the team in rushing with 553 yards in 73 carries for a 7.8 yards per carry average. Walker is also the leading receiver on the team this season with 5 catches for 111 yards.

Slotback - T: John Trainor (5-11, 190 lbs) is the veteran of the unit with 3 varsity letters and a career total of 305 yards rushing on 40 attempts and 10 receptions for 188 yards coming into the 2017 season. Trainor has appeared in 9 games this season with 9 starts. He has 62 yards in 14 rushing attempts for an average of 4.4 yards per carry and he has caught two passes for 2 passes for 42 yards.

Fullback: Andy Davidson (6-2, 220 lbs) was converted from linebacker last season and started the first 7 games of the season at B-back. He finished the season as the team’s leading rusher with 964 yards in 190 attempts.

Davidson has played in all 11 games with 3 starts this season, and he ranks 4th on the team in rushing yardage with 571 yards in 94 rushing attempts for an average of 5.5 yards per carry.

Fullback: Calen Holt, ( 6-0, 230 lbs) made the conversion from linebacker on special teams in the spring and is expected to see some playing time at fullback this season. Holt has played in all 11 games this season with 2 starts, and he has 207 yards in 40 rushing attempts for an average of 5.2 yards per carry. Holt has been used more often as a lead blocker for Ahmad Bradshaw.

Fullback: Connor Slomka 6-0, 240 lbs) made his first career appearance against Lafayette and ran for 10 yards on 2 attempts. Despite being the #4 fullback, Slomka ranks 6th on the team in rushing this season with 41 carries for 181 yards, with an average of 4.4 yards per carry, demonstrating Army’s depth at the position.

Slotback: Jordan Asberrry, (5-9, 185 lbs, appeared in 10 games, with 2 starts in 2015 and had 30 carries for 213 yards (7.1 ypc). He led all slotbacks in rushing last season with 427 yards in 57 attempts with 5 rushing TDs, and he was the 4th leading receiver on the team with 5 catches for 100 yards. This season Asberry has played in all 11 games with 3 starts. He has rushed for 111 yards in 17 carries for an average of 6.5 yards per carry, and he has caught 3 passes for 78 yards.

Navy has used 5 players at B-back, but only two of them have more than 5 carries this season. They have 4 slotbacks with 10 or more carries, but the top rusher among the slotbacks, Malcolm Perry has been employed at quarterback in a couple of games as well as at slotback. We shall address that more in our next article in this series.

Fullback: Anthony Gargiulo has appeared in 8 games this season and replaced Chris High in the starting lineup against UCF when High sat out with an injury. He also started games Navy’s last two games against Notre Dame and Houston and is currently listed at the top of the depth chart in the B-back position. Despite seeing limited action this year, Gargiulo ranks fourth on the Navy team in rushing with 384 yards in 71 carries for an average of 5.4 yards per attempt. He appears to be an improvement over Chris High who has dropped to second on the depth chart.

Slotback: Senior co-captain Daryl Bonner (5-7, 178 lbs) played in 12 games in 2016 and rushed for 227 yards on 29 carries and 2 touchdowns. He was also Navy’s second leading receiver with 278 yards on 10 catches for 3 TDs last year.

This season Bonner has played in 9 games with 7 starts and he is Navy’s fourth leading rusher with 30 carries for 163 net yards for a 5.4 average with 1 rushing touchdown. Bonner is the third leading receiver for Navy wtih 7 catches for 178 yards.

Slotback: Malcolm Perry (5-9, 185 lbs) played in three games, two at quarterback and one at slot back in 2016 and he carried the ball nine times for 73 yards and 1 TD last year.

He was moved into the starting lineup at slotback this season and is the second leading rusher on the team with 818 yards in 92 carries, 37 of which were as the quarterback rather than slotback. He is also Navy’s second leading receiver with 12 catches for 301 yards. He is generally regarded as the fastest man on the Navy team and their top breakaway threat. While we expect Perry to start at slotback, he may get some snaps at quarterback as well.

Fullback: Chris High (6-1, 224 lbs) started 8 of the 11 games in which he played and missed three games due to injury in 2016. He finished the season as Navy’s second-leading rusher (behind QB Will Worth) with 546 yards on 85 carries and 7 touchdowns. He has played in 9 games this season with 7 starts and he is the third leading rusher for Navy with 494 net yards in 116 carries for an average of 4.3 yards per rushing attempt and 2 rushing touchdowns.

Slotback: Josh Brown appeared in 13 games in 2015 and 12 games with one start in 2016. He came into this year with 3 career receptions for 45 yards and has 2 catches for 27 yards this year. Brown has appeared in 9 games with 1 start, and ranks 6th on the team in rushing with 156 yards in 17 carries for a 9.2 average per carry. He also has caught 1 pass for 8 yards.

Slotback: John Brown III has appeared in 11 games this season with 2 starts. He has 14 carries for 88 yards and a 6.3 average per carry.