51ºÚÁÏ

COLUMBIA, Mo. — A few weeks ago, shortly before the college football season began, Howard Richards prophesied what was coming for Missouri’s backfield.

When it comes to the Tigers’ most exciting players, Louisiana-Monroe transfer Ahmad Hardy often gets top billing. Richards, the star lineman from MU who was a first-round pick by the Cowboys and is now the analyst for the Tigers’ radio broadcasts, agreed with that sentiment. Then, he reminded, almost warned:

“Don’t forget about Jamal Roberts,� he said.

He was right. Through two games, the third-year MU running back who won two state titles with St. Mary’s has been impossible to ignore, turning quiet but steady work into some significant play.

Yes, Hardy has been fun to watch — as advertised. He’s rushed for at least 100 yards in his first two games with Missouri, scoring in each of them. He’s third in the Southeastern Conference in forced missed tackles.

But hey, look at Roberts, too. No. 20 has rushed for 176 yards, including a 63-yard back-breaking touchdown run last weekend against Kansas. He only needs 40 more yards to match his rushing output from the entire 2024 season.

An approach to the ground game that looked likely to feature Hardy as a workhorse back looks more like a tandem than expected. That’s because of the skills Roberts brings to the backfield.

He’s adept in pass protection, something that emerged as part of his role as the third-down-back last season. Roberts posted the 13th-best pass-blocking grade among running backs who did that regularly, per Pro Football Focus. That kind of usage was expected to continue into 2025. But even with Hardy looking promising, the Tigers are still allotting touches to Roberts.

“I think his balance with Ahmad works out really well,� MU coach Eli Drinkwitz said.

It’s challenging to define what that balance is. Usually, running back tandems are comprised of tailbacks with clearly different sizes and skill sets. Think a hard-nosed, downhill runner paired with a shifty, elusive perimeter specialist. In recent Mizzou terms, Larry Rountree III and Tyler Badie. Thunder and lightning, you know?

That’s not Hardy and Roberts. Hardy is 5-foot-10, 210 pounds. Roberts is 6-foot, 212. Both can do the bowl-’em-over runs; both can break away on the edge. Maybe that’s why Drinkwitz has been unwilling to define the backfield dynamic emerging in his offense.

“So far, so good,� is all he offered as a description for the balance between Hardy and Roberts this week, which is true but not all that illustrative.

Because Drinkwitz won’t do it, here’s an idea for what to call this Missouri running back duo: brains and brawn.

It’s mostly a nod to the cerebral way in which Roberts plays a position so often reduced to just running the rock in an assigned direction. Among MU players and coaches, he’s regarded as one of the smartest Tigers. He’s got a high football IQ, not just in how he understands the underlying mechanisms of a run play or his pass protection responsibilities but in how he recognizes what defenses are trying to do.

When he’s standing next to his quarterback before a pass play on which he’ll need to block, Roberts is scanning the defense to try to identify which players, if any, will blitz.

“When you know your job and when you know who’s coming, you just make the job easier,� he said.

While novel, among running backs, this is not new for Roberts. The foundation of his intellectual approach lies back at St. Mary’s.

The Dragons won championships in 2021 (Class 3) and 2022 (Class 4) with Roberts as a key offensive player. He ran for 1,899 yards and scored 28 touchdowns as a senior. But when Roberts signed with Missouri after that special season, his then-coach praised his mind.

“He’s always been powerful; he’s always been fast,� Ken Turner said at the time. “But it is outstanding to see how he reads (defenses).�

During his first preseason with the Tigers, Roberts showed promise as he quickly internalized the playbook.

“He’s picking up the offense really fast,� Cody Schrader said during preseason practices in 2023.

In part because of Schrader’s breakout 2023 season, Roberts redshirted then. As he began prep for his second season, his fellow tailbacks became even more impressed with how he read the game.

“He’s a young guy, but he’s a very intelligent football player,� walk-on running back Chris Kreh said during 2024 spring practices.

Roberts carved out his third-down role even as Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll took most of the touches. The Tigers still recruited over him, bringing in Hardy this offseason, but left the door open for him to merit more work.

So while Roberts’ mindful, patient approach hasn’t changed, it has paid off in the form of more touches and maybe even a spot in a running back tandem.

“Taking more reps than just third downs, picking up a lot of reps in the run game, that’s a lot different,� Roberts said this week.

Still, he’ll take the plays given to him, make the reads he needs to, and block, run and catch as required.

“I just embrace my role every year,� Roberts said.