Boom or Bust
UNT's Jahiem White might be the G5's most talented RB since Ashton Jeanty, but there is a catch (or two)...
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.
- Mark Twain, writer
It’s not every day that a player who averaged seven yards per carry on a sample of over 100 runs at the P4 level—and a legitimate early-round NFL draft prospect this time last year—finds themselves in the Group of Five. I guess I should start referring to this level as the “Group of Six” now, but that name just makes me think of painters in the early 20th century.
Anyways, WVU’s Jahiem White was probably on his way to a 1000+ rushing yard season with the Mountaineers in 2025 before a blown ACL ended his campaign early in the second quarter of week two vs. Ohio.
An inconspicuous “toss right” play was detonated early by a Bobcat DB who made the tackle around White’s right knee, subsequently sending his football career into abeyance for the foreseeable future. White has since transferred to North Texas.
His former and now-once again head coach Neal Brown has a peculiar history at RB. Many of you may remember Mountaineer RB Leddie Brown in the early 2020s. Dating back to 2008, only five RBs under Neal Brown have seen over 200 carries, and Leddie was one of them in 2021. In fact, he was one carry away in 2020 from being Neal Brown’s only RB to receive 200 carries twice.
However, charting coach Brown’s average RB stats between 2008 and present, his RB1 rushing output is approximately 159 attempts, 812 yards and eight TDs per season. You don’t need to use my probability calculator to confirm that with a workload of 160 carries, it is unlikely that any RB will clear 1000 yards.
A few notes:
2017: Jordan Chunn was limited by injury mid-season.
2022: CJ Donaldson (526 yards, 8 TDs in just 7 games) had better per game output but Mathis had more total yards.
2023: Jahiem White out-ran Donaldson but CJ outscored him 11:4.
It’s understandable if the reader finds themselves unmoved by Neal Brown’s RB1 statistical averages.
But framing the situation another way: Brown’s RB1 has cleared 1000 yards rushing in five out of his last 10 years dating back to 2015. He had a particularly strong stretch at RB between 2015 and 2021. And the receiving work of his backs sometimes redeems their lacking carry share.
BJ Smith in 2018, Leddie Brown in 2020 & 2021, and to some extent, CJ Donaldson in 2022, make up four of the last seven seasons of good output from this role (2020 isn’t included in Table 2. due to it being a shortened season). My definition of ‘good’ here basically being ~15 PPG. If we really wanted to stretch it we could include Donaldson’s 2023 season, averaging 13 PPG, but his yardage per game wasn’t very good and the PPG is more a function of scoring nearly a TD per game.
I’m just going off memory now from an old article I did awhile back, but I do believe Leddie Brown actually averaged over 20 PPG in the shortened COVID season (or close to it). That data point in the sample would bring Neal Brown’s RB1 average close to 15 PPG since 2018. Not a number to sneeze at.
Ironically though, it felt like White was actually held back by Neal Brown while he was with him in 2023 and 2024. White’s YPC average was particularly prolific in 2023, hitting 7.7 yards per run on 109 carries. His 2024 efficiency wasn’t as strong, as is usually the case with an increased workload, but still achieved 5.7 YPC on 149 carries. Despite abundant evidence of a statistically fecund back in his backfield, Brown refused to allocate a heavier share of carries to the sophomore.
Which made White’s early season injury in 2025 all the more unfortunate, because it had appeared that he finally found his perfect match via head coach Rich Rodriguez (not to mention RB CJ Donaldson moved on to Ohio State that same offseason).
Whispers around Morgantown last spring intimated that overtures were being made to White in order to induce him to transfer, resulting in WVU negotiating (and then apparently renegotiating) with White to keep him. When it was all said and done, it’s likely the case that he was the highest paid player on the team. Understandably, Rich Rod might have chosen to go in a different direction this offseason, leading to JW’s exit and eventual reunion with Neal Brown.
The last time Brown called plays, his team operated an outside zone run scheme. He’ll probably do the same at UNT, which we already know is a good fit for White’s skillset if he’s healthy. He also averaged 60+% run plays called in the two seasons that he had with White. The problem was the RB1 carry shares were a mere 30 and 28 percent. These are not bad numbers by any means, but they are also not notably good.
Behind White at UNT is Brendon Haygood, Nick Osho, and Jayden Becks. Becks being the only one returning to the club from the previous season. He started his career at Missouri State and played there for two years before transferring in 2025. He briefly entered the portal in early January, and then returned, potentially signalling something about his role in 2026
Osho comes over from Indiana State, where he had a pretty good season rushing for over 600 yards. Haygood was a true freshman in 2025 and appeared in only one game, taking four carries for 12 yards. There are no freshmen RBs included in UNT’s 2026 signing class.
As with any player, whether or not they are “worth it” depends on the cost. At a low enough entry point, I don’t see a compelling reason not to take a few chances on White in CFF drafts.1
It should be noted that (I assume) 2026’s first CFF mock draft was conducted in late January with a panel of ‘CFF experts’ (read: sick fucks), and White went un-drafted through the nine-round exercise. Though it should also be noted that drafters were capped at three RBs at most, which probably affected things. In an unrestricted draft, White would have almost certainly been selected in a later round.
The Case For & Against Jahiem White
The against side of this argument is easier to make so I’ll present it first:
Not a long list of RBs who return one year later from an ACL and perform at a high level (e.g., CJ Baxter this past season)
System he’s in already had him for two seasons, and neither year produced a particularly notable campaign from a CFF standpoint
QB will potentially be a runner, especially if Chris Jimerson wins the job
The pro-Jahiem argument is a little harder, but still an intriguing one:
When healthy was an elite player in the P4 and at this level he may receive more work than he did at WVU if he can handle it coming off injury
Not a lot of competition around him at RB based on what we know currently (this is subject to change as offseason unfolds)
Familiarity with coaching staff may give him edge in usage relative to other players on team
If you enjoyed this content and would like to read more, I recommend joining the Pigpen, a community of thousands of degenerate college football fans:
CFF = College Fantasy Football. You can find leagues to play in on Fantrax.com
I’m bullish on White! What’s your early offseason RB ranking for each of these guys:
-Haynes
-W. Jordon
-Sheppard
-J. White
-Joyner
-Keyjuan Brown
-Dickens
-McGowan (still eligible?)