Stanford junior running back Austin Jones enters transfer portal
A couple of days after Stanford junior running back Nathaniel Peat entered the transfer portal, his close friend and fellow junior running back Austin Jones followed suit and did the same today, making an announcement on social media:
I want to thank the entire Stanford football staff for supporting me during my time here at Stanford University, especially Coach Shaw for recruiting me and taking a chance on me and I want to thank Coach G for pushing me to be a better player every single day.
Most of all, I will miss my brothers that I have battled it out there with for the last three years. I am grateful for you allowing me to be a small part in your lives. Lastly thank you to the loyal Cardinal fans.
After much prayer and thoughtful consideration with my family, I have decided to enter into the transfer portal and I look forward to my next opportunity.
God Bless,
Austin Jones
During his time at Stanford, Jones rushed for 1155 yards and 12 touchdowns on 278 attempts while also picking up 539 receiving yards and 1 receiving touchdown on 33 receptions. If you tack on the 60 kick return yards he had as a freshman, that’s 1754 total yards and 13 touchdowns. This past season, Jones rushed for 378 yards and 2 touchdowns on 107 attempts while picking up 275 receiving yards and 1 touchdown on 33 receptions, giving him 653 yards from scrimmage and 3 touchdowns.
For Stanford, there’s really no good way to spin this news. Especially in light of Peat leaving as well. If it were just Peat leaving and Jones deciding to stay, as I said earlier the week, things could be fine at running back. But now with both of them leaving, things have gotten dangerously thin at a position that was hit hard by injuries last year.
Knowing how close Peat and Jones are, in hindsight, it’s clear that they did not want to continue on at Stanford without each other being there. So as soon as one of them decided he wanted out, the other obviously felt compelled to do the same.
Assuming no more guys transfer out of the running back room, it’s really going to be the E.J. Smith show at running back next season with Casey Filkins and Arlen Harris, Jr. providing support. Smith and Filkins will both be juniors next season while Harris will be a freshman. Smith rushed for 133 yards and 1 touchdown on 26 attempts last season while also picking up 65 receiving yards on 15 receptions, giving him 198 total yards from scrimmage. As for Filkins, he rushed for 44 yards on 11 attempts and had 11 receiving yards on 3 receptions, giving him 55 total yards from scrimmage on the season. Filkins also totaled 134 punt return yards on 9 returns for a very solid 14.9 return yard average. So, he made a real impact on special teams, but not so much as an every down back.
When looking at those numbers, it’s clear that it’s really difficult to project what kind of production Stanford will get from their running backs next season. Both Smith and Filkins had the luxury of playing behind Jones and Peat, limiting their touches, and not having to take the kind of pounding that is about to come their way. Can they pick up the slack and make up for their departure next season? It’s not impossible, but it’s going to be a steep hill to climb.
It’s certainly going to be a major storyline going into spring ball and training camp how the running back room is shaping up and how prepared Smith, Filkins, and Harris feel to carry the torch. Especially Smith, who was a top 75 recruit in the country coming out of high school. If he was hoping to get more touches, he’s certainly going to be getting them now.
As for Austin Jones, it’ll be interesting see where he ends up and how productive he is at his next destination. If you go off yards per carry, his production dipped each year, averaging 5.0 yards per carry as a freshman, 4.4 yards per carry as a sophomore, and 3.5 yards per carry as a junior this past season. If you go by touchdowns, his most productive season in that department was his sophomore year in which he totaled 9 rushing touchdowns in 6 games played. So, a major dip in his touchdown production from his sophomore year to his junior year. However, he had his most productive season in terms of receiving yards this past season. After averaging 7.7 yards per catch as a freshman and 7.4 yards per catch as a sophomore, he averaged 8.3 yards per catch this past season.
None of this is to say Jones won’t be missed next year. He most certainly will be. But after seeing his numbers as a whole dip the past two seasons, it will be telling what kind of season he has at his new home. He’s obviously transferring to get a fresh start elsewhere. That’s why everyone transfers. If he’s able to have a bounce back year, that will not reflect well on Stanford’s inability to retain him.
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