Jerome Ford: RB · Cincinnati · #24.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Jerome Ford
Hits the crease and outruns the angle. Played for two head coaches at two programs in four seasons: Nick Saban and Luke Fickell. The first career honor came in 2021: All-AAC. On tape: 189 rushing yards and 23 receiving yards against UCF, Week 7, 2021.
Play style
Cuts upfield fast. Designed to find the crease, not run through the line.
Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share
Not actually a closer
48.8% of carries overall (212/434) → 27.1% of Q4-with-lead carries (32/118) — 81.2% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
17 of 20 on 3rd/4th-and-2-or-less (85.0%). 15 of the team's 27 inside-the-5 carries (55.6%).
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Yahoo Sports Oct 24
Front Office Sports Oct 22Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Cincinnati | 215 | 1,319 | 6.1 | 19 | 79 |
| 2020 | Cincinnati | 73 | 483 | 6.6 | 8 | 79 |
| 2019 | Alabama | 24 | 114 | 4.8 | 3 | 37 |
| 2018 | Alabama | 7 | 37 | 5.3 | 0 | 15 |
| Career | 319 | 1,953 | 6.1 | 30 | 79 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Cincinnati | 21 | 220 | 10.5 | 1 | 34 |
| 2020 | Cincinnati | 8 | 51 | 6.4 | 0 | 15 |
| 2019 | Alabama | 2 | 11 | 5.5 | 0 | 9 |
| 2018 | Alabama | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 31 | 282 | 9.1 | 1 | 34 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2021 season · 12 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 49-14vs Miami (OH) | 12 | 121 | 10.1 | 1 | 50 | |
| Wk 2 | W 42-7vs Murray State | 18 | 113 | 6.3 | 3 | 20 | 3 rushing TDs |
| Wk 3 | W 38-24@ Indiana | 20 | 66 | 3.3 | 2 | 12 | |
| Wk 5 | W 24-13@ No. 9 Notre Dame | 17 | 71 | 4.2 | 0 | 16 | |
| Wk 6 | W 52-3vs Temple | 15 | 149 | 9.9 | 2 | 75 | |
| Wk 7 | W 56-21vs UCF | 20 | 189 | 9.5 | 4 | 79 | Season-high 189 yds |
| Wk 8 | W 27-20@ Navy | 15 | 90 | 6.0 | 1 | 43 | |
| Wk 9 | W 31-12@ Tulane | 18 | 65 | 3.6 | 1 | 17 | |
| Wk 10 | W 28-20vs Tulsa | 7 | 24 | 3.4 | 1 | 6 | |
| Wk 12 | W 48-14vs SMU | 20 | 82 | 4.1 | 1 | 10 | |
| Wk 13 | W 35-13@ East Carolina | 20 | 85 | 4.3 | 1 | 29 | |
| Wk 14 | W 35-20vs No. 16 Houston | 18 | 187 | 10.4 | 2 | 79 | 187-yard day |
| Total | 200 | 1242 | 6.2 | 19 | 79 |
Week 7 · 2021
W 56-21
vs UCF
189 rush yds (20 car) · 4 TD · 1 rec · 23 yds
Dominant 35-point win at home against UCF.
With M. Fletcher — 42 yards per punt · 5 punts · 3 inside the 20 · D. Ridder — 140 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 80.4 · 14 rush yds (4 car)
The plays that mattered most
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
Success rate
49%198 carriesFumble rate
1.4%3 of 215 carries · 2 lostStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds6.1 yds/carry on 215 carries · 15% explosive (10+ yds) · 49% success rate.
Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)
Yardage DNA
Stuffed (≤0)
Grind (1–3)
Chunk (4–9)
Explosive (10+)
Splits · Per-game
2021 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 124 | 7.7 | 2.0 |
| Road5g | 75.4 | 4.3 | 1.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 118 | 7.2 | 2.0 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 88.8 | 5.3 | 1.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Luke Fickell
Pass share
46.9%
399 pass / 451 run
Plays / game
65.4
13 games
Team sack rate
5.4%
427 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2021
First team in his league at the position.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former four-star. Now #12 at the position.
How it ended
Four seasons, at Alabama and Cincinnati, 1,953 rushing yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2021) — drafted at #156 overall by the Cleveland Browns.
A blue-chip recruit with honors.
The role got bigger.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-AAC · 1ST TEAM
All-AAC 1st team (2021)
Weekly recognition
2 weekly honors (2021)
AAC Offensive Player of the Week
Coaching lineage · 2018–2021
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Nick Saban and Luke Fickell.
Next stop · NFL
Cleveland BrownsEntering 5th NFL season
Cleveland BrownsEntering 5th NFL season
