Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 2 games
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 45-6@ Stanford | 13 | 40 | 3.1 | 0 | 10 | |
| Wk 2 | W 77-7vs Florida A&M | 7 | 105 | 15.0 | 2 | 46 | Season-high 105 yds |
| Total | 20 | 145 | 9.1 | 2 | 46 |
#4
Mark Fletcher Jr.
Mark Fletcher Jr. ran for 507 yards in the College Football Playoff and carried Miami to the national championship game. Then he turned down the NFL to come back and finish the job.
6′2″ · 225 lb · Fort Lauderdale, FL
CFB Index 84 · #11 of 326 RBsHigh confidenceNational watchReturning to Miami for 2026
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
On production he ranks #11 of 326 RBs; on reputation he is on a national watch list. The gap between those two numbers is the story.
The numbers
145
rushing yards · 2026
2 TD · 7.3 per carry · 2 catches
2 games into 2026 so far -- Best game: 105 rush yds, 2 TD, vs Florida A&M
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Mark Fletcher Jr. ran for 507 yards in the College Football Playoff and carried Miami to the national championship game. Then he turned down the NFL to come back and finish the job.
- Signed as a 4-star recruit to Miami in 2023.
- Named Preseason All-America in 2026.
Aura™ · Him Watch
Hype = tape
+10aura tax
Fans rank this player in the 93rd percentile of RBs; the tape says
83rd pctl our rushing-value metric (wEPA) RBs · 140 qualified, n=151
— the discourse is fair.Aura — fan perception93rd pctl
Production — on-field83rd pctl
n=151 mentions · cohort: RBs · 140 qualified · perception = conversation volume, production = our rushing-value metric (wEPA)
Buzz vs Tape
Every angle we can check here reads about where you'd expect this season.
31.4own fans
45rival fans
Also checked out fine:
The story
He led the ACC with 1,192 rushing yards in 2025, scored 12 times, and saved his best for January -- 507 yards across four Playoff games as Miami reached the national championship. A 6-2, 225 senior could have left for the draft; instead he stayed, telling reporters he'd always planned to be "a true senior," and Mario Cristobal has held him up as the program's standard. Now he's a preseason All-American anchoring a Cristobal backfield built on exactly the kind of downhill, gap-scheme power he runs. The forward stakes are the rematch with history: Miami was one game from a title, and Fletcher came back to close the gap. A projected 1,500-yard season would do two things at once -- vault a throwback power back into the top tier of 2027 draft running backs, and give the Hurricanes the closer they were missing.
His career
He was winning awards before he was old enough to be a story.
Fletcher is a true bruiser -- 6-2, 225, built to fall forward. The power shows up on tape and in the numbers: PFF charted 3.66 yards after contact per carry and 104 forced missed tackles in 2025, and our play-by-play put his rushing-touchdown rate in the 52nd percentile, the mark of a back defenses can't stop at the goal line (he scored 12 times). Scouts (Vikings Wire's summer eval) describe a runner who "keeps his legs moving through contact" but "also elusive in space," with "dynamic change-of-direction skills once in the second level" and "excellent motor to finish big runs late." The honest read is in the efficiency: a 94th-percentile success rate and mid-pack yards-per-carry say he's a volume-and-finish back more than a home-run hitter -- the chunk gains come from contact balance and a closing motor, not breakaway speed. He's a gap-scheme, between-the-tackles hammer who wears defenses down and finishes drives.
Written by our staff.
20239 games
- Signed with Miami4-star out of American Heritage
202514 games
- All-ACCthird
2026
- Preseason All-AmericaSecond Team
Career arc
HS
Recruit
★★★★
CFB
College
Miami
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🥇
ALL-AMERICA
All-America honors (2026)
1 mentions across the selector pool
🎖
ALL-ACC
All-ACC mention (2025)
Badges
- Honors Badge
Coaching lineage · 2023–2026
1 coach2023–2026
Miami
Played his entire career under Mario Cristobal.
2026 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
4 seasons under Mario Cristobal — 32-12 over that span.
2023Miami7-6HC: Mario Cristobal · Balanced
2024Miami10-3HC: Mario Cristobal · Balanced
2025Miami13-3HC: Mario Cristobal · Balanced
2026Miami2-0HC: Mario Cristobal · Run-leaning
Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort
Box-score percentiles
High confidenceAscending
Elite: yards / carry (93rd percentile). Concern: rush yards (0th percentile).
Box-score rates (7)
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Splits & context
Splits
Per-game splits
Through 2 games: 72.5 YDS/g, 9.1 YPC, 1.0 TD/g — splits start at 3 games.
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Mario Cristobal
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Awards
Player standing · 2026
National watch / fringe AA
In the All-America conversation, short of a selector's first team.
Recognition
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
2026 outlook
In the mix to repeat All-ACC
Based on 2025: #1 of 38 ACC RBs
How the All-ACC estimate is computed
49% estimated, 95% confidence interval 43–54%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.
Selector Grid · 2026
AP—
FWAA—
AFCA—
WCFF—
SN—
SI—
Career stats
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2026
W 77–7
vs Florida A&M
Signature plays
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
- Week 2 · Florida A&M · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +3.54(12:42) No Huddle-Shotgun #4 M.Fletcher Jr. rush left for 46 yards gain to the FAMU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 12:37, 1ST DOWN #22 J.Weinberg kick attempt good (H: #94 D.Joyce, LS: #46 A.Booker)
- Week 2 · Florida A&M · 2&1 · Q1 · EPA +1.90(06:17) Shotgun #4 M.Fletcher Jr. rush middle for 1 yard gain to the FAMU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 06:17 #22 J.Weinberg kick attempt good (H: #94 D.Joyce, LS: #46 A.Booker)
- Week 2 · Florida A&M · 2&10 · Q1 · EPA +1.18(07:29) Shotgun #4 M.Fletcher Jr. rush right for 25 yards gain to the FAMU09 (#2 S.Hines; #14 D.Diston), 1ST DOWN
- Week 1 · Stanford · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +1.01(12:58) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 D.Mensah pass complete short left to #4 M.Fletcher Jr. caught at STA44, for 9 yards to the STA38 (#0 J.Galvan; #33 L.Jackson)
- Week 1 · Stanford · 2&5 · Q1 · EPA -1.01(00:04) Shotgun #4 M.Fletcher Jr. rush middle for 0 yards to the MIA38 (#21 S.Edwards; #35 M.Rose)
- Week 1 · Stanford · 3&1 · Q2 · EPA +0.95(10:15) No Huddle-Shotgun #4 M.Fletcher Jr. rush middle for 3 yards gain to the MIA34 (#36 T.Williams), 1ST DOWN
- Week 1 · Stanford · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +0.84(14:54) Shotgun #4 M.Fletcher Jr. rush left for 10 yards gain to the MIA35 (#97 Z.Rowell), 1ST DOWN
- Week 1 · Stanford · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA -0.83(14:30) No Huddle-Shotgun #4 M.Fletcher Jr. rush left for 1 yard gain to the MIA36 (#33 L.Jackson)
- Week 1 · Stanford · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA -0.80(07:50) Shotgun #4 M.Fletcher Jr. rush middle for 1 yard loss to the MIA24 (#57 K.Briehler; #44 E.Cooper)
- Week 1 · Stanford · 2&6 · Q2 · EPA -0.80(06:22) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 D.Mensah pass complete short right to #4 M.Fletcher Jr. caught at MIA38, for 1 yard to the MIA40 (#9 B.Nicholson)
Game log
How he plays
Play style
Fletcher is a true bruiser -- 6-2, 225, built to fall forward. The power shows up on tape and in the numbers: PFF charted 3.66 yards after contact per carry and 104 forced missed tackles in 2025, and our play-by-play put his rushing-touchdown rate in the 52nd percentile, the mark of a back defenses can't stop at the goal line (he scored 12 times). Scouts (Vikings Wire's summer eval) describe a runner who "keeps his legs moving through contact" but "also elusive in space," with "dynamic change-of-direction skills once in the second level" and "excellent motor to finish big runs late." The honest read is in the efficiency: a 94th-percentile success rate and mid-pack yards-per-carry say he's a volume-and-finish back more than a home-run hitter -- the chunk gains come from contact balance and a closing motor, not breakaway speed. He's a gap-scheme, between-the-tackles hammer who wears defenses down and finishes drives.
Our classifier reads him the same way: just keeps getting the ball, series after series.
2026 Outlook
Miami
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Running back · Miami
Returning around him
- 37% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
- 9 Miami players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -8 net (12 in / 20 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Miami · Last season: 13-3 (AP #10) · Talent rank #12 · 2026 recruiting class #9
DNA match
Player DNA
Workhorse
Built to take 20+ carries per game. Volume is the value.
RB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to CJ Donaldson’s 2023 season.
Matches CJ on
Receiving share
Rush TD rate
Weight
Differs from CJ on
Yards / carry (higher)
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to CJ Donaldson's junior season at West Virginia (2024).
77%match
Matches CJ on
Yards / carry
Total rush EPA (college ability)
Rush TD rate
Differs from CJ on
Class year (lower)
Player DNA
Players who play like Mark Fletcher Jr.
Heisman trajectory
Heisman Trajectory · 2026
Peak #43
Peaked at #43 this season.
The backfield · Miami
- #4Mark Fletcher Jr.1,192 rushing yards · 2025
- #6CharMar Brown460 rushing yards · 2025
- Girard Pringle Jr.375 rushing yards · 2025
- #2Jordan Lyle108 rushing yards · 2025
- #25Chris Wheatley-Humphrey108 rushing yards · 2025
3 more on the roster · Miami team page
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology