Rodney Smith: RB · Minnesota · #1.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Rodney Smith
Does a little of everything without one standout trait. Played for three head coaches at Minnesota: Jerry Kill, Tracy Claeys and P.J. Fleck. Another came in 2019: All-Big Ten. On tape: 211 rushing yards and 4 receiving yards against Illinois, Week 6, 2019.
Play style
Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.
Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape
Steady, not spectacular
Just 14.7% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 15.2% of his carries. 11 carries for 31 yds vs Wisconsin; 24 for 211 vs Illinois.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share
Not actually a closer
43.3% of carries overall (229/529) → 22.7% of Q4-with-lead carries (25/110) — 64.0% 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
11 of the team's 29 inside-the-5 carries (37.9%).
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log · Week-by-week
2019 season · 13 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 28-21vs South Dakota State | 21 | 92 | 4.4 | 0 | 15 | |
| Wk 2 | W 38-35@ Fresno State | 22 | 61 | 2.8 | 1 | 7 | |
| Wk 3 | W 35-32vs Georgia Southern | 11 | 57 | 5.2 | 0 | 16 | |
| Wk 5 | W 38-31@ Purdue | 22 | 115 | 5.2 | 1 | 17 | |
| Wk 6 | W 40-17vs Illinois | 24 | 211 | 8.8 | 1 | 64 | Season-high 211 yds |
| Wk 7 | W 34-7vs Nebraska | 18 | 139 | 7.7 | 1 | 35 | |
| Wk 8 | W 42-7@ Rutgers | 19 | 111 | 5.8 | 2 | 20 | |
| Wk 9 | W 52-10vs Maryland | 17 | 103 | 6.1 | 1 | 19 | |
| Wk 11 | W 31-26vs No. 5 Penn State | 18 | 51 | 2.8 | 0 | 11 | |
| Wk 12 | L 19-23@ No. 23 Iowa | 14 | 46 | 3.3 | 1 | 18 | |
| Wk 13 | W 38-22@ Northwestern | 15 | 77 | 5.1 | 0 | 13 | |
| Wk 14 | L 17-38vs No. 13 Wisconsin | 11 | 31 | 2.8 | 0 | 23 | |
 Bowl | W 31-24vs No. 9 Auburn | 16 | 69 | 4.3 | 0 | 31 | |
| Total | 228 | 1163 | 5.1 | 8 | 64 |
Week 6 · 2019
W 40-17
vs Illinois
211 rush yds (24 car) · 1 TD
Dominant 23-point win at home against Illinois.
With J. Herbers — 41.3 yards per punt · 4 punts · 45 long · T. Morgan — 155 yds · 3 TD · 1 INT · QBR 40.3
The plays that mattered most
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
Success rate
51%214 carriesFumble rate
0.4%1 of 228 carriesStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds5.1 yds/carry on 228 carries · 14% explosive (10+ yds) · 51% success rate.
Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)
Yardage DNA
Stuffed (≤0)
Grind (1–3)
Chunk (4–9)
Explosive (10+)
Splits · Per-game
2019 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 97.7 | 5.4 | 0.4 |
| Road5g | 82.0 | 4.4 | 1.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 106 | 5.5 | 0.6 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 69.8 | 4.3 | 0.7 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
P.J. Fleck
Pass share
37.2%
322 pass / 544 run
Plays / game
66.6
13 games
Team sack rate
8.2%
366 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy.
Player standing · 2019
Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.
How it ended
Five seasons at Minnesota, 4,122 rushing yards — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 52 games over five seasons.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-BIG TEN · 2ND TEAM
All-Big Ten 2nd team (2019)
Coaching lineage · 2015–2019
3 coachesPlayed under 3 different head coaches: Jerry Kill, Tracy Claeys, and P.J. Fleck. Multi-era developmental context.
