Boston College RB A.J. Dillon

The 2017 college football season saw several running backs have great success on the gridiron during their freshman year. Some of the running backs carried most of the load (like Jonathan Taylor from Wisconsin and AJ Dillon from Boston College) and some running backs made the most out of chances despite sharing touches (Georgia’s D’Andre Swift shared carries with two current NFL running backs). What all these players have in common are that they are now sophomores who are ready to build on their freshman seasons.

Some of these players have already set the bar high and will look to either duplicate that success or improve upon it. The others will look to take their production to a new level with increased opportunities to carry the football.

The NFL film grading experts at Pro Football Focus have broken down every game from the past season.

Here's a look at how ten of the best sophomore running backs fared during their freshman season (ranked in order). This is based on their 2017 PFF grade with a minimum of 200 snaps having been played.

Note: This is not a list to determine who will be the best sophomore running back going into the 2018 season.