Gophers RB Mohamed Ibrahim will land big-time on the national radar in 2021
Mohamed Ibrahim will return for a final season at Minnesota in 2021, and he will assert himself as one of the top running backs in college football
In last year’s shortened Big Ten campaign, Minnesota running back Mohamed Ibrahim led the conference in rushing yards (1,076) and touchdowns on the ground (15). In seven games, he had 201 carries as he won Big Ten Running Back of the Year and earned third-team AP All-American honors nationally. He was the first Gopher running back to be named an All-American since Laurence Maroney in 2005.
Perhaps due to a running back class headed by Najee Harris and Travis Etienne, Ibrahim decided to return for a final season with the Gophers.
The scouting buzz-phrase on Ibrahim is “more quick than fast”, and any evaluation of his skillset starts with high marks for his vision, burst and pad level. But he probably won’t run a blazing 40-yard dash. He comes in at 210 pounds, and he’s listed generously at 5-foot-10.
Per Pro Football Focus, over the course of the last couple seasons or 2020 by itself, Ibrahim ranked highly in a couple notable categories among returning college running backs.
So 17 of Ibrahim’s 22 rushing touchdowns over the last two seasons came on goal-to-go attempts. I’m assuming the later stat is strictly from 2020, which means just under one-third of his carries (32.8 percent) went for first downs.
An easy knock on Ibrahim is a lack of passing game production. In 27 games for the Gophers, he has 15 receptions for 95 yards. That doesn’t mean he can’t do it, or can’t develop that area, it’s just that P.J. Fleck’s offense doesn’t ask him to be a pass catcher. NFL teams simply won’t see if he’s a capable dual threat in game action before he’s drafted.
Chris Autman-Bell is set to continue the Gophers’ pipeline of wide receivers to the NFL next April. The Gophers’ running back pipeline to the NFL has taken a downturn in recent years, but Ibrahim looks like a Day 2 draft pick right now. In any case, he will land big-time on the national radar as one of the best running backs in college football in 2021.