Position Coach: Garret Cachere

Key Players lost from 2018: D'Andre Ferby

Key Players in 2019: Gaej Walker

Key Players losing in 2020: Joshua Samuel (Transfer to Jacksonville State), Gino Appleberry (Transfer to Tennessee-Chattanooga)

Coming off of the 2018 season, the Western Kentucky rushing attack finished 104th in the nation in rushing. The Hilltoppers struggled to establish any kind of ground attack over the last few seasons and it was clear that something needed to change.

It took 17 games for the running game under former-head coach Mike Sanford to even pop a 20 yard carry. Under Tyson Helton it took one snap.

Gaej Walker sprinted 68-yards to the end zone untouched for the longest rushing play in years for the Hilltoppers on the first snap of the 2019 season. With D'Andre Ferby leaving the program and previous season's leading-rusher Joshua Samuel falling behind on the depth chart, the redshirt-junior Walker stepped over from the defensive side of the ball into the offensive backfield.

The defensive back turned running back Walker was the primary workhorse for Coach Helton's offense all of 2019. Over the last two seasons, WKU had had at least four players with 50 rushing attempts in a back-by-committee approach. This past season only saw two players with 50-plus carries: Gaej Walker (241) and quarterback Ty Storey (118). The next closest non-quarterback in number of carries was redshirt-sophomore KeShawn McClendon with nine carries.

Walker was electric on the perimeter for most of the season with his ability to stretch a defense from sideline-to-sideline with his speed and agility. Through the first two games of the 2019 season Walker had already accumulated 252 yards and three scores. By October 26th, Walker had already surpassed last season's leading rusher Joshua Samuel's total of 639 yards by almost 100 yards with 730 yards after rushing to the century mark against Marshall.

Walker earned 2nd Team All-Conference USA honors by piling up 1,208 rushing yards and eight touchdowns while averaging a solid five yards per carry. Walker accounted for 71% of the Hilltoppers' total rushing yards from last season. Helton utilized Walker's athleticism with inside/outside zone runs as well as using him in the passing game as Walker hauled in 24 passes for 140 yards last season.

Briefly put: Gaej Walker was the lead horse in the running back room in 2019.

Walker will return next season for the Hilltoppers as will McClendon, but depth at running back clearly was a backseat problem. Walker had success all year running behind a big, nasty WKU offensive line. But with Gino Appleberry and Joshua Samuel leaving the program, will McClendon continue to step up as RB2? Early in the season Walker struggled against Louisville and UAB, rushing for 60 yards on 26 carries across those two games. From that point forward Walker put up 6 games of 90-plus yards despite being the primary workhorse with his only relief being when Ty Storey was called on for designed quarterback runs.

Looking forward to the 2020 season, Gaej Walker is obviously the clear #1 back for the Hilltoppers.

KeShawn McClendon, Jakari Moses, Tre Bass and incoming 2020 signee Noah Whittington out of Fort Valley, Georgia will be vying for snaps at RB2 throughout Fall camp. McClendon looks to be the favorite at the backup running back position with his production based on the small pitch count fans saw from him last season. However, Tyson Helton has shown us that he is willing to go pull athletes from other position groups and insert them into his offense. The running back group outside of Walker will be an interesting group to watch as the offseason unfolds.