A running back to keep an eye on for this 2017 class

There’s not a lot of good depth on the Arizona Wildcats’ roster at the moment, which undoubtedly includes the running back position. Nick Wilson is likely out for the season, Orlando Bradford was dismissed, and J.J. Taylor suffered a broken ankle in the first Pac-12 game of the season.

That forced Rich Rodriguez to move Samajie Grant to the backfield and left Zach Green as the lone scholarship running back available. The staff would like to have five scholarship running backs, which means that Arizona is in the market for one more, as Nathan Tilford is already committed for the 2017 class.

There aren’t too many available running backs that Arizona is targeting, and there are a few who are off the board. 3-star running backs Drake Beasley and Chris Brooks tell me that they have not talked to the staff in quite some time.

But there is one running back who the staff has on hold, 5-foot-9, 190 pound Miles Reed out of Centennial (Corona, CA).

Arizona snatched Taylor out of Centennial last recruiting cycle, and he lived up to the playmaking hype during the time in which he was available. Now, his former teammate is a guy that is on Arizona’s radar.

Reed currently holds offers to Montana, Hawaii, and just picked up Washington State in October. He is also receiving attention from Arizona State, Nebraska, Oregon, and USC. He was also recently named a Blue-Grey All-American.

The coaching staff hosted quite a few satellite camps this summer, one of which was at Centennial High School, where Reed first came into contact with the staff.

“My first communication came over summer when they hosted a camp at Centennial. I met with Coach (Miguel) Reveles and kind of stayed in touch here and there,” Reed said about the camp. “Me and Coach Reveles are cool.”

Reed has been to campus before on an unofficial visit, and tells me that the Arizona offer is one that he is really looking for.

“I took an unofficial there and I loved the facilities,” he explained. “The coaches were great, the fan atmosphere is like no other, and I could see myself in a program like Arizona’s.”

The Centennial running back still communicates with his predecessor, who has also been helping with his recruitment.

“We talk fairly frequently,” Reed said about his relationship with Taylor. “I know he’s also been trying to help out my recruitment so we talk a lot about U of A. Positive things. Usually about his recovery, how my seasons going or about school and how he is liking it.”

Taking over the running back duties, Reed took on 206 carries for 1,626 yards and 27 touchdowns. He averaged 7.9 yards a carry, with over 162 yards per game.

He is currently unranked by all recruiting services, but with these numbers at the No. 7 ranked high school in the nation, you shouldn’t need rankings to evaluate him.

You can watch his senior year highlights below.

It will be interesting to see who Arizona truly targets at the running back spot. There aren’t too many options that I am aware of, with O’Maury Samuels, a Michigan commit, being one the main targets. You can also expect Arizona to look for some running backs after the season, making a big push before National Signing Day.

For now, it seems as if Reed is an option they are looking into, and feel as if he is a guy that would commit immediately if he received the offer, which I think would be the case.