Gophers football’s leading rusher, Darius Taylor, shows growth in leadership this spring

Three years ago, Darius Taylor really got to see what life would be like with the Gophers football program when he visited the week of the spring game.

Taylor met with head coach P.J. Fleck, who had a lengthy conversation about what the U’s future starting tailback should expect when he joined the team.

That helped Taylor stay firmly committed to the Gophers — something that hasn’t changed to this day.

But as a veteran this spring, Taylor’s in a different role, making sure newcomers in the running back room are as comfortable as he was before becoming one of the top rushers in the Big Ten.

“The biggest thing is how I practiced this offseason,” Taylor said. “I made it my mission to go as hard as I can and not take any days off. Learning to just lead by example. In the running back room, the biggest thing is nobody can look at me and say, ‘Darius took this play off, so I can take one off.’ ”

The cast of characters surrounding Taylor continues to be a revolving door of players from the transfer portal since he arrived as a true freshman in 2023. This spring, Marshall’s A.J. Turner and Washington’s Cam Davis have received the most backup reps in practice behind Taylor.

“I think it’s just all coming together,” Taylor said. “Spring was very important to the running back room. Just the offense to get our identity and what we can do in the run game.”

Fleck compared Taylor, Turner, Davis and redshirt freshman Fame Ijeboi to the Ohio State running backs last season because they appear to be “selfless” in not caring about who gets the most carries or touches.

“You see that amongst the three to four backs that are going through spring ball right now,” Fleck said. “We keep going through this physical spring ball, and depth has been our friend. We’re going to need that as much as we can, and the running back room exemplifies that.”

If you had to project the current depth chart, Turner seems to have the inside track to be in the No. 2 back. The 6-foot, 190-pound redshirt junior has two years of eligibility remaining after rushing for 864 yards and six touchdowns in 104 carries last year at Marshall, which included four 100-yard games on the ground.

Davis has been in college football for six years after suffering injuries earlier in his career, but he has 41 games of experience in the backfield and as a return specialist at Washington.

“Coach [Jayden] Everett has done an awesome job with those guys in that room with Cam and A.J.,” Gophers offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh Jr., said. “Just being able to develop those guys in our system and getting them to trust our eyes in protection in the run game.”

Among the younger backs on the spring roster, Ijeboi arguably has the most potential, but he has been held out of practice dealing with minor injuries.

Some young fans attending Tuesday’s open practice wore Taylor’s No. 1 jersey. He’s the current face of the Gophers after having his best season with a team-high 986 yards and 10 touchdowns on 205 carries in 2024. In a primarily passing offense, he also had the second most receptions while catching 54 passes for 350 yards.

“It’s been great to be in this position,” Taylor said. “But it’s not something I think about with everybody looking at me and all the accolades and things.”

But with redshirt freshman Drake Lindsey as the front-runner to replace senior Max Brosmer as the starting quarterback, it could benefit the Gophers to rely even more on the running game. The maturation of Taylor’s football acumen makes him an even more dangerous runner.

“The biggest thing I did was getting an understanding of the actual scheme,” said Taylor, who studies more game film. “Where the [offensive line] is going and understanding the fronts I’m getting on defensive side.”

Taylor also understands better than he did as a freshman that being the starter doesn’t just mean carrying the load on game days. It means approaching every day focused on leading by being consistent.

“It’s holding up that standard,” Taylor said. “That’s something that I’d make a mistake and slip up on when I first got here. But now the biggest thing is holding the standard and sticking to it.”