CARROLLTON, Ga. – Just 11 days separate us from the kickoff of the 2022 UWG football season, and today, we continue our eight-part series of Position Previews as we take a look at the Wolves' stable of running backs.
 
From Harold Long and Stevie Young in the 80's, to Felix Addo and Nick Price in the 90s, and Seth Hinsley and Devontae Jackson in the most recent decade, UWG has a long history of great running backs and the 2022 edition of the West Georgia Wolves projects to have an abundance of talent in the offensive backfield.
 
Beginning with the returners, UWG brings back Rajaez Mosley who played in 10 games last season, accumulating 343 yards and three touchdowns.
 
"Rajaez has been playing at a high level, coming in to camp as a returning starter," said UWG running backs coach Will Patterson, "He has a lot of experience as a junior and has played well both years he's been able to play."
 
Mosley, a native of Valdosta, rushed for 300 yards in 2019 as a freshman before missing the COVID year in 2020. Last season, Mosley led the team in carries with 81 and averaged 4.2 yards per carry.
 
UWG also has sophomores JB Carlisle and Semaje Banks returning for another year in the program, as well as a redshirt freshman in Ashaud Roberson.
 
"It looks like JB has worked hard over the summer and put on some weight and improved his body, so I'm excited to see what he can do," said Patterson. "Then Semaje obviously brings an explosiveness to the position with his speed, and all of these guys have elevated their performance in camp because they know the competition we have in the room."
 
But the Wolves also lost a pair of veteran backs in Tyray Devezin and their leading rusher from a year ago, Jace Jordan, so UWG added some newcomers to the mix to hopefully provide some depth and experience at the position.
 
"We have some experience, but we lost a lot off of last year's team," said Patterson. "And the situation we had we thought we should go out and add some experience, so we were able to bring in a few transfers."
 
The Wolves added a trio of transfers, starting with Zion Custis, whose cousin Travis Custis starred for the Wolves' backfield in 2016 and 2017, as well as Jaxton Carson and Darius Clark.
 
West Georgia also has three true freshman that are gaining valuable experience and providing depth, Simeon Askew, Brandon Mathis, and Blaylen Lomax.
 
"They've all done good things so far," added Patterson, "Simeon Askew has very great instincts, great vision, and understands how to be a running back better than most freshmen do when they first arrive on a college campus."
 
Askew prepped at Houston County and rushed 231 times for 1,635 yards and 12 touchdowns as a senior on his way to Region 1-AAAAAA Offensive Player of the Year Honors.
 
West Georgia's running backs shared the ball well in 2021, with four players rushing for over 250 yards on the season, and five different backs recording rushing touchdowns. With this group of talented back carrying the ball in 2022, it's likely to be a common theme this season.
 
Fans can get their first look at the 2022 UWG squad on September 1 when the Wolves open the season hosting Carson-Newman in a 7 p.m. kickoff from Ra-Lin Field. Tickets can be purchased in advance here.
 
Part one of the Position Previews covered the defensive backs and can be found here. Stay tuned to uwgathletics.com as we continue with our series this week.