The buzz continues to build around Oklahoma freshman running back Jonathan Hatton Jr., with the latest praise coming from fellow running back Xavier Robinson, who said Hatton can run 22 miles per hour.
Xavier Robinson said yesterday that Jonathan Hatton can run 22 mph... I verified that Hatton has hit 21.7 mph in full pads.
— George Stoia III (@GeorgeStoia) August 19, 2026
No running back in college football over 230 pounds hit over 21.7 mph last season. Robinson hit 21.2 at 239 pounds last season. https://t.co/eBv9fPsvEu
Xavier Robinson's eye-popping Jonathan Hatton Jr. stat adds fuel to freshman hype
At 6-foot-1 and 235 pounds, Hatton brings back memories of a couple of other Sooner freshmen who were, and still are, considered freaks of nature.
My freshman year at OU happened to be the same year as Adrian Peterson’s, and I’ve never personally witnessed buzz of that nature. The stories of “AD” abound, but needless to say, he somehow exceeded the hype, rushing for an OU single-season record 1,925 yards as a freshman in what should have been a Heisman Trophy-winning season.
The other is “The Best That Never Was,” Marcus Dupree, who set the world on fire as a freshman before abruptly leaving OU during his sophomore season and flaming out for a variety of reasons.
You never want to put those kinds of expectations on a freshman, but Oklahoma is no stranger to exceptional freshman seasons.
The Sooners’ all-time leading rusher, Samaje Perine, came in less heralded but rushed for 1,713 yards as a true freshman in 2014, second only to AD’s 2004 campaign in OU freshman history.
The top five is rounded out by a pair of redshirt freshmen along with Dupree. De’Mond Parker ranks third with 1,184 yards in 1996, followed by Dupree’s 1,144 yards in 1982 and Kennedy Brooks’ 1,056 yards in 2018.
What does Hatton bring to the table? His film shows a powerful back who can navigate the “trash” at the line of scrimmage, but also one who can hit the gas and win a track meet once he breaks through.
Hatton ran for 1,359 yards and 17 touchdowns as a senior, but what stands out most is that he did it on just 171 carries, averaging 7.9 yards per carry. If that sounds impressive, he averaged an even more eye-popping 9.5 yards per carry as a junior, rushing for 1,147 yards and 14 touchdowns on 121 attempts.
Will Hatton reach the level of Sooner lore occupied by AD and Dupree, or perhaps quietly rise toward the top of the program’s all-time leaderboard like Perine? Time will tell. But the size-speed combination is there, as is the praise from within the program. All that’s left now is to produce, and he’ll get his first chance in just over two weeks.
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