Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 3 games
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 45-6@ Stanford | 13 | 40 | 3.1 | 0 | 10 | |
| Wk 2 | W 77-7vs Florida A&M | 7 | 105 | 15.0 | 2 | 46 | Season-high 105 yds |
| Wk 3 | W 33-20@ Wake Forest | 16 | 85 | 5.3 | 1 | 17 | |
| Total | 36 | 230 | 7.8 | 3 | 46 |
Mark Fletcher Jr. ran for 507 yards in the College Football Playoff and carried Miami to the national championship game. Then he turned down the NFL to come back and finish the job.
6′2″ · 225 lb · Fort Lauderdale, FL
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
On production he ranks #11 of 326 RBs; on reputation he is on a national watch list. The gap between those two numbers is the story.
The numbers
rushing yards · 2026 · through week 3
3 games into 2026 so far -- Best game: 105 rush yds, 2 TD, vs Florida A&M
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Mark Fletcher Jr. ran for 507 yards in the College Football Playoff and carried Miami to the national championship game. Then he turned down the NFL to come back and finish the job.
Aura™ · Him Watch
+10aura tax
83rd pctl our rushing-value metric (wEPA) RBs · 140 qualified, n=151
— the discourse is fair.Buzz vs Tape
Every angle we can check here reads about where you'd expect this season.
Also checked out fine:
He led the ACC with 1,192 rushing yards in 2025, scored 12 times, and saved his best for January -- 507 yards across four Playoff games as Miami reached the national championship. A 6-2, 225 senior could have left for the draft; instead he stayed, telling reporters he'd always planned to be "a true senior," and Mario Cristobal has held him up as the program's standard. Now he's a preseason All-American anchoring a Cristobal backfield built on exactly the kind of downhill, gap-scheme power he runs. The forward stakes are the rematch with history: Miami was one game from a title, and Fletcher came back to close the gap. A projected 1,500-yard season would do two things at once -- vault a throwback power back into the top tier of 2027 draft running backs, and give the Hurricanes the closer they were missing.
His career
He was winning awards before he was old enough to be a story.
Fletcher is a true bruiser -- 6-2, 225, built to fall forward. The power shows up on tape and in the numbers: PFF charted 3.66 yards after contact per carry and 104 forced missed tackles in 2025, and our play-by-play put his rushing-touchdown rate in the 52nd percentile, the mark of a back defenses can't stop at the goal line (he scored 12 times). Scouts (Vikings Wire's summer eval) describe a runner who "keeps his legs moving through contact" but "also elusive in space," with "dynamic change-of-direction skills once in the second level" and "excellent motor to finish big runs late." The honest read is in the efficiency: a 94th-percentile success rate and mid-pack yards-per-carry say he's a volume-and-finish back more than a home-run hitter -- the chunk gains come from contact balance and a closing motor, not breakaway speed. He's a gap-scheme, between-the-tackles hammer who wears defenses down and finishes drives.
Written by our staff.
Career arc
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-AMERICA
All-America honors (2026)
1 mentions across the selector pool
ALL-ACC
All-ACC mention (2025)
Badges
Coaching lineage · 2023–2026
1 coachPlayed his entire career under Mario Cristobal.
Game by game
Point color shows the opponent's defensive strength that week (red = weaker defense, blue = stronger) — dashed line is this player's own season average.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 3 games
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 45-6@ Stanford | 13 | 40 | 3.1 | 0 | 10 | |
| Wk 2 | W 77-7vs Florida A&M | 7 | 105 | 15.0 | 2 | 46 | Season-high 105 yds |
| Wk 3 | W 33-20@ Wake Forest | 16 | 85 | 5.3 | 1 | 17 | |
| Total | 36 | 230 | 7.8 | 3 | 46 |
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2026
W 33–20
at Wake Forest
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
Since week 2: +85 rushing yards, +1 rushing TD.
Season context · Team result + system
4 seasons under Mario Cristobal, all balanced offenses — 33-12 over that span.
Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort
Box-score percentiles
Elite: yards / carry (85th percentile). Concern: carries (0th percentile).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 3 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home1g | 105 | 15.0 | 2.0 |
| Road2g | 62.5 | 4.2 | 0.5 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 76.7 | 7.8 | 1.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Mario Cristobal
Pass share
48.3%
98 pass / 105 run
Plays / game
67.7
3 games
Team sack rate
1.0%
101 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2026
In the All-America conversation, short of a selector's first team.
Recognition
2026 outlook
In the mix to repeat All-ACC
Based on 2025: #1 of 38 ACC RBs
49% estimated, 95% confidence interval 43–54%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.
Selector Grid · 2026
Play style
Fletcher is a true bruiser -- 6-2, 225, built to fall forward. The power shows up on tape and in the numbers: PFF charted 3.66 yards after contact per carry and 104 forced missed tackles in 2025, and our play-by-play put his rushing-touchdown rate in the 52nd percentile, the mark of a back defenses can't stop at the goal line (he scored 12 times). Scouts (Vikings Wire's summer eval) describe a runner who "keeps his legs moving through contact" but "also elusive in space," with "dynamic change-of-direction skills once in the second level" and "excellent motor to finish big runs late." The honest read is in the efficiency: a 94th-percentile success rate and mid-pack yards-per-carry say he's a volume-and-finish back more than a home-run hitter -- the chunk gains come from contact balance and a closing motor, not breakaway speed. He's a gap-scheme, between-the-tackles hammer who wears defenses down and finishes drives.
Our classifier reads him the same way: just keeps getting the ball, series after series.
Player DNA
Built to take 20+ carries per game. Volume is the value.
His 2025 production profile sits closest to CJ Donaldson’s 2023 season.
Matches CJ on
Differs from CJ on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to CJ Donaldson's junior season at West Virginia (2024).
Matches CJ on
Differs from CJ on
Player DNA
Heisman Trajectory · 2026
Peaked at #43 this season.
3 more on the roster · Miami team page