Michigan State football: 15 greatest running backs in Spartans history
By John Buhler
Jeremy Langford is another outstanding Michigan State running back to have played for Mark Dantonio. Langford first came to East Lansing in 2010 but had to redshirt his true freshman campaign in the green and white. But after that, he would put together four excellent seasons for the Spartans on the gridiron.
As a redshirt freshman, Langford played primarily special teams. In his redshirt sophomore season in 2012, he would back up the iconic Le’Veon Bell, who we will get to here in a second. Admittedly, Bell was a workhorse, so Langford didn’t get too much run in the Michigan State backfield until Bell went pro in 2013.
But when that 2013 campaign came around, there was no stopping Langford. As a redshirt junior in 2013, Langford rushed for 1,422 yards and 18 touchdowns on 22 attempts. He also had 28 receptions for 157 yards and a touchdown out of the Michigan State backfield. His junior season was certainly impressive, but his senior season was otherworldly.
In what was his final year of collegiate eligibility, Langford made it count. He rushed for 1,522 yards on 276 carries for 22 rushing touchdowns. He also had 11 catches for 62 yards out of the Michigan State backfield. Langford entered the NFL Draft with a lot of promise as a mid-round pick.
He would end up being a fourth-round pick by the Chicago Bears in the 2015 NFL Draft. After two years with the Bears, Langford has bounced around the league a bit, most recently with the 2018 Atlanta Falcons. At the time of this writing, he remains unsigned.
In four years at Michigan State, Langford had 577 carries for 2,967 yards and 40 rushing touchdowns. He is 10th all time in carries, eighth all time in yardage and second all time in rushing touchdowns to only Lorenzo White. If he had more than just nine carries during his first two years in East Lansing, Langford would have a better case at cracking the top five on this all-time list.