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COLUMBIA, Mo. — There are a lot of adjectives that can be used to describe new Missouri tailback Ahmad Hardy.

Shifty is one of them. With Louisiana-Monroe for his true freshman season, Hardy forced 93 missed tackles in 2024, which was the second most in the nation, according to Pro Football Focus. The leader in that metric? Ashton Jeanty, the Boise State running back who finished second in Heisman Trophy voting.

Bruising is another. Hardy was one of four tailbacks in the Football Bowl Subdivision to record 1,000 rushing yards after contact last season, picking up 4.25 yards per carry after the initial hit. The three backs ahead of him in that stat — Jeanty, North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton and Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson — are all likely to hear their names called fairly early in this month’s NFL Draft.

You could go with productive as a descriptor if you like. Hardy finished his freshman season with 1,351 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. He ran for 100-plus yards in eight of his 12 games, breaking the 200-yard mark twice.

Coveted would be fitting, given Hardy’s stock when he entered the transfer portal after last season. He was hardly recruited at all as a high school prospect out of Monticello, Mississippi, with ULM as the only listed offer on his 247 Sports recruitment timeline. Then, after that statement season, he was the fifth-ranked running back in the winter portal cycle. The tangible difference?

During his high school recruitment, “most schools, I tried to reach out to them,� Hardy said. “But in the portal, they reached out to me.�

Part of what makes Hardy so valuable is that he’s young, with only one season under his belt but plenty already on display. Even if he departs for the NFL Draft as soon as he’s able, he still has two seasons of college ball to play.

But back to the descriptors. Ask him to describe his rushing philosophy, and you’ll get an answer that is downright practical.

“I want my jersey clean after the game,� Hardy said. “I don’t like it dirty, so I try to stay off the ground.�

Hard to argue with Hardy on that.

His signing doesn’t have the weight of an acquisition like Penn State transfer quarterback Beau Pribula, nor the opulence of Mizzou fighting to sign Georgia edge rusher Damon Wilson II over Ohio State. Nonetheless, Hardy could wind up as an under-the-radar newcomer with quite a bit of impact on the Tigers’ 2025 offense.

MU, with coach Eli Drinkwitz as the playcaller and more recently with offensive coordinator Kirby Moore in place, leans on zone run schemes. When the Tigers’ system is at its best, those zone rushes are clicking and producing consistent chunk plays with the chance at an explosive carry or two.

Last season, when Missouri spread rushing duties across a few backs, it ran 264 zone runs compared to just 114 gap plays, per PFF. (In simple terms, zones see linemen block in sync in one direction, leaving it up to the running back’s read as to where to turn upfield, while gaps see the line try to open space in a pre-determined area.)

That ratio was actually a bit narrower than Mizzou perhaps would have liked given that Marcus Carroll, one of the heavier-used running backs, tended to run more gap plays.

In 2023, for example, Cody Schrader’s 1,483-yard season saw him run 164 zones to 83 gap plays.

Hardy, at ULM, ran the zone 189 times compared to just 44 gap plays, which was good for the fifth-most zone carries of any FBS running back.

That ought to make him a sound schematic fit.

“Of course we run the outside zone (at MU) like we did at my old school,� Hardy said, “so I feel like I’m perfecting my craft at the outside zone.�

Hardy also brought a helpful character endorsement to Mizzou. When Drinkwitz was eyeing the running back in the portal, he called ULM coach Bryant Vincent, whom he considers a friend.

“That guy couldn’t say enough positive things about Ahmad as a teammate, as a player, as a young man,� Drinkwitz said.

Hardy’s been a hit within the MU locker room. He’s an avid horse rider, convincing wideout Kevin Coleman Jr. to ride his horse Coco after one spring practice.

“He’s a good dude, fun to be around,� fellow running back Jamal Roberts said.

Given his production last year and strong performance during spring practice, Hardy seems likely to be the Tigers’ primary running back in the fall. Roberts can reprise his role as a third-down back who holds up well in pass protection, while true freshman Marquise Davis is very likely to see game action in his debut season.

So don’t be surprised if the word to describe Hardy’s 2025 winds up being impactful.

“Ahmad Hardy comes along, teaches teammates how to ride a horse and carry the outside zone,� Drinkwitz said. “It’s been impressive to watch him on Twitter riding horses as much as it’s been impressive to watch him on film. He does an excellent job.�