Where Auburn lands in Athlon Sports’ preseason SEC RB rankings

The departure of Ray Davis leaves a giant hole for Vanderbilt to fill. Davis has taken his talents to Lexington, which leaves returners Patrick Smith and Chase Gillespie to battle for the premier back position. The duo combined to rush for 269 yards on 83 touches last season.

There are a lot of questions when it comes to South Carolina’s running back stable. The leading back from last season, Marshawn Lloyd, has transferred to Southern California, leaving the only returning back with some experience to be Juju McDowell. McDowell only had 62 carries for 219 yards last season, which means his workload should increase by a heavy margin.

Missouri was a pass-heavy team last season, and could very well be that way again in 2023. Cody Schrader and Nathaniel Peat return to Missouri this season and hope to have a larger role with the team.

The running game at Mississippi State will be revamped in 2023. Following the unfortunate passing of Mike Leach, new head coach Zach Arnett will install a more balanced system which will feature more action from the Bulldogs’ running backs. It will be interesting to see what numbers Jo’Quavious Marks ends up with this season.

LSU relied heavily on the dual-threat ability of quarterback Jayden Daniels last season, and I would expect that to be the case again this season. The running back with the most production last season was Josh Williams, who rushed for 532 yards and six touchdowns. Noah Cain and John Emery will be mainstays in the LSU backfield as well.

Devon Achane carried the load for Texas A&M last season, and that is not an exaggeration. He rushed for 1,102 yards last season, which was 902 yards more than the next guy. Amari Daniels is seen as the “next man up” for Texas A&M, with true freshman Rueben Owens expected to be in the mix as well.

Kentucky loses two five-year players in Chris Rodriguez and Kavosiey Smoke, and their leading returning rusher, JuTahn McClain, rushed for just 278 yards on 59 carries. The Wildcats got an experienced back from the transfer portal in Ray Davis from Vanderbilt, who led the Commodores in rushing last season with 1,042 yards in 2022.

Like several SEC programs, Tennessee did not have a 1,000-yard rusher last seaso, but did have two backs that produced solid carries. The Volunteers return their top two rushers from last season in Jabari Small and Jaylen Wright. The combo produced 1,609 rushing yards last season and 23 touchdowns. No matter who is on the field, expect the Volunteers to be solid in the running game.

Florida returns its top leading rushers from last season, Montrell Johnson Jr. and Trevor Etienne. Both players combined to rush for 1,560 yards and 16 touchdowns last season, and may be called to pick up the slack left behind from first round NFL draft pick Anthony Richardson, who was instrumental in the running game last season as well.

Tank Bigsby is out, and here comes Jarquez Hunter. Hunter learned well under Bigsby over the last two seasons, and is ready to take the lead in Auburn’s RB room. True freshman Damari Alston brings plenty of potential into the season, and the Tigers also added speed with USF transfer Brian Battie.

The winner of the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2022 is back to lead the Ole Miss backfield in 2023. Last season, Quinshon Judkins rushed for 1,567 yards on 274 carries with 16 touchdowns. Ulysses Bentley IV will look to fill the void left by Zach Evans as the Rebels’ supporting back.

What comes to mind when most college football fans think of Georgia’s offense, the thought of the Bulldogs’ passing game comes to mind. Sure, Georgia’s leading receivers from last season are back, but the Bulldogs managed to have three backs rush for over 500 yards last season. Kendall Milton was the team’s third-leading rusher last season by accumulating 592 yards, and is expected to be the premier back in 2023. The team’s second-leading rusher, Daijun Edwards, is back for the Bulldogs as well.

The Crimson Tide failed to have a 1,000-yard rusher in 2022, but still had a solid unit in Jahmyr Gibbs and Jase McClellan leading the way. McClellan returns after rushing for 655 yards and seven touchdowns last season, and will have a great supporting cast in Roydell Williams this season.

The Razorbacks will run it back with Rocket Sanders, A.J. Green, and Rashad Dubinion this season. Sanders rushed for 1,443 yards last season, while Green and Dubinon added 705 additional yards. The trio combined to score 18 touchdowns a season ago, and mixing in quarterback KJ Jefferson will give Arkansas one of the best rushing attacks in the country.