Tank in the backfield, depth a concern

[aubiefifty 18,231]

Auburn Football

Auburn has a Tank in the backfield, but running back depth a concern this spring

Updated Mar 02, 2021; Posted Mar 02, 2021

 

By Tom Green | tgreen@al.com

We’re taking a look at each position group as Auburn prepares to open spring football practice on March 16. The second of a 10-part series looks at the running backs.

Auburn entered 2020 with arguably its deepest group of running backs in years. Now the Tigers head into the new year with a drastically different-looking depth chart at the position.

Auburn returns its top-two running backs and retained its position coach — Cadillac Williams, the only holdover on Bryan Harsin’s staff from the previous coaching regime — yet the Tigers’ running back room will hardly resemble last season’s group. Both Tank Bigsby — the SEC Freshman of the Year — and Shaun Shivers are back for Auburn this season, but behind those top two spots, Auburn’s backfield has experienced somewhat of an overhaul.

There were two offseason departures — to go along with an early-season transfer in October — as well as a position change that welcomes back a familiar face and the looming summer addition of an incoming freshman.

Projected depth chart:

Tank Bigsby, sophomore, 138 carries for 834 yards and five touchdowns; 11 receptions for 84 yards.

Shaun Shivers, senior, 62 carries for 276 yards and a touchdown; 10 receptions for 55 yards.

Devan Barrett, senior, played defensive back and opted out late last season.

Departed: D.J. Williams, 38 carries for 199 yards and three touchdowns; Mark-Antony Richards, 20 carries for 76 yards.

Due to arrive in the fall: Jarquez Hunter, three-star signee.

Outlook: Arguably Auburn’s best player — and its biggest revelation — of 2020 is back for Year 2, with Bigsby sitting atop the Tigers’ running back depth chart after a breakthrough freshman campaign. The 6-foot, 204-pounder emerged early in the season as Auburn’s clear RB1, and he finished it as the highest-graded freshman in the SEC and fourth-highest in the country (84.1), according to Pro Football Focus.

Bigsby had the second-best freshman campaign among running backs in program history, and in any other year — with a regular 12-game season (plus a bowl game) — would have more than likely become Auburn’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Kerryon Johnson in 2017. He displayed an ability to find holes, force defenders to miss (he forced 46 missed tackles, per PFF) and finish runs strong. He put up impressive numbers despite dealing with a minor injury later in the season, missing the bowl game due to COVID protocols and seeing four other games with fewer than 10 carries.

There’s a reason PFF projects him as the top returning running back in college football for 2021, which is something first-year head coach Bryan Harsin and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo should be excited about.

The Tigers also return senior Shaun Shivers, a team captain last year who entered the season as Auburn’s starting running back. Shivers has never been a featured back at the college level, and an early-season injury last fall prevented him from finally getting that opportunity, as he missed three games in October. Still, the 5-foot-7, 179-pounder has proven to be a powerful complementary piece in the backfield, averaging 5 yards per carry for his career.

Following the offseason departures of D.J. Williams, who transferred to Florida State, and Mark-Antony Richards, who transferred to UCF, Shivers’ importance has been amplified for Auburn with depth a concern in the backfield at the moment. If Shivers can remain healthy, he should be able to provide a versatile secondary option at running back behind a workhorse like Bigsby.

Things gets shakier for Auburn at the position behind those two, however. The only other scholarship running back this spring will be senior Devan Barrett, who spent much of the last three years on the defensive side of the ball. The former four-star running back was rated as the No. 11 player at his position coming out of high school in 2017, and he was effective in his limited opportunities as a freshman, rushing for 79 yards on 14 carries while catching 10 passes for 33 yards and a touchdown as a freshman. He split time between running back and receiver the following spring before moving to defensive back in fall 2018.

Barrett appeared in just four games over the last three years as a defensive back, with his biggest moment coming in 2018 against Alabama State, when he recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown. He didn’t see the field at all last season in the secondary, and he opted out midway through the season but has since decided to return for 2021 — with Harsin announcing last month that Barrett was returning to his old position to bolster depth in the backfield.

It’s a welcome and necessary move for Auburn, given its offseason departures at the position. Barrett spent time this offseason training with former Auburn running back Brad Lester. If Barrett this spring can look anything like he did in his limited chances as a freshman four years ago or show the kind of ability he did in high school, when he rushed for 1,271 yards and 11 touchdowns in nine games as a senior at Tampa (Fla.) Catholic, it will go a long way toward allaying some of Auburn’s depth concerns in the backfield.

Up next: Wide receivers.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

That's for sure. We don't have a lot to work with. I hope non of our backs go down or out for the year.

[homersapien 12,230]

This will be Worm's year to shine.