Auburn Football 2024 Preview: Running Backs

The Auburn Tigers will look for more balance in their offense in 2024, but senior running back Jarquez Hunter has been the key to winning games in his career.

The Auburn Tigers are 7-1 when running back Jarquez Hunter rushes for over 100 yards. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA

As Jarquez Hunter goes, so go the Auburn Tigers. Auburn will look to be more balanced in 2024, but up until this point, Auburn has won games when Hunter is effective, and lost them when he isn't.

Running Backs (2023 Stats)

Jarquez Hunter, Sr., Returning Starter (159 Att. 909 yards, 7 TD rushing. 18 Rec. 118 yards)

Damari Alston, Jr., Returning Backup (64 Att. 320 yards, 2 TD. 8 Rec. 48 yards)

Jeremiah Cobb, So. Returning Backup (33 Att. 172 yards, 2 TD. 7 Rec. 47 yards, 2 TD)

Departures: Brian Battie is on the roster, but he was shot in the off season and not expected to play.

Strength: Production, Experience

Weakness: Depth

If there’s a position Auburn should feel good about when healthy this fall it’s running back. Senior Jarquez Hunter leads a talented trio of backs that are among the discussion for the best in the SEC in 2024.

Hunter, heading into his second season as the starter, has quietly put together a strong career. If he manages to gain 1,152 rushing yards as a senior it would put him in the top 5 in school history at a place long-known for producing running backs – and all that while never carrying the ball more than 19 times in a single game to this point.

Hunter (5-10, 202) doesn’t wow anyone with his size or speed, but he’s incredibly consistent and is a jack of all trades at the position. He has just three fumbles in 424 career touches, he’s a reliable pass-catching target out of the backfield, can pass block when called upon, and rarely gets tackled behind the line of scrimmage.

He’s a one-cut back that has turned his patience, balance and vision into a career 6.2-yard average, which trails only Bo Jackson, Brent Fullwood, Onterrio McCaleb and Tommy Lorino among rushers who have carried the ball more than 150 times in their Auburn careers.

Auburn is 7-1 when Hunter rushes for 100+ yards. As Hunter goes, so does the Auburn offense. During the Tigers’ three-game win streak toward the end of the 2023 season, Hunter went 17 carries for 144 yards versus Mississippi State, 19-183 at Vanderbilt, and 16-109 at Arkansas.

When carrying the ball five times or less in his career Auburn is 0-8

Hunter is the only scholarship student-athlete on the roster brought in during the 2021 signing cycle. In fact, he’s just one of 12 remaining players brought in by the previous coaching staff. Out of the 24 scholarship seniors on the roster, 18 of them have been brought in by Freeze as transfers.

Behind Hunter are two capable backups in junior Damari Alston (5-9, 209) and Jeremiah Cobb (5-11, 196). Alston suffered a separated shoulder against Texas A&M on Sept. 23, 2023, but bounced back for two of his better career games with 64 yards rushing at Arkansas and 85 on just 10 carries in the Iron Bowl.

Some around the program believe that the running back with the highest ceiling is Cobb, a true sophomore from Montgomery Catholic. He had a pair of rushing scores and receiving scores during his freshman campaign in which he only carried 33 times playing behind Hunter, Alston and Brian Battie. Battie was shot in the head, but survived, in the off season while in his hometown of Sarasota, Fla., and is not expected to play football again.

Auburn lacks depth behind its three scholarship backs, and could potentially add another back from the transfer portal before the start of fall camp. With four starters returning on the offensive line along with a number of tight ends, the ground game could very well be a strong point for the Tigers in 2024.