Auburn football: Why the Tigers’ ground game will be better in 2018 than it was in 2017
By Rob Maxwell
The Auburn football team was good on the ground last season with Kerryon Johnson leading the way, but he’s gone and that means change is coming.
Each Friday leading up to the 2018 Auburn football season, FlyWarEagle will make a prediction about the upcoming season and the first one focuses on the running game.
That’s right, Johnson is off to the NFL. Auburn lost last season’s SEC leading rusher in Johnson, along with Kamryn Pettway, who led the SEC in 2016.
But Auburn will be better on the ground in 2018 than 2017 when the Tigers ranked 26th in the nation with 218.3 yards per game. It will be tough to hit the 271.3 yards per game Auburn had in 2016 because the passing game should be better. But the run game will top last season.
Here’s why:
1. The Tigers are deeper than they have been in years at running back. Entering fall practice, there will be no clear choice for the No. 1 back, but Gus Malzahn, Chip Lindsey and running backs coach Tim Horton will have all sorts of options. Kam Martin for speed, JaTarvious Whitlow for a little bit of everything or speedster Anthony Schwartz on jet sweeps. The possibilities are fun to imagine. Auburn has had a 1,000-yard rusher every season since 2009. Will someone continue the streak in 2018? The way Malzahn looks for a go-to player early in the season and rides him throughout, it’s very likely. But if not, he can mix and match to the game situation and still pile up yards.
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2. The redshirt rule. With the NCAA allowing freshmen to play up to four games without losing redshirt status, the three Auburn freshmen backs are going to want to leave a mark. So when Auburn is leading in the fourth quarter and the offense goes vanilla, you can bet Asa Martin, Harold Joiner, Shaun Shivers (and don’t forget sophomore QB Malik Willis) will look for every opportunity to break a long run and keep the chains moving for more playing time. It’s their audition time and they’re too talented to not take advantage of it.
3. Staying healthy. Last season Johnson was fantastic. The previous season, Pettway was fantastic. Both are downhill runners who hit first. That creates injury and both players were banged up in their SEC-leading seasons. Pettway never returned to form last season. This goes hand-in-hand with No. 1 above, because the depth of talent gives Auburn options if someone is sidelined for a series, a game or longer.
4. Speed sweep options. Eli Stove ran 30 times for 315 yards (10.5 per carry) and two touchdowns last season. But he suffered a torn ACL and is out indefinitely. Expect Malzahn to try out several options in Stove’s place. That could include do-it-all receiver Ryan Davis, running back Devan Barrett, who worked at receiver in the spring, the nation’s fastest freshman Anthony Schwartz or someone else.
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5. Jarrett Stidham’s progression. Stidham ran for 153 yards last season despite three games where he combined for minus-79 rushing yards. The 42 yards he lost while being sacked 11 times against Clemson didn’t help. But Stidham is a year wiser and the yardage lost on all those sacks should be much less in 2018. He learned to get rid of the ball last season. And he’s a viable option running the ball when he needs to. But the biggest thing is his right arm. Expect him to throw for more yards in 2018 and as defenses prepare for the pass, that’s when Auburn begins gashing defenses on the ground.
Auburn’s run options in 2018
RETURNEES
RB Kam Martin
Type: Speed
Stats: Ran 74 times for 453 yards (6.1 ypc) and two touchdowns last season. He ran for 136 yards in the season opener vs. Georgia Southern.
RB Malik Miller
Stats: Ran 34 times for 135 yards and a touchdown. Ran nine times for 40 yards vs. Missouri last season.
RB Devan Barrett
Type: All-purpose
Stats: Carried 14 times for 79 yards and caught 10 passes out of the backfield.
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WR Eli Stove
Type: Speed sweep
Stats: The receiver ran 30 times for 315 yards and two TDs. Best games last year were vs. Missouri (3-56) and Georgia (4-55). Out indefinitely with ACL injury; could return in 2018.
QB Malik Willis
Type: Dual-threat QB
Stats: Ran 16 times for 221 yards and had a 67-yard TD run against Mississippi State.
QB Jarrett Stidham
Type: QB
Stats: Ran 103 times for 153 yards and four touchdowns. Had 49 yards on four carries and a score vs. Arkansas and 51 yards on 12 carries and a TD vs. Alabama.
WR Ryan Davis
Type: Slot receiver, speed sweep
Stats: Didn’t register a carry in 2017, but caught plenty of passes parallel to the line of scrimmage for tough yards. He could see opportunities in Stove’s role.
NEWCOMERS
RB JaTarvious “Boobee” Whitlow
Type: All-purpose
Stats: Whitlow spent last season as a redshirt but drew rave reviews from bowl practice through spring drills. At 6-0, 216 pounds, he’s built like Johnson and his running style has similarities.
RB Asa Martin
Type: All-purpose
Stats: The freshman ran for 2,228 yards and 33 TDs last season as a senior. He most resembles Johnson in size (5-11, 209) among the incoming freshmen.
RB Harold Joiner
Type: Big, bruising, versatile
Stats: Scored 16 TDs at Mountain Brook last season and coaches already are savoring the chance to get the freshman into various roles on the offense.
RB Shaun Shivers
Type: Speed, all-purpose
Stats: Just 5-foot-7, Shivers is a speedster who’s not afraid to hit you. Ran for more than 6,000 yards in high school in talent-rich Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
WR Anthony Schwartz
Type: Pure speed
Stats: The fastest freshman in the 2018 class, Schwartz won the Florida High Schools 2A 100 meters in 10.07 seconds. He just joined the Team USATF for the World IAAF U20 Championships where he’ll compete in the 100 and 4×100 relay.
QB Joey Gatewood
Type: Dual-threat QB
Stats: You’ve heard it before, the freshman QB resembles Cam Newton in size (he’s 6-5, 237). He ran for 1,100 yards and 16 TDs as a high school senior. He also was a high school sprinter.