Auburn football: Tigers lose second running back of the offseason

Veteran running back Malik Miller will not return for his fifth season.

Back in February, Auburn football’s leading rusher for the last two seasons, JaTarvious “Boobee” Whitlow made the decision to put his name in the NCAA transfer portal. Well now, the Tigers will be losing yet another member of their backfield as RS senior Malik Miller has opted not to return to The Plains for his fifth season per Tom Green of AL.com.

Miller originally came to Auburn as a three-star prospect from Madison, Alabama where he was backfield mates with another future Tiger in Kerryon Johnson. The No. 23 running back recruit in the class of 2016 according to 247Sports’ Composite rankings, Miller chose Auburn over schools like Alabama and Florida State.

Despite being the most veteran member of Auburn’s deep group of running backs, Miller was unlikely to make a big impact in 2020. The 5-foot-11, 235-pound running back appeared in seven games last season but only received 12 carries which he turned into 49 yards. Miller also caught four passes for an additional 49 yards.

As a bigger running back, Miller was often used at the goal line to punch the ball in. He will end his Auburn career with a total of 81 carries for 314 yards (3.9 yards per carry) and five touchdowns with 20 catches for 217 yards and one TD.

Last season, Miller was just eighth on the team in total carries behind Whitlow, Bo Nix, freshman running back D.J. Williams, Kam Martin, Shaun Shivers, backup QB Joey Gatewood and Harold Joiner.

With five of those seven players returning in 2020 as well as the additions of top recruit Tank Bigsby and 2019 top-100 recruit Mark-Antony Richards, Miller’s role in the backfield was unclear at best.

Even with the departures of Whitlow and now Miller, running back has a chance to be one of the best and deepest position groups for the Tigers in 2020.

Sophomore D.J. Williams is the team’s leading returning rusher with 400 yards but the talent is clearly there and expectations are high for Auburn’s group of running backs.

As Green reports, Miller’s departure puts Auburn at exactly 85 scholarship players which puts them at the NCAA limit.