The SEC football season is just around the corner and – as always – there are a whole host of running backs ready to take aim at the league and stake their claim as the best in the conference. The likes of Najee Harris, Kylin Hill, and Larry Rountree III have all moved on to play their football on Sundays, but the league is still stocked at the running back position.
By Steve Wright
Here are the top 5 running backs in the SEC heading into the 2021 season:
5. Jerrion Ealy – Ole Miss Rebels
Jerrion Ealy is an all-purpose monster who is as likely to hurt a team in the kick return of receiving game as he is as a traditional running back. There are minor concerns about his health after suffering a shoulder injury in the Egg Bowl last year, but with Matt Corral keeping defenses honest with his arm there should be plenty of holes for Ealy to attack before using his power and elusiveness to romp through the defensive backfield. Ealy certainly has the potential to move up this list by the end of the season.
4. Kevin Harris – South Carolina Gamecocks
There are some concerns that Kevin Harris is a little bit of a flat track bully who puts up monster numbers against weaker competition while being held in check by the best defenses in the SEC. Harris, however, led the SEC in yards per game a season ago as he put up 1,138 yards, and 15 touchdowns, thriving on big plays where he just seems to have that knack to know where space will appear before it is even there. Harris might find his numbers skewed by a bad South Carolina team chasing games through the air, but he is an outstanding back worthy of recognition.
3. Chris Rodriguez – Kentucky Wildcats
There isn’t a lot of subtlety in the way Chris Rodriguez plays but the bruising junior running back finished the 2020 season with 480 yards and seven touchdowns in his last four games. He also ranked No. 6 among Power 5 players with at least 100 carries at 6.6 yards per rush and with the departure of A.J. Rose to the NFL, Rodriguez seems set to get an even heavier workload this fall. Rodriguez was considered a potential early-draft entry at one point, but he will instead be running over defenders behind the always impressive Kentucky offensive line in 2021.
2. Isaiah Spller – Texas A&M Aggies
If you believe in what Jimbo Fisher is doing at Texas A&M then there is no reason to think Isaiah Spiller will be out of the top 3 backs in the league despite having to run behind four new starters on the Aggies offensive line. Spiller went off for over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns last fall along with being a major receiving threat as he caught 20 balls for almost 200 more yards. His versatility is one of his biggest assets and the only thing that will slow his production is that Spiller will likely be splitting carries with the other talented backs in College Station this fall.
1. Tank Bigsby – Auburn Tigers
The only concern I have with putting Tank Bigsby in the No. 1 spot here is that his running style – trying to run over everything in his path – does make him prone to injury. Having said that, Bigsby came in as a true freshman and did things true freshmen are just not supposed to be able to do in the SEC. he led the league in broken tackle rate at 42% and in five games against top 50 defenses he averaged 6.4 yards per carry. He needs to improve on his five touchdowns from last season, but a non-conference schedule to warm him up should make Bigsby an even better player this fall.
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