Hugh Freeze Predicts 'Breakout Year' for Auburn Tigers Running Back

AUBURN, Ala.- With the running back room having a lot, and I mean a lot of depth, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze is feeling good about his running game despite the loss of Jarquez Hunter to the LA Rams in the NFL Draft.

Last season, Hunter was the primary back for the Tigers. He accounted for 1,356 all-purpose yards and nine total touchdowns. The Tigers will have to turn to other options this season, of which head coach Hugh Freeze has many.

“Damari (Alston) is the most complete right now,” Freeze said on Monday “(Jeremiah) Cobb, the most experienced. (They) have an understanding of who we are, what we do, what they’re supposed to do in the RPO game if it's not given to them.”

His new faces in the backfield include UConn transfer Durell Robinson and a pair of freshmen in Omar Mabson II and Alvin Henderson.

“I’m excited about Omar also and Durell. “Omar had an explosive catch and a touchdown, which was nice to see. Damari had two explosive runs, had a really tough, hard-nosed run that scored a touchdown…And then (Jeremiah) Cobb had two really explosive runs today. We have to get more consistent,” Freeze said.

Mabson is the sleeper of the bunch, a three-star recruit who is taking advantage of his opportunity with Henderson battling nagging injuries.

“Alvin (Henderson) is going to be fine. He’s been dinged up and hasn’t been able to get many reps the last four or five practices, so hard to say much about that,” Freeze said.

Freeze particularly impressed with junior Jeremiah Cobb and his growth during the offseason.

“I think he's going to have a breakout year,” Freeze said of Cobb. “We went through three or four days last week when all our slot guys were down so we threw him back out there like we did last year some. He's got a good football IQ and has that capacity for us to use him in a lot of different ways, whether that's in the pass game.

“Now he's struggling a little in the pass game because he still has that brace on his thumb, and catching is not real natural, but I think he gets out of that first of next week. He's very versatile; we can use him in a lot of ways. I expect him to have a breakout year. He probably has the best burst in the open field of any that we have.”

There are going to be a lot of faces in the running back position this season for the Tigers. But the Tigers have a lot of players with different skillsets able to share the load for a position that values fresh legs.