Why Auburn RB Bryson Washington is Taking a Business-Like Approach Playing Former Team in Week 1

Last season, when the Auburn Tigers faced Baylor in Waco, Texas, running back Bryson Washington led the Bears in rushing. Now, in his first game with Auburn, after transferring there this offseason, he will be against his former team.

Although excited to see former teammates and coaches he worked with for several seasons, the running back is simply treating it as another opponent in the schedule. He spoke more about the opportunity with the media earlier this week.

“I’m most definitely looking forward to it, playing my old team,” Washington said, “but I look at it as just another game, so we just got to go handle that.”

However, to get back to the field was a battle in itself.

Washington arrived at the Plains with injuries and an uphill fight to get back to 100% before the beginning of the season. The running back said this week that he’s been close to fully healthy since the end of the spring, crediting the coaching staff for buying into him throughout the offseason.

“I’ll say when I first got here, I was out of shape,” Washington said. ‘I wasn’t where I wanted to be at, like my size, weight-wise. So, I’ll just say I took a big step getting back lean to my body mass, and then the coaches just constantly poured into me, believing in me to just take the step to be better in the offense and just learning the offense.”

Now, he enters a running back room filled with talent. The Franklin, Texas, native will have to play behind the starting running back to begin the year, Jeremiah Cobb, but Washington has cemented himself as the favorite to be the No. 2 running back in a system that wants to stress the ground game under Alex Golesh.

Other names, though, like USF transfer Nykahi Davenport and sophomore Omar Mabson II, have their own style to help the Tigers win football games in 2026.

“One thing I can say is every back in the room is different. We all got our different styles, different things that we’re great at, but I’ll say the competition is making each other better,” Washington said, “and that’s what we rely heavily on, just keeping pushing each other and making each one of us better.”

Throw in dual-threat quarterback Byrum Brown, and Auburn has a rebuilt rushing attack that will look to be complementary to the various standout receivers the program brought in this season as well.

As Washington sees a familiar opponent next weekend, Baylor will also see an improved running back who left its program to go to Auburn. The tailback credits the rest of the room for adding more to his skill set ahead of his junior season.

“I think it’s very beneficial,” Washington said. “Every back has a different trait, but it’s like a great trait. It’s nothing like that or anything, but you’re going to get something different from every running back that gets in the rotation.”

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