BLOOMINGTON – A year ago, wherever Stevie Scott went in the first days of his first preseason camp, eyeballs followed.

“Who is that?” observer after observer wondered. And it was hard to blame them. Scott already cut an impressive figure at 6-2, 235 pounds, with quick feet and impressive body control. He was something of an unknown, recruited out of New York and versatile enough that Indiana briefly considered moving him to linebacker.

Scott won’t have to worry about a position switch this preseason, and if anyone still wonders who he is, his resume can speak for itself. It’s the players behind him fans should be more interested in.

Scott turned in a superlative freshman season at running back for IU in 2018. Buried in the depth chart at the start of fall camp, he wound up setting program freshman records for yards (1,137), attempts, (228), touchdowns (10) and 100-yard games (six).

Hoisting his team on his shoulders in a driving rainstorm against Virginia in Week 2, Scott carried the ball 31 times for 206 yards and a touchdown, and he never looked back. He would start 11 out of 12 games, and over the course of the season lose just 18 yards.

In short, Scott provided Indiana the kind of rushing platform upon which an explosive, aggressive downfield offense can be built.

That explosiveness too rarely followed. IU finished just seventh in the Big Ten in total offense, and 10th in average yards per play. The Hoosiers were particularly poor in the red zone, where a 56.7% touchdown rate ranked them ahead of just two other teams in the league.

The reasons behind those shortcomings were multiple. They led IU coach Tom Allen to hire aggressively in handing new offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer the largest assistant’s contract in program history this offseason.

But while thousands of words will likely be written about Indiana’s quarterback position over the next month — not least on these pages — there’s a worthwhile argument that depth at running back is just as important, if not more so.

Nearly all offenses function best when the run can set up in the pass, making a vibrant ground game vital. It’s Football 101, as old as the forward pass.

And while it’s easy for fans and media to fall in love with star tailbacks, the truth is, the best offenses are made so by depth as much as talent at that position. This has arguably never been truer than during the college game’s ongoing love affair with no-huddle offenses, which drive up play counts and wear out ball carriers more quickly.

The best programs have multiple running backs. Clemson, last season’s national champion, saw four different players clock at least 56 carries. Travis Etienne’s 176, and 1,463 yards, led the way, but three other players rushed for at least 409 yards.

That list goes on. Alabama finished last year with three players credited with between 640 and 876 yards rushing. Ohio State leaned on the tandem of J.K. Dobbins (1,053 yards) and Mike Weber (954 yards).

Closer to home (and to IU’s level of talent and ambition), Purdue saw D.J. Knox’s 883 yards and eight rushing touchdowns complemented by Markell Jones’ 537 and five, with a healthy pinch of Rondale Moore sprinkled in. Fresno State, where DeBoer spent last season, relied more heavily on the passing game in 2018, but the year before that, in DeBoer’s first season in Fresno, three different players logged at least 101 carries.

Indiana’s best offenses in recent memory speak to the same truth.

Jordan Howard and Devine Redding both broke 1,000 yards rushing in 2015, when the Hoosiers fielded one of the best offenses in program history. Even the 2014 offense, centered around Tevin Coleman’s track-star explosiveness, still had D’Angelo Roberts (493 yards, six touchdowns) as a backstop.

All these numbers make last season’s even more stark. Beyond Scott, Peyton Ramsey was the Hoosiers’ second-leading rusher, Indiana’s quarterback gaining 538 yards before sacks and losses. No other tailback carried the ball more than Ronnie Walker (32 rushes, 141 yards).

Some of that was outside the Hoosiers’ control. Cole Gest suffered a season-ending injury five carries into the season. Mike Majette never found his stride. Morgan Ellison was suspended from school and removed from the program following a university investigation into sexual assault allegations.

But whatever the reasons, Indiana needed depth and didn’t have it. As a result, the drop-off when Scott left the game for a breather was too steep.

Which brings us to this fall camp, opening in a little over a week.

Scott will be more headliner than head-turner this time, but he should have more help. Handled right, IU’s running back corps should be able to maintain a higher level of production when Scott needs a break.

Walker, Indiana’s highest-rated recruit in the 2018 class, flashed promise last season and will be a year older. Gest is healthy again. Sampson James, IU’s highest-rated recruit in the rankings era, per 247Sports, enrolled early and should be full go after a minor procedure limited him in the spring.

Each brings something different to the room. All should compete for carries.

Quarterback play, and any attendant competition at that position, will get a lot of the attention in fall camp. It’s the nature of that position.

But as DeBoer and Allen attempt to remake Indiana’s offense into something more consistent — explosive and dangerous — the competition and talent level at the backfield’s other position will be just as important.

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.