Despite having the SEC Offensive Player of the Year in the backfield, Auburn's rushing attack struggled down the stretch last season.

It was a result of the Tigers' dependency on one running back for much of the season, riding Kerryon Johnson throughout the year with little rotation behind him. So, when Johnson sustained shoulder and rib injuries late in the year, and with 2016 leading rusher Kamryn Pettway sidelined with his own injury, Auburn's lack of experienced, reliable depth at the position reared its head during losses to Georgia and UCF to close the year.

That's something running backs coach Tim Horton hopes to avoid this upcoming season, and the veteran assistant is putting the onus on himself.

"Obviously, I've got to look at that as a position coach," Horton said Thursday in Scottsboro before speaking to the Jackson County Auburn Club. "You want to get your best players on the field and particularly in crunch time against the best people. Because I think one thing coach (Gus) Malzahn says that I believe in wholeheartedly, is he says, 'When it's crunch time, have your best players on the field.' Well, unfortunately, when you play Georgia and you play LSU and you play Alabama and you play Texas A&M and whoever you're playing in the SEC, it's almost crunch time all the time.

"We've just got to have -- and it starts with me -- we've got to do a better job during the second quarter and late in the first quarter and the third quarter of getting some of those other guys reps, so once it becomes real crunch time in the fourth quarter, you've got your best people on the field."

Last season, Johnson averaged 23.75 carries per game, while Pettway averaged 15.20 in the five games he appeared in. Kam Martin, Auburn's second-leading rusher last year, averaged 5.29 attempts in 14 games.

Auburn rode Johnson particularly early on in games, with 101 of his 285 attempts coming in the first quarter. He only had 35 fourth-quarter carries, though that was a product of Auburn's blowout wins. Pettway had 25 first-quarter carries for the season, while Martin had just two, Devan Barrett had three and Malik Miller did not record a first-quarter carry.

Johnson added another 80 second-quarter carries, which was again considerably more than the 45 combined second-quarter carries from the Tigers' four other running backs last season.

Horton conceded that finding that balance and rotation earlier in games is easier said than done, especially when the team has had a track record of leaning on its workhorse running backs -- particularly late in the season -- during its impressive streak of 1,000-yard rushers.

"No question," Horton said. "You go in with the idea of playing three of four guys, and then, hey, crunch time, you want your bell cow in the game, and it's crunch time every minute of every game. And again, that's where I can help out a little more, I think."

During "crunch time" last season -- when Auburn needed to win out against Texas A&M, Georgia and Alabama to win the SEC West -- Johnson averaged 30.33 carries per game, while Auburn's other running backs combined for 19 total carries, with all of them coming from Martin.

When Johnson got injured late in the game against Alabama, it limited him during the next two games against Georgia and UCF. In those games, Johnson totaled just 35 carries for 115 yards and Auburn's offense mustered just 204 rushing yards on 75 carries.

"The last couple of years, particularly last year, if you have one guy and he goes down like what happened with KJ, we weren't the same team in the SEC Championship game because we had a guy that was hurt," Horton said. "The ability to have a fresh player in the fourth quarter can really help you."

That's why Horton is more open to a by-committee approach to running back this season, especially when the Tigers do not have a proven No. 1 guy at the position. Martin enters the offseason as the frontrunner for Auburn's starting job, and Horton said last week that the No. 2 role, at this time, would be situational in a true sense, with Miller, Barrett, JaTarvious Whitlow and Asa Martin all in the mix for carries.

"I probably do feel more comfortable playing more than one guy because it can be such wear and tear on a player," Horton said, "and I think we'll have the ability to do that this year."

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.