We’re taking a look at each position group as Auburn prepares to open spring practice on March 16. The second of a 10-part series looks at the running backs.

There’s a hole to fill in Auburn’s backfield this offseason.

On National Signing Day, the Tigers lost their leading rusher from the past two seasons when Boobee Whitlow entered into the transfer portal in search of a fresh start. Whitlow rushed for 1,550 yards over the last two seasons, and while Auburn failed to produce a 1,000-yard rusher in either of those two campaigns, he was the star of the Tigers’ backfield after emerging following a redshirt year in 2017.

With Whitlow out of the picture, it’s time for Auburn to identify a new No. 1 in the backfield — a mission that begins in earnest when spring practices commence in two weeks. While Auburn does not have any running back on its roster with more than 85 carries in a season at the college level, the Tigers have no shortage of options to fill step into that lead role in 2020.

Projected depth chart:

D.J. Williams, sophomore, 400 yards and two touchdowns on 84 carries

Shaun Shivers, junior, 286 yards and three touchdowns on 55 carries OR

Harold Joiner, redshirt sophomore, 94 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries OR

Tank Bigsby, freshman, No. 39 overall recruit in 2020 class OR

Mark-Antony Richards, redshirt freshman, missed last season due to leg injury

Malik Miller, redshirt senior, 42 yards on 12 carries

Departed: Boobee Whitlow, 763 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on 156 touches; 106 receiving yards

Kam Martin, 333 yards and two touchdowns on 61 carries

Due to arrive in the fall: N/A

Outlook:

If there’s any position on Auburn’s roster where the team could afford to lose a player of Whitlow’s caliber, it’s at running back, where the team arguably has more depth at the position than it has had in years under Malzahn. Of course, it’s never ideal to lose your leading rusher from the year before, but Auburn has the pieces in what is a rather crowded running backs room to make up for the loss of Whitlow, who led the team in rushing each of the last two seasons.

Auburn will have its pick of choices to step up as the lead running back this offseason, though the team could continue its shift to a by-committee approach at the position; it certainly has the pieces to do so this year.

Chief among the Tigers’ returning experienced running backs are sophomore D.J. Williams and junior Shaun Shivers. Williams emerged as Auburn’s No. 2 back last season, finishing with 400 yards and a pair of touchdowns 84 carries while appearing in just nine of the team’s 13 games and not recording a carry in five of the Tigers’ first six games. Shivers, meanwhile, had 286 yards and three touchdowns on 55 carries as a complementary piece in the backfield.

Redshirt sophomore Harold Joiner showed some glimpses of what he can do in the backfield, but he may be most valuable to Auburn as a receiving option at the position and could split out wide this upcoming season, and redshirt senior Malik Miller has carved out a niche as a reliable pass protector and short-yardage receiver on obvious passing downs.

The two wild cards who could have the biggest impact this spring are a pair of freshmen: Tank Bigsby and Mark-Antony Richards.

Bigsby, a true freshman who enrolled in January, is the prized signee of the Tigers’ 2020 class, a top-40 recruit nationally and has the size — 6-foot, 209 pounds — to be a prototypical every-down back in the SEC. He rushed for 1,636 yards and 27 touchdowns as a senior at Callaway High in LaGrange, Ga., and he could quickly insert himself into the running back rotation this spring. Richards, meanwhile, is coming off a redshirt year in which he didn’t see the field following fall leg surgery. The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder is expected to be 100 percent for spring practices, and that’s good news for Auburn, as he was a top-100 recruit nationally in the 2019 class and his impressive receiving ability to go with his skillset out of the backfield has drawn comparisons to former Auburn star and 2017 SEC Offensive Player of the Year Kerryon Johnson.

Who ultimately emerges as the top option for Auburn is one of the most intriguing aspects of this offseason for the Tigers, but even without Whitlow, there are adequate options to step up and fill that role for Auburn in Chad Morris’ offense.

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