Xavier McKinney knows what Shaun Shivers is capable of and the rest of the SEC is about to get its chance to find out as well.
The Auburn back is leading the race for the starting running back position for the Tigers as the season is down to two weeks away.
“Shaun Shivers has had a great camp so far,” Gus Malzahn said on Saturday. “I know Coach (Carnell) Williams rotated the other guys in a lot more today. I didn’t look at the numbers, but it is pretty closely spread out as the other four are concerned with getting reps today. That was by design to see who steps up at that position.”
As a sophomore in 2019, Shivers rushed for 286 yards on 55 attempts and three touchdowns, including that hard-hitting one in the Iron Bowl to give Auburn the lead for good.
With Kentucky awaiting the Tigers on Sept. 26 in the season opener in Jordan-Hare Stadium, Malzahn and the coaching staff are trying to settle in on who will be the feature back behind Nix. Along with Shivers, main competitors are D.J. Williams, Harold Joiner, Tank Bigsby and Mark-Antony Richards.
Malzahn has been impressed with what he has seen out of Shivers the most of them all this fall.
“He is one of the bright spots, I think, on the whole team at this point, just with his positive energy and everything that goes with it,” Malzahn added. “He is making a really good bright spot on special teams, too.
“He finished the season on a high note. He is very confident and knows the offense inside and out. He is really good protector. He is just playing at a high level.”