The offense had a solid one-two punch last season in the backfield. We knew about Tank Bigsby after his great freshman campaign, but his primary backup [autotag]Jarquez Hunter[/autotag] was a bit of an unknown.
Hunter wasn’t as highly regarded coming out of high school. He signed with Auburn in the 2021 recruiting class, where he was ranked as a three-star prospect. The No. 711 overall prospect according to 247Sports composite ranking, played much bigger than what was expected in year one.
While rankings aren’t the gospel truth, they do give some idea of how these players are projected. The product of Philadelphia, Mississippi, was a two-sport star as he ran track as well. Going into year two of the Bryan Harsin era, Hunter is expected to continue what he started as a freshman.
Hunter finished out the year with 593 yards on 89 carries, which breaks down to 6.7 yards per attempt with three touchdowns. He also made an impact as a receiver out of the backfield with 12 receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown. Overall, every time Hunter touched the ball it went for 6.5 yards.
He wasn’t able to participate in the spring game due to a knee procedure in the offseason. Hunter is expected to be ready to roll when summer workouts begin.
“There’s no doubt with him,” Harsin said. “First of all, he’s a tough kid, phenomenally strong; that guy can push weight, so we’ll get him back really quickly. And he’s determined. I think the best thing we did was get that cleaned up. He probably could have played through it, but it was the best thing for him to make sure he’s all 100 percent ready to go in the summer.”
Bigsby, Hunter, and Jordon Ingram could be a triple-headed monster for this offense in the running game in 2022.
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