Tag: Lionel James

Where does Auburn land on ESPN’s ‘Running Back U’ rankings?

Do you agree with Auburn’s place on ESPN’s rankings?

When college football fans think of Auburn, what comes to mind? It has to be the Tigers’ history of stellar running back play, right?

There have been five running backs in Auburn’s history to rush for over 3,000 yards in their careers, and there are 19 who rushed for 2,000 yards or more. Some of the best-known athletes in Auburn’s history were running backs, with the most popular being 1985 Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson and Carnell “Cadillac” Williams.

[autotag]Kerryon Johnson[/autotag] and [autotag]Tank Bigsby[/autotag] are the most recent players to join the running back fraternity at Auburn, while older Auburn fans are sure to include the likes of [autotag]Lionel James[/autotag], [autotag]Joe Cribbs[/autotag], and [autotag]James Bostic[/autotag] to their list of favorite Auburn players.

There’s zero doubt that Auburn knows how to construct elite running backs, but where do they rank among the nation’s best RB producers? ESPN weighs in.

ESPN updated their “Position U” rankings recently, which includes the top 10 running back-producing programs. Auburn found its way on the list at No. 8.

On3’s Kaiden Smith shared his opinion on the list and says that ESPN got it right by including Auburn due to their history of stellar running backs.

Tank Bigsby is the newest addition to the Auburn/NFL running back family, selected with the No. 88 overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft. Bigsby is the only Auburn Tiger rusher currently in the league from Auburn, but historically he’s definitely not alone.

Between 2009-2017 the Tigers had an impressive nine year run where they always had a 1,000-yard rusher. From Tre Mason to Kerryon Johnson and everyone in between, there’s no doubt the Auburn running back lineage is strong, dating back well before the mentioned names above.

The Tigers beat out Oklahoma State and Oregon on ESPN’s list, and trails Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas, Miami, LSU, and Wisconsin, with archrival Alabama being dubbed “running back U.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1364]

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

Auburn Football History: The updated top 20 all-time rushers for the Tigers

How high can Bigsby climb on this list in 2022?

When you think of Auburn running backs in history there is one clear answer. [autotag]Bo Jackson[/autotag]. Bo knows football and Bo knows running the football.

Right behind him, we have current running backs coach Carnell “Cadillac” Williams. He actually scored more touchdowns than Jackson but finished second in yards rushing throughout his career.

Other notable names include the running mates for each of the top backs in Auburn history. For Jackson, it was the late [autotag]Lionel James[/autotag], while Williams shared the backfield with [autotag]Ronnie Brown[/autotag].

Looking at the current backfield you have [autotag]Tank Bigsby[/autotag], who checks in among the top 20 all-time rushers in school history. With a 1,000-yard season, he could climb as high as No. 6. That will be one item to watch as the 2022 season unfolds.

We breakdown the entire list of the top 20 Auburn rushers in school history, starting with junior running back Tank Bigsby: