Coach Will Muschamp recently credited the Southeastern Conference’s dominance to the league’s defensive lines, but it’s the running back position that may be the most talented.
Despite facing some of the nation’s best defenses on a weekly basis, SEC backs have consistently produced solid seasons and have been staples of championship contenders.
Even after Alabama’s Mark Ingram and LSU’s Stevan Ridley were selected in the first and third round, respectively, of the 2011 NFL Draft, the talent and depth at the position is still among the finest in the country.
“They’re some of the best,” UF running back Jeff Demps said of his SEC counterparts. “It’s a tough conference, and they come in each week and take the pounding ... and still seem to do good.”
When asked who was the best of the bunch, Demps, running back Chris Rainey, defensive tackle Jaye Howard and linebackers Jelani Jenkins and Jon Bostic all mentioned the same two names: Trent Richardson and Marcus Lattimore.
Richardson, who split time with Ingram in the Alabama backfield last season, is projected by many to be the best back in the nation this season due to his rare combination of size (5-foot-11, 224 pounds) and speed. He ran for 700 yards on 112 carries last year and should play a bigger role as a junior.
Lattimore, meanwhile, is a player the Gators know far too well. In last year’s meeting against South Carolina — a 36-14 Gamecocks victory — Lattimore carried the ball 40 times, tallying 215 yards and three touchdowns.
“Honestly, the best I played against besides Mark Ingram was probably Lattimore,” Howard said. “He’s explosive. He’s a big dude. It’s hard to bring him down.”
The SEC also features Tauren Poole at Tennessee, Vick Ballard at Mississippi State and Brandon Bolden at Mississippi, each of whom weighs more than 215 pounds and ran for at least 950 yards and double-digit touchdowns in 2010.
The group would be even stronger had Knile Davis, the SEC’s leading rusher among running backs last year, not suffered a season-ending left ankle injury during fall camp.
Even Vanderbilt, which finished 1-7 in conference play last season, features 2009 SEC Freshman of the Year Warren Norman at running back.
“It’s crazy,” Howard said. “Each week in the SEC you have to come out and play. You could play Vanderbilt and they’d give us a rough time.”
Contact Greg Luca at gluca@alligator.org
Alabama running back Trent Richardson, who ran for 700 yards on 112 carries last season while splitting time with Mark Ingram, is expected to be one of the conference’s best backs in 2011.
