College Football 2011: The Best Running Back in College Football Is...

Many people are proclaiming the 2011 college football season to be the "Year of the Running Back" and you can add me to that list. 

Just in the SEC alone, you have quality running backs like Alabama's Trent Richardson, Auburn's Michael Dyer, Arkansas' Knile Davis and the best running back in all of college football, South Carolina's Marcus Lattimore.

Sorry LaMichael James and sorry Richardson, but if I had to choose one guy as the centerpiece of my offense, it would be Lattimore.

Not only did he get the "ol' ball coach" to run the ball more, but Steve Spurrier gave him the rock 37 times against Georgia and 40 times against Florida a year ago. 

"Marcus gives us hope," Spurrier said. "I think when we beat Florida down there, I said when we signed Marcus Lattimore, that's what gave us a chance to beat Florida, because he carried the ball 40 times down there, 215 yards or something like that. Certainly he was the key player in the entire game."

At the 2011 SEC Media Days last week in Birmingham, Al., I had the opportunity to talk to Lattimore and other players around the league about his ability. Kentucky's Danny Trevathan, who landed on CollegeFootballNews.com All-America first team list, said Lattimore was one of the most difficult guys to tackle in the league.

"Marcus Lattimore is a monster," Trevathan said. "He was born to play football."

Lattimore finished the year with 1,197 yards and 17 touchdowns in his freshman season. He is without a doubt the hardest running tailback in college. The guys I mentioned earlier are all great running backs, but there's just something special about a guy that you can just pound the defense with over and over and gets better as the game goes.

Spurrier said that Lattimore wins the hardest worker in the weight room award every spring, and judging by the way he plays, that's not hard to believe. Even with the great season Lattimore had a year ago, he plans on having a more productive year in 2011.

"I want to win the Heisman," Lattimore said. "I want to get more yards and touchdowns than I had last year."

Other running backs across the league can't help but marvel at the play of Lattimore. Richardson said he watches all the running backs in the league and had nothing but high praise for his rival.

"Lattimore has a lot of power man. He runs straight ahead. He always keeps his legs going," Richardson said.

Lattimore was very complimentary to Richardson's abilities as well.

"I looked up to Trent Richardson in high school," Lattimore said. "He was one of my favorite running backs. He was the reason I wanted to go to Alabama sometimes. Other than that, you have guys like Michael Dyer nowadays, and a lot of great backs around the SEC. The competition just proves why we're the best conference."

Lattimore wants to win the Heisman, and I believe he can do it. South Carolina has a great football team this year and will win many games, that's step one. The next step is to have a great year, and Lattimore is poised for a year every football fan will remember.

With great players all around the country like Stanford's Andrew Luck, Oklahoma's Landry Jones, Oklahoma State's Justin Blackmon and even Lattimore's teammate Alshon Jeffery, the winner of the Heisman will have to earn it. It'll be no easy feat, but I believe Lattimore will earn it just like he earns every single yard he gains on the grid-iron.

SEC Media Days: Jake Martin is a Member of Bleacher Report and a sports writer for the Concordia Sentinel in Ferriday, La. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand or from official interview materials from the Concordia Sentinel.