SEC Football Q&A: Which Auburn RB Will Get the Majority of the Carries?

Every Thursday on The SEC Blog, we will feature questions from the Bleacher Report inbox, Twitter and email. Due to Twitter crashing on Thursday, Q&A got bumped to Friday.

Do you have a question for next week's Q&A? Send it to SEC lead blogger Barrett Sallee via the B/R inbox, on Twitter @BarrettSallee or at [e-mail].

You've got SEC questions, and I've got SEC answers. Thank you everybody for your questions this week, and if I didn't get to them this week, they are still saved and will be used in the future.

And with that, we're off:

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@BarrettSallee Who will be the lead back at Auburn enjoying the holes opened by new fullback Jay Prosch?

— John Cargile (@elcarg) July 27, 2012"

There are certainly plenty of options. Senior Onterio McCalebb is the front-runner now, but Tre Mason, Mike Blakely, Corey Grant and Jovon Robinson will all contend for playing time.

The easy answer is that there won't be one "lead back," and all five of these players will handle the job by committee since they all can do different things.

But since you're twisting my arm, I'm going to go into left field and say sophomore Corey Grant. 

Grant transferred from Alabama, and impressed coaches last fall on the scout team. He further impressed the coaches by posting a reported 4.2 40-yard dash in pre-spring conditioning. At 5'11", 203 pounds, he has good size to go along with his speed.

It may not happen immediately, but watch out for Grant this season at Auburn.

Nothing against McCalebb. He's going to get the first shot. But both he and Auburn would probably be better off if McCalebb is used as the changeup back rather than the feature back.

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@BarrettSallee chances Malcolm Mitchell puts up a Champ Bailey quality season?

— James(@jcharris08) July 27, 2012"

If you're talking about sustained success on both sides of the football, no.

That's not to say that Mitchell can't do it. He has the talent. But Georgia is well below the limit of 85 scholarship players, and depth could be a factor.

Head coach Mark Richt was non-committal about the status of safety Bacarri Rambo and linebacker Alec Ogletree, but it's been reported that the two will be suspended for four and two games, respectively. Those suspensions are on top of the two-game suspension that starting cornerback Sanders Commings will serve.

The holes on defense prompted Georgia to move Mitchell from wide receiver to cornerback this spring, and that's where he finds himself on the preseason depth chart.

I consider that temporary.

Mitchell will get plenty of time on defense early, but I expect him to migrate over to the offensive side of the ball as Georgia gets personnel back on defense. That could certainly change at the drop of a hat due to more injuries or suspensions on defense.

Mitchell will have success on offense and defense this year, but I don't see him doing both at the same time very often. He's too valuable.

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@BarrettSallee Why is everyone so sure Zach Mettenberger is going to be the savior of LSU's QBing issues of late?

— Randy Gyorko (@gyorkocfn) July 27, 2012"

Because he doesn't have a lot of pressure on his shoulders.

LSU was incapable of establishing a downfield threat last year with Jarrett Lee and Jordan Jefferson taking the snaps, and even though there is some concern whether or not Mettenberger can handle the job, there's no questions about his arm strength.

He doesn't have to go out and be Joe Montana, he just has to look like him enough to keep opposing defenses honest.

With five offensive linemen and four stud running backs, LSU's bread and butter will still be the running game. That running game will be even better if Mettenberger can complete a deep ball or two.

We saw in the spring game that the goal for the coaching staff is to stretch the field this season.

Mettenberger connected on 14-of-25 passes for 270 yards, two touchdowns and two picks. That 10.8 yards per attempt figure would have led FBS last season (Robert Griffin III, 10.7).

Follow @BarrettSallee