Auburn Football: Can Jovon Robinson Be the Tigers' Every-Down RB?

You'll read about returning starters and their importance all offseason, but Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn just skips over those parts of preseason magazines.

After all, the names change, but the production at running back under Malzahn always seems to stay the same.

During Malzahn's nine seasons as a college head or assistant coach, his hurry-up, no-huddle, run-based offense has produced 12 1,000-yard rushers—including Cameron Artis-Payne, who led the SEC with 1,608 yards and 13 touchdowns a year ago.

Year	Player	School	Yds.	TDs
2006	Darren McFadden	Arkansas	1,647	14
2006	Felix Jones	Arkansas	1,168	6
2007	Tarrion Adams	Tulsa	1,225	8
2008	Tarrion Adams	Tulsa	1,523	14
2009	Ben Tate	Auburn	1,362	10
2010	Cam Newton	Auburn	1,473	20
2010	Michael Dyer	Auburn	1,093	5
2011	Michael Dyer	Auburn	1,242	10
2012	David Oku	Arkansas State	1,061	16
2013	Tre Mason	Auburn	1,816	23
2013	Nick Marshall	Auburn	1,068	12
2014	Cameron Artis-Payne	Auburn	1,608	13

Who's the next in line?

It could be a somewhat familiar face.

Jovon Robinson originally signed and participated in the initial stages of fall camp at Auburn in 2012, but an eligibility issue sent him from the Plains to Georgia Military College. After sitting out a year, Robinson led all junior college running backs with 2,387 rushing yards and 34 touchdowns in 12 games in 2013, according to NJCAA.org, and followed it up with 811 and nine touchdowns in nine games last year.

"He's a bruising-type back," 247Sports.com's Justin Hokanson told Bleacher Report. "He showed up to Auburn around 240 [pounds], which is a little too big, honestly. He probably would have told you that. He's probably a little under 230 now, which is where he needs to be and where he was when he broke 2,000 yards at Georgia Military College."

Can he be an every-down back in Auburn's offense?

Absolutely.

The 6'0", 230-pounder is clearly big enough to take the punishment between the tackles and has the speed to be dangerous off the edge.

"He's well-built, he's got good speed. He's a tough runner who runs with good pad level, from what I've seen," said Hokanson, who covered Robinson extensively during the junior college recruiting process. "He can catch the ball out of the backfield and is a great athlete. He's a really good fit."

While Artis-Payne, Tre Mason and Ben Tate all have thrived in Malzahn's offense at Auburn during his stints as head coach and offensive coordinator, Robinson's physicality brings a much different dimension to the table.

"Even Ben Tate was a good-sized back, but you never saw him busting through tackles," Hokanson said. "That wasn't his game. He was a tough runner and so was Artis-Payne, but they weren't 'Ronnie Brown' out there. Jovon could do things like that."

Robinson has already made an impact during his first full practice session this spring, according to Tom Green of the Opelika-Auburn News.

It isn't the physical aspect of the game that's most pressing for Robinson, it's the mental part. 

Picking up pass protection and understanding the subtleties in Malzahn's offense is exacerbated by Malzahn's desire to play fast and keep opposing defenses in base looks. 

Luckily for Auburn and Robinson, the Memphis native participated in some bowl practices after enrolling early and got a jump-start on the acclimation process.

"When he's just grabbing the ball and playing, he's doing well," offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee told Charles Goldberg of AuburnTigers.com. "It's just going to take time as far as the way we practice, the protections to knowing all the plays and where to line up, because we go faster than he's ever gone before. So in that regard, he's got a ways to go."

He's currently embroiled in a three-man race at running back with sophomores Roc Thomas and Peyton Barber. Of those two, Thomas is the one with more upside, but he could evolve into more of a change-of-pace back if Robinson ascends to the top spot on the depth chart.

Make no mistake, Auburn needs an every-down bruiser. 

While there are role players on the roster, the tempo in which Auburn operates requires Malzahn to eventually settle on a true No. 1 in order to prevent substitutions and keep opposing defenses as vanilla as possible.

Robinson can be that guy.

"If he's down to 230 or 228, he's going to be great," Hokanson said, "and I'd be surprised if he wasn't starting."

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports' composite rankings. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.