Auburn Football: How Tigers Can Win with a Running Back-by-Committee Approach

Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn might not know that old Black Eyed Peas song "Let's Get It Started," but make no mistake, he lives it.

During the first two years of his tenure as Auburn's head coach, his Tigers have kept runnin' and runnin', runnin' and runnin'.

Tre Mason won the No. 1 tailback spot early in the 2013 season and ripped off 1,816 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns en route to the SEC rushing crown and a trip to New York City as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. 

A year later, the man he beat out—Cameron Artis-Payne—dashed for 1,608 yards and 13 touchdowns, also leading the SEC in rushing.

During his nine years as a college head or assistant coach, Malzahn has produced 12, 1,000-yard rushers.

Who's next?

It could be a combination of talented rushers.

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Junior college transfer Jovon Robinson, sophomore "Roc" Thomas, redshirt sophomore Peyton Barber and true freshman Kerryon Johnson will all compete for the top spot on the depth chart during fall camp.

Does one running back need to emerge? 

In a perfect world for Auburn, yes, because Malzahn and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee would ideally like to keep one No. 1 tailback in for entire drives so that the Tigers don't have to substitute and can operate at a high tempo.

It's not a requirement for Auburn to have a true No. 1, though.

At 6'0", 230 pounds, Robinson has everything Malzahn wants in an inside running back—something that Mason and Artis-Payne both were. He was an absolute monster two years ago at Georgia Military College, rushing for 2,387 yards and 34 touchdowns, setting national junior college rushing records in the process. 

He's already getting a considerable amount of hype. He landed on Phil Steele's preseason fourth-team All-SEC team without having so much as one FBS carry under his belt. Who's alongside Robinson? Missouri's Russell Hansbrough, who rushed for 1,084 yards and 10 touchdowns a year ago.

Not bad company to keep.

What's more, he proved this spring that he has picked up his pass-protection responsibilities well.

"If he knows who he's getting, he does a really nice job there," running backs coach Tim Horton said, according to Joel A. Erickson of AL.com. "From a pass protection standpoint, I think Jovon's been the most efficient and effective."

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From a pure running perspective, though, Thomas might have an edge heading into fall camp. 

The 5'10", 203-pound former "Mr. Football" in the state of Alabama was known primarily as a slasher and changeup back as a true freshman. A funny thing happened in the spring game, though—he went north/south much more than he did as a true freshman and finished the day with 69 yards and two scores, according to stats released by the school.

"I know Coach (Tim) Horton's been working real hard about those guys just making one cut and getting their pads low and get some extra yards. I think they've improved throughout the spring in that area," Malzahn said, according to Auburn's postgame quotes.

That's huge for Thomas and enormous for the Tigers, because if Thomas can anticipate and hit those holes on time, his speed and shiftiness will allow him to turn those three-yard gains into eight-yard gains and more.

So what should Auburn do?

Play both of them at the same time if Malzahn can use them both to his advantage.

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Thomas can be used in a variety of ways, including as an edge threat on inverse veer plays and read-option plays where quarterback Jeremy Johnson adds another element to rushing attack, can be a very dangerous slot receiver and go inside when needed.

Robinson can line up as the true tailback with Thomas motioning in at times or providing the option on jet sweeps.

The two primary contenders for the running back job at Auburn are vastly different players, much like Mason and Artis-Payne differed from former Tiger and jet sweep specialist Corey Grant. So use them both—give Thomas more true No. 1 running back responsibilities than Grant got.

If that happens, Barber and Johnson can battle it out for backup roles behind the duo, everybody can stay fresh and Auburn's rushing attack won't miss a beat.

In an ideal world, sure, Auburn would like to have a true No. 1 running back; but since both Thomas and Robinson are capable of handling the load while excelling in slightly different roles, the Tigers could benefit from both being on the field at the same time.

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.

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.

Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.