The SEC was dominated by quarterbacks in 2013. In 2014, defensive ends were the cream of the crop in the conference.

This coming year, and the year after that, is set to be the running backs’ time to shine.

Part of the reason for the SEC’s gap over the rest of college football closing in 2014 was the step back in quarterback play, as the league sent six passers to the NFL after the 2013 season. The conference’s running back crop was a bit depleted in 2014 as well. Four of the conference’s top-10 rushers from a year ago were no longer in school, and a fifth, Todd Gurley, missed nearly the entire season due to suspension and injury.

Some of the problems at running backs were failures to live up to expectations. T.J. Yeldon and Mike Davis were both solid in 2014 despite dealing with nagging injuries, but neither put up the superstar-level performances many expected from them.

Of course, there were plenty of bright spots. Mississippi State’s Josh Robinson and Auburn’s Cameron Artis-Payne both emerged as stars. All four of those players, assuming Yeldon jumps to the NFL as expected, will be gone come fall.

It matters not to the SEC’s future at running back, which is brighter than ever.

This past season saw five freshmen lead their team in rushing, including a couple of breakout stars few saw coming.

Everyone knew about LSU’s Leonard Fournette coming into the season. The No. 1 recruit in the nation last year got some unrealistic preseason Heisman buzz, and while he didn’t hit those levels he gave a pretty good glimpse of what’s to come in 2015, setting his career high in back-to-back games to end the season.

Jalen Hurd, Tennessee’s biggest recruit from a year ago, was well-known as well. The big back improved as he got more work, putting on a few dominating performances over the course of the year.

The best of the freshman running backs, of course, was Georgia’s Nick Chubb. Coming into the season buried on the depth chart, Chubb took advantage of the suspensions and injuries ahead of him and established himself as one of the best running backs in the country. He would have led the SEC in rushing yards by a wide margin had he started every game, and came within 60 yards of doing it despite coming off the bench to start the year.

Stanley Williams at Kentucky and Vanderbilt’s Ralph Webb both ended up topping their team’s rushing yards column, putting on impressive performances on the conference’s two forgotten teams. Webb has the makings of a workhorse back, while Williams can best be summed up by his “Boom” nickname, with the capability of exploding for a big play at any time.

That’s not even getting to the veterans who will still be around in 2015. Derrick Henry had breakout potential for Alabama this year, but split carries with Yeldon all year. He’s shown plenty of flashes, and the monster back will likely be handling the full workload in 2015. There’s Arkansas’ duo of Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins, who both topped 1,000 yards this year and are both poised to return in 2015.

Florida returns Kelvin Taylor and bowl star Adam Lane. South Carolina has power back Brandon Wilds coming back for his senior year and speedster David Williams ready to break through.

The emergence of so many star running backs runs counter to the biggest trend in college football, the proliferation of the pass-happy spread offenses you see all over the country. While teams like Oregon still run the hell out of the ball, the pass has become the most-used weapon in the game.

The SEC looks set to buck that trend next year. When the best running backs this side of the Big Ten play in the conference, they’re going to get work. The SEC has it all — super-sized runners like Fournette, Hurd and Henry, explosive talents like Williams and Chubb and everything in between.

No matter how much stronger the crop of quarterbacks is next year, 2015 will be the year of the running back in the SEC.