Auburn has a ton of production to replace at running back following the loss of Kerryon Johnson and Kamryn Pettway. The duo rushed for 1,696 yards and 24 touchdowns last season while busting out for 3,815 yards and 42 touchdowns in their final two seasons combined on The Plains.

Despite the loss of the two great backs, the cupboard wasn’t left bare at Auburn by any means. Kam Martin and Malik Miller combined to rush for 588 yards and three touchdowns in reserve roles for the Tigers a season ago. While their numbers are likely to drastically improve next season, the team will likely need at least one other running back to emerge in 2018 considering the toll the grind of the SEC season can put on a back.

The search to find that back starts this spring. That’s something Malzahn alluded to during his opening spring press conference Thursday afternoon. Here’s what the Tiger coach had to say about his running backs during the presser.

“Kam Martin, he is a guy we know quite a bit about. Malik (Miller) is a guy we know quite a bit about. The other guys, they have an opportunity. It’s really wide open,” Malzahn said.

It won’t just be how well the young backs such as Asa Martin and Devan Barrett look with the ball in their hands, Malzahn is more concerned with how they perform without it.

“We need to leave spring knowing who can protect, that’s going to be big,” he continued. “We are going to put our running backs in a lot of situations to protect. We talk about the running backs playing without the ball.”

Here’s a video, posted on Twitter by Kyle Burger of WVTM 13, of Malzahn sharing his thoughts on the Auburn running backs.