The 2025 college football season is just a couple of months away, so it’s a great time to preview the league’s potential rushing leaders for this fall.
This piece will only seek to predict the SEC’s leaders in total rushing yardage during the regular season — not necessarily the most efficient or most effective on a down-to-down basis.
SEC football predictions: Top 5 rushing leaders for 2025
When trying to predict rushing yardage totals, you’re looking for 2 things: talent and opportunity. You have to have to be an elite runner in order to be at the top of the SEC’s rushing leaderboard, but you also have to be in a balanced (or run-heavy) offense where you have the lion’s share of the carries.
That certainly cuts down on the list of potential rushing leaders in the SEC for this fall. With that criteria in mind, here’s our top 5 predicted rushing leaders for 2025:
No. 5: Jaydn Ott, Oklahoma
Jaydn Ott was one of the most significant transfers of the spring window for the entire country as he moved from Cal to Oklahoma. He makes this list almost purely due to his upside that we saw in 2023 with the Golden Bears. That season, he rushed for 1,315 yards and 12 touchdowns in what was a really good Pac-12.
Ben Arbuckle called almost 50% run plays while at Washington State last season so there’s reason to believe there will be enough volume for Ott to approach 1,000 yards during the regular season. Oklahoma is pretty deep at running back, but I expect Ott will be the bell cow here with players like Xavier Robinson, Taylor Tatum and Jovantae Barnes filling in as needed.
No. 4: Braylen Russell, Arkansas
Arkansas got a huge season from Ja’Quinden Jackson a year ago and Braylen Russell appears to be in the driver’s seat to replace him in the backfield. Russell was good last season in a backup role as he averaged an excellent 0.15 EPA-per-rush, per Game on Paper. Arkansas was one of the most explosive teams in the country last season on the ground, which is a trend that could continue as Bobby Petrino prepares for another season in Fayetteville.
Arkansas led the SEC last season with 86 rushes of 10+ yards during the regular season. Russell had strong games against Tennessee and Mississippi State last year, too. Given his level of talent and expected opportunity, I think he has the upside to clear 1,000 rushing yards during the 2025 regular season.
No. 3: DeSean Bishop, Tennessee
A relative unknown on this list, DeSean Bishop is expected to take over for Dylan Sampson in Tennessee’s backfield this fall. The advanced numbers suggest Bishop was nearly as good as Sampson was a season ago on a per-play basis (albeit on significantly less volume). Game On Paper has Bishop’s EPA-per-rush at 0.06 while Sampson clocked in at 0.07. Bishop also averaged nearly 6.5 yards per carry, which was better than Sampson’s total.
During the regular season last year, Tennessee ran the ball at a 58.4% clip, which led all SEC offenses. That’s the primary reason for optimism here if you’re backing Bishop to have a breakout year. Volume is on his side in a big way. Bringing in Joey Aguilar for Nico Iamaleava could also lead to more rushing attempts than normal for the Vols.
No. 2: Tre Wisner, Texas
Tre Wisner is someone who wouldn’t have been anywhere near this list a year ago, but finished the 2024 season in the top-3 in rushing among SEC players. Wisner filled in admirably for a Texas backfield that dealt with multiple major injuries a year ago. CJ Baxter’s return means Wisner may not quite get the same volume of carries as a year ago, but another year of experience should mean some increased efficiency.
Texas’s schedule and overall talent should also help Wisner crack the top-5. The Longhorns have arguably the weakest SEC schedule this season, which should result in plenty of games where they’re heavily running the ball down the stretch to bleed clock.
No. 1: Ahmad Hardy, Missouri
Hardy is a natural pick at No. 1 overall. Not only was he utterly dominant as a freshman in the Sun Belt last season, but he lands in an offense that historically has rewarded top running backs with a high-volume of carries. Dating back to 2021, there have been 3 SEC running backs to account for more than 55% of their team’s rushing attempts. Two of them — Tyler Badie in 2021 and Cody Schrader in 2023 — played for Mizzou.
The SEC lacks elite returning running backs this season, but Hardy looks like he could be an impact ball carrier on Day 1. He led the Sun Belt in rushing attempts last season and I think he’ll have a chance at a 200-carry regular season if he meets expectations for Mizzou.
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Will a quarterback crack the top 5?
Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia and Oklahoma’s John Mateer certainly received consideration for this list, as did South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers. Pavia and Sellers were both top-15 in the SEC last season. Mateer rushed for 826 yards in the regular season last year, which would have ranked 5th in the SEC. You don’t have to go back very far to find a quarterback in the top 5 — Jayden Daniels did it in 2023. But before Daniels, you have to go all the way back to Nick Fitzgerald in 2018 to find an SEC quarterback who finished in the top 5 in the league in rushing.
Honorable mentions: Florida running back Jadan Baugh, LSU running back Caden Durham, Georgia running back Nate Frazier, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer and South Carolina quarterback back LaNorris Sellers.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
