Auburn will be without its leading rusher from the last two seasons moving forward.
Boobee Whitlow entered the transfer portal on Wednesday, according to a source. Whitlow, a redshirt sophomore last season, led the Tigers in rushing yards in 2018 and 2019, when he ran for a combined 1,551 yards and 16 touchdowns.
While the loss of its leading rusher is a tough blow for Auburn, which failed to produce a 1,000-yard running back in back-to-back seasons as the run game collectively struggled the last two years, the Tigers aren’t lacking for depth in the backfield heading into 2020. Even with Whitlow — and departed senior Kam Martin, the team’s third-leading rusher in 2019 — out of the picture, Auburn is set to have a crowded group at running back featuring sophomore D.J. Williams, junior Shaun Shivers, redshirt sophomore Harold Joiner, redshirt freshman Mark-Antony Richards, prized 2020 signee Tank Bigsby and redshirt senior Malik Miller.
Of that group, Williams is the most experienced in terms of college carries despite having just nine games under his belt. The 5-foot-10, 216-pounder was Auburn’s second-leading rusher last season, when he totaled 84 carries for 400 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Shivers, who will not participate in spring practices for the second straight year as he runs track at Auburn, finished last season with 55 carries for 286 yards and three touchdowns, perhaps most memorably plowing through Alabama safety Xavier McKinney on his way to the end zone during the Tigers’ thrilling Iron Bowl win. Joiner had 12 carries for 94 yards and a touchdown last season, adding six receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown, after redshirting in 2018, while Mille served largely as a pass-blocking option for Auburn on obvious passing downs, rushing for 42 yards on 12 carries and adding another 49 yards on four catches.
Richards did not see the field last season after undergoing leg surgery in fall camp, but those within the program have been high on his ability since he first signed, drawing comparisons to former 2017 SEC Offensive Player of the Year and current Detroit Lions running back Kerryon Johnson.
Bigsby, a four-star running back out of Hogansville, Ga., signed with Auburn in December and is one of 10 early enrollees for the Tigers’ 2020 class. He’s rated as the No. 4 running back in the nation, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, and he could provide an instant impact in the backfield this fall.
Though Auburn has its share of options to take over as the lead option in the backfield, Whitlow’s departure is still a substantial loss for the Tigers. The 6-foot, 210-pounder received 28.8 percent of Auburn’s total carries the last two seasons — including 40.6 percent of its running back carries — while averaging 5.1 yards per touch as the Tigers’ go-to option in the run game.
It was an impressive rise yet a precipitous fall for Whitlow, who originally joined Auburn in 2017 as a signing day surprise for the Tigers. A former three-star recruit from just down the road in LaFayette, where he was a three-sport star — a state champion in track and basketball, as well as an All-State athlete in football — Whitlow received a late offer from Auburn just two days before National Signing Day. Whitlow had been set to sign with Tulane, where he was expected to be a multi-purpose athlete for the Green Wave, but Auburn’s interest in him intensified following the hiring of then-offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey that winter.
Whitlow originally surfaced on Auburn’s radar the prior summer, when he impressed defensive coordinator Kevin Steele during a June camp and received an offer a day later to play defense. Steele wasn’t sure which position he wanted Whitlow at, but he believed the versatile athlete could project as a safety or nickel for the Tigers.
Whitlow wanted to play offense, however, and he kept his options open. After a senior season that saw him pass for 2,292 yard and 29 touchdowns while rushing for another 2,147 yard and 30 touchdowns for LaFayette, earning Class 2A Back of the Year honors, Whitlow’s film piqued the interest of Lindsey, who wanted to recruit him as a wide receiver.
He signed with Auburn as a receiver but moved to running back during fall camp in 2017. He didn’t see the field that season, redshirting after a preseason ankle injury slowed his development, but he emerged in 2018 as Auburn’s top running back following the departures of Johnson and Kamryn Pettway, busting onto the scene during that year’s opener against Washington, when he scored the go-ahead touchdown with 6:15 remaining in the fourth quarter.
AL.com will update this post.
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde. Matt Zenitz is an Alabama and Auburn reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mzenitz.
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Source: Auburn running back Boobee Whitlow enters transfer portal - AL.com
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