Six months ago, I asked a question that felt more like a trend than a coincidence.
Where were all the elite returning SEC running backs?
That wasn’t a dig at Texas standout Tre Wisner, but it was telling that he was the SEC’s lone returning 1,000-yard back from the previous season. That was after a 2024 season in which the SEC entered without having a single returning 1,000-yard back for the first time in the Playoff era, and only 1 of the top 8 returning rushers was set to return. Going into 2025, 3 of the top 8 SEC rushing leaders returned, but a post-ACL tear Le’Veon Moss and Wisner were the lone SEC running backs who hit a single one of these boxes the previous season:
800 rushing yards 9 rushing touchdowns 5.4 yards/carry (min. 100 carries) 65 rushing yards/gameAnd take SEC Media Days representation for what it is, but there wasn’t a single running back among the 48 player representatives ahead of the 2025 season. Add in Florida‘s Montrell Johnson Jr. being the lone running back at SEC Media Days in 2024, and that was 1 running back out of 96 possible SEC representatives in that 2-year stretch.
Consider that 2-year stretch over because mercy, there’s a loaded group of returning SEC running backs heading into 2026. In the final days of the lone portal window being open, the SEC’s group of running backs for 2026 is stacked to the brim with proven playmakers.
Let’s start with the obvious. Ahmad Hardy (Mizzou) and Kewan Lacy (Ole Miss) both returning to their respective schools means that for the first time in SEC history, the conference will return multiple 1,500-yard rushers.
Yeah. Sip on that for a second.
That bested the 2023 group, which saw both Rocket Sanders and Quinshon Judkins make history as the first time that the SEC ever brought back multiple 1,400-yard rushers. Hardy and Lacy were 2 of the 3 Doak Walker Award finalists (NFL-bound Jeremiyah Love won the award), so naturally, both should top any preseason running back list in college football. That’s significant, but look beyond that.
For the first time since 2017, the SEC will return 4 1,000-yard rushers
That’s as many as the conference has had in the previous 3 years combined. In addition to Lacy and Hardy, Jadan Baugh returned to the new coaching staff at Florida and former Tennessee walk-on DeSean Bishop also announced his return. All of those guys are back after 1,000-yard seasons. Bishop somewhat quietly racked up 16 rushing scores. Before this 2026 group, Judkins was the only returning SEC running back in the previous 7 seasons who hit that number. Heading into 2026, Bishop, Hardy and Lacy will all return after reaching 16 rushing scores in 2025.
In all likelihood, the running back spots on the preseason first- and second-team All-SEC squads will be scooped up by those 4 guys. Look beyond that, too.
In 2026, the SEC will return 6 of its top 7 rushers from 2025, all of whom would’ve checked at least 2 of those aforementioned boxes (800 rushing yards, 9 rushing TDs, 5.4 yards/carry, 65 rushing yards/game):
1. Ahmad Hardy (Mizzou), returning 2. Kewan Lacy (Ole Miss), returning 3. Jadan Baugh (Florida), returning 4. DeSean Bishop (Tennessee), returning 5. Mike Washington Jr. (Arkansas), out of eligibility 6. Jeremiah Cobb (Auburn), returning 7. Nate Frazier (Georgia), returningThat’s 6 SEC running backs returning who hit 940 rushing yards last year, which also hasn’t happened since 2017. Why bring that up? Well, because that doesn’t even include the transfer portal class of SEC running backs, which is also loaded.
Former 1,000-yard rusher Bryson Washington left Baylor for Auburn to join Alex Golesh, who most recently led a USF rushing attack that averaged 212 yards/game. After racking up 937 rushing yards, NC State transfer Hollywood Smothers initially committed to Alabama to fix those ground-game woes, but then flipped to and signed with Texas. That came after Steve Sarkisian already added Arizona State transfer Raleek Brown, who ran for 1,141 yards last year. The only returning Power Conference running backs who had more rushing yards than Brown last year were Hardy, Lacy, Baugh and Rutgers star Antwan Raymond. To recap, 4 of the top 5 returning Power Conference leaders in rushing yards will play in the SEC, and that doesn’t even include Bishop.
(I realize that Mark Fletcher Jr. is set to return for Miami, and he could join the top 5 if he reaches 62 rushing yards against Indiana in the College Football Playoff National Championship. You get it, though.)
Here’s another crazy thought. I haven’t even mentioned the backfield that Lane Kiffin will operate at LSU.
Kiffin’s ground games have averaged a minimum of 166 yards/game the last 12 seasons at Alabama, FAU and of course, most recently at Ole Miss, where the aforementioned Lacy had the third-most rushing touchdowns (24) in a season in SEC history. LSU got huge news that in addition to bringing running backs coach Kevin Smith to Baton Rouge from Ole Miss, it retained both 2025 preseason All-SEC running back Caden Durham and former 5-star tailback Harlem Berry, who flashed plenty of promise as a true freshman once he started getting touches in the latter half of the season. The arrow is pointing up for the LSU backfield after an Ole Miss running back was a first-team All-SEC selection in 3 of Kiffin’s 6 years in Oxford.
Consider that another piece of this promising 2026 outlook for SEC rushing attacks. At a time in which many are wondering where the SEC fits in this ever-changing college football landscape, perhaps there’s something to be said for the investment made at the running back position. Once upon a time, you could set your watch to a slew of SEC running backs becoming household names and entering the Heisman Trophy conversation. That hasn’t been the case recently.
Now, though, the stage is set for a dominant year of SEC running backs. The last time the SEC was this stacked at the position heading into a season, 2017 yielded an all-SEC College Football Playoff National Championship. That’s hardly imminent in 2026, but it’s worth noting as the SEC searches for answers to restore its dominant ways.
A return of the back might just be the remedy.
Return of the back? A way-too-early look at the historically stacked group of SEC running backs in 2026 Saturday Down South.
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