30 college football players with the biggest shoes to fill in 2018

Shoes to Fill: Kerryon Johnson

It may be difficult to believe, but 1,00-yard rushers don’t actually grow on trees in Auburn. The Tigers have recruited extremely well at the running back position over the past decade, and Gus Malzahn has orchestrated one of the most consistent rushing attacks in the country, first as the offensive coordinator, and then as head coach.

Auburn has had at least one 1,000-yard rusher every year since 2008, and nine different players have accomplished the feat – including five different players over the past five seasons. Twice the Tigers had two players run for 1,000 yards in the same season. The primary ball carrier for Malzahn in 2017, Kerryon Johnson, racked up 1,391 yards and 18 touchdowns on 285 carries. Johnson, a junior, joined Kamryn Pettway, who ran for 1,224 yards and seven scores in 2016 but struggled with injuries last year, as an early entrant into the 2018 NFL Draft.

So who’s next? Kam Martin ranked second on the team leaderboard with 453 rushing yards last season, and he averaged an impressive 6.1 yards per carry. Martin scored two touchdowns as a sophomore and has five in two seasons on the Plains. He surpassed 136 rushing yards for the in the season opener against Georgia Southern, which was his second 100-yard performance of his career after setting a career-high with 176 rushing yards against Alabama A&M in 2016.

Martin, a 5-foot-10, 182-pound rising junior, doesn’t fit the mold of an every-down back in the SEC, but he has the talent to produce. He was a four-star prospect coming out of high school and has already proven to be productive when given the opportunities. With Johnson and Pettway gone, he’ll have a great opportunity to reach 1,000 yards as the starter in 2018.