HOOVER | To ease in his newly minted freshman quarterback early in the season, Gus Malzahn wants all other parts of his offense to be finely tuned. That starts with those who will be in the backfield alongside either Joey Gatewood or Bo Nix.

Auburn returns all its running backs from last year, and to Malzahn, each tailback is equally invaluable to his offense. The group is led by rising redshirt sophomore JaTarvious “Boobee” Whitlow, who led the Tigers in rushing last year with 787 yards on the ground and six touchdowns. When healthy — and when given holes to run through — Whitlow displayed power and quickness and flashed the ability of a prototypical Auburn workhorse at running back.

Then there’s senior Kam Martin, who started 2018 as the lead back and was later supplanted by Whitlow.

“Boobee and Kam, I think it starts with them,” Malzahn told a group of reporters Thursday morning at the 2019 SEC Media Days.

Rising sophomore Shaun Shivers figures to be the third back, followed by any order of freshmen D.J. Williams and Mark-Antony Richards, and senior Malik Miller. There’s also Harold Joiner, a 6-foot-3 redshirt freshman that has bounced around the offense since arriving on the Plains last season. All told, 2019 could be the deepest running back room of Malzahn’s tenure.

“I think we're in good hands,” Malzahn said. “You know, in this league, you can't have enough running backs.”

Joiner remains the odd man out of both the running backs and receivers room after working with both in spring camp. Malzahn wouldn’t let on to his exact plans for Joiner in fall camp, but every time he mentioned the wildly athletic Birmingham native, he shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

“Harold Joiner will, I really believe, be a big part of what our plans are,” Malzahn said. “He’s very unique from the standpoint that he can do a lot of different things. We will have a specific plan for him during fall camp and this season. His versatility gives us a lot of freedom.”

Joiner has also seen time at the H-back slot, a position now vacant after the graduation of Chandler Cox. The Tigers brought in Arizona State transfer Jay Jay Wilson in the offseason to compete for the position along with fullback Spencer Nigh and tight end John Samuel Shenker.

“Jay Jay, he’s — of course, he’s a physical guy,” Malzahn said. “He’s a guy that has played that position. Now, he also played defensive end, but he’s got a good football mindset. When he was at Arizona State, there was some similarities with H-back to what we do, so I think that carryover will help too.

“Those three guys are really competing for that spot.”

Auburn displayed dual-back packages in spring camp, and Malzahn said that’s due to the versatility of his backfield being at a level he hasn’t seen since Malzahn’s offense was at its peak

“I mean, when was it, in 2013, we had three guys that were all different,” Malzahn said. “They all played. And I think the more quality guys you have, I like the fact that they're different, I think it gives you an advantage.”