During SEC Media Days, Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze admitted he was surprised by the attention — or lack thereof — the Tigers’ running back room had gotten over the offseason.

After all, Auburn had the SEC’s leading returning running back on its roster in senior Jarquez Hunter, who rushed for 909 yards and seven touchdowns in 2023.

“I’m kinda shocked no one is talking about him and I’m okay with that and I’m sure he doesn’t seek anything like that anyways,” Freeze said of Hunter. “I think he’s had one heck of an offseason — looks great and I love that whole room.”

And while Hunter might not explicitly seek out that kind of validation, he has been keeping tabs.

“We’re shocked,” Hunter said on Friday when asked about the lack of attention he the rest of Auburn’s running backs had received throughout the offseason. “That’s very disrespectful. I believe we’re one of the top running back rooms in the nation, or the best.”

Alongside Hunter in the Tigers’ stable of running backs are junior Damari Alston and sophomore Jeremiah Cobb — two guys who are expected to get ample reps in 2024 as Auburn tackles the running game with a three-man rotation.

Alston rushed for 320 yards and a pair of touchdowns last fall, while Cobb added 172 yards and also punched in two touchdowns.

Making the jump from his freshman to sophomore seasons, Freeze said Cobb is starting to really look like an SEC running back.

“He looks the part,” Freeze said Monday. “He’s bigger, stronger, probably faster.”

Meanwhile, Hunter says Auburn’s running back room as a whole has made strides in terms of protecting the quarterback and catching the ball out of the backfield.

“We’ve got to protect the quarterback, and more catching the ball out of the backfield,” Hunter said. “We all have gotten better at doing that.”

Last fall, Auburn’s running backs combined for 33 receptions, 213 receiving yards and a pair of touchdown catches.

“I think all of us can go from the backfield to the receiver spot,” Hunter said. “We can do what the tight ends can do. All of us can do all of the positions coach asks us to do and we can do it pretty well.”

But no one seems to be talking about that.

“We’re very underrated,” Hunter said. “We can do anything anybody else can do, or better.”