The second spring camp of the Hugh Freeze era at Auburn is just around the corner as it’s set to get underway Tuesday.

The Tigers will then proceed to hold 13 spring practices in preparation of Auburn’s spring game — also known as A-Day — which is set to be played on April 6 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Before spring practices get underway, AL.com will take a position-by-position look at the Tigers’ roster, now taking an inside look at the familiar-looking Auburn running back room.

Who did the Tigers lose from the running back room?

In terms of guys who watch the game from underneath helmets, Auburn didn’t lose a thing from its running back room between the conclusion of last season and the start of spring football Tuesday.

The Tigers seemed close to losing senior running back and return specialist Brian Battie as he entered his name into the transfer portal on New Year’s Day.

However, one week later, Battie made the decision to withdraw his name from the portal to return for his second season on The Plains.

Before the 2023 season, which saw him rush for 227 yards on 51 attempts from the backfield and 645 yards on kickoffs, Battie was a staple in the run game and return game at USF for three seasons.

“He’s got a lot of shake to him. Got some speed too,” Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne said of Battie on Oct. 1. “He can do it a lot of different ways — you can hand it to him, throw it to him, get him on the perimeter and he can run between the tackles too. People don’t really think that with small backs but he has such great vision and great patience. He’s a really good back.”

Of course, the biggest change to hit Auburn’s running back room was the sudden resignation of running backs coach Cadillac Williams.

Since then, Freeze has went on to hire former Ole Miss assistant Derrick Nix as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator and running backs coach.

Who are the Tigers returning to the running back room?

The short answer that question: Everyone.

The long answer to that question: senior Jarquez Hunter, senior Brian Battie, junior Damari Alston, junior Sean Jackson and sophomore Jeremiah Cobb.

On Jan. 12, Hunter, who served as Auburn’s bell cow running back last season, announced that he’d be returning to The Plains for his senior season after previously saying he was undecided on his future plans.

With Hunter’s return, the Tigers return their leading rusher from 2023 as he logged 909 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 159 carries — good for an average of 5.7 yards per carry.

“Jarquez (Hunter) is obviously getting the bulk of the load right now and he has earned that with the way he practices, leads, and comes to work,” Freeze said Oct. 30 as he previewed Auburn’s visit to Vanderbilt.

Auburn also returns Alston and Cobb, who both made notable contributions last fall.

Alston’s 2023 campaign was a bit abbreviated after suffering a separated shoulder against Texas A&M in Week 4. The injury forced Alston to miss three games before he returned to action against Mississippi State.

Through the course of 10 games, Alston tallied 320 yards and two touchdowns on 64 carries.

Meanwhile, Cobb displayed spurts of potential in 2023 as the Montgomery native appeared in all 13 games, tallying 33 carries, 172 yards and a pair of touchdowns as a freshman.

“I think he’s one of the most talented backs I’ve seen, and we’ve had a lot of talented backs come through here,” former Auburn offensive lineman Kam Stutt said of Cobb last season. “I think he’s got all the ability that anybody who has come into that room has had.”

Finally, after a season spent as a reserve running back, Jackson is set to return for his junior season in 2024.

Last fall, Jackson appeared in 11 games, logged six carries for 95 yards and a touchdown.

Who did the Tigers add to the running back room?

Considering Auburn returned every face from the 2023 season to its running back room heading into 2024, there was no need for the Tigers to make the room more crowded. So they didn’t.