SEC Football Backfield rankings

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Sep 3, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs running back Nick Chubb (27) runs for a touchdown against the North Carolina Tar Heels during the fourth quarter of the 2016 Chick-Fil-A Kickoff game at Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /

There is one constant when it comes to SEC football: Teams have to be able to run the ball to be successful.

Quick trivia question: Who was the only SEC team to have two 1,000-yard rushers in 2016? To give you a hint, it was not Alabama, Georgia, or LSU.

If you answered Kentucky, you would be correct. Junior Stanley “Boom” Williams was sixth in the SEC with 1,170 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns, while freshman Benny Snell Jr. was 10th eighth in the conference with 1,091 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns.

Williams is now a member of the Cincinnati Bengals. In fact, he was the only one of the SEC’s top 14 rushers that wasn’t returning for 2017, until the news broke of Arkansas’ Rawleigh Williams III.

Williams III announced his retirement from football after a neck injury in last month’s spring game, the second neck injury of his career. Williams III was third in the SEC in 2016 with 1,360 yards and 12 touchdowns.

In the SEC, you don’t just need one running back, you need a committee. Below we’ve listed the top five backfield groups in the Southeastern Conference.

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