‘You can tell he’s hungry for this season’: Auburn RB Jarquez Hunter eyes breakout season in 2023

Despite the unforgiving summer heat, Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter sometimes has to be reminded to drink water during his offseason workouts, says Brad Lester, who has trained Hunter this offseason. Hunter just doesn’t want to stop. “He’s that hard of a worker and that mentally tough, which says a lot about him because a lot of players can’t do that,” Lester said. Lester is a fitting coach for Hunter, who enters his junior season this fall. A former Auburn running back himself from 2004-2008, Lester is helping Hunter prepare for a new role: becoming starting running back. In a way, it felt like the torch had been passed to Hunter from former Auburn running back Tank Bigsby in last season’s Iron Bowl — the final game of the Tigers’ 2022 season. Bigsby rushed for just 63 yards in the Iron Bowl that day. All the while, Hunter, a sophomore at the time, rushed for 134 yards against the Crimson Tide, eclipsing his average of 56 yards per game. After playing behind Bigsby, who went on to be a third-round draft pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars in this year’s NFL Draft, Hunter knows the expectations of him are lofty. Then again, that’s what you sign up for as a running back at Auburn. Nonetheless, tasked with filling the shoes Bigsby left for him, Hunter knew he could turn to Lester — the same man who mentored and trained Bigsby. “He’s the next guy up at Auburn,” Lester said of Hunter. Fortunately, Lester and Hunter established a relationship last offseason as Bigsby continued to train with Lester. So, when a family member of Hunter’s asked if Lester would work with Hunter, it was easy for Lester to say yes. This offseason, Hunter has trained frequently with Lester — most weeks every Monday and Tuesday. “I felt like he was so dominant as a downhill runner and a power runner last year, the biggest thing we’ve been working on these past few weeks is his open-field moves, pass protection… just things to add to his game,” Lester said. “He’s already probably one of the better running backs I’ve ever worked with.” Considering Lester’s resume, for him to speak so highly of Hunter shouldn’t go unnoticed. In addition to Bigsby, Lester has also worked with former Alabama and current Pittsburgh Steelers’ running back Najee Harris and former Tennessee and current New Orleans Saints’ running back Alvin Kamara. This offseason, Lester is also working with Tennessee running backs Jaylen Wright, Jabari Small and Dylan Sampson, along with Georgia running backs Daijun Edwards and Kendall Milton. What is it that sets Hunter apart from the others? “Mental toughness and effort,” Lester said. “Those two things you cannot coach. And those are two things that both Hunter and Tank both have.” Surely, with a coaching change in the middle of the season, Hunter was forced to tap into his mental toughness. Yet despite the roller-coaster-of-a-season in 2022, Hunter still posted strong numbers as Bigsby’s backup. During his sophomore campaign last fall, Hunter rushed for 675 yards and seven touchdowns. He averaged 6.5 yards per carry. Dangerous downhill and between the tackles, Hunter came into the offseason wanting to develop his lateral movement. “He’ll tell you the same thing, his lateral movement has gotten a lot better. He’s gotten a lot more comfortable with making open-field moves,” Lester said. “Because he’s so much stronger and bigger than most of the players on the field, he doesn’t have to use that often, but he felt like that was part of his game that has really elevated over the last few weeks.” With Lester supplementing the foundation Auburn associate head coach and running backs coach Cadillac Williams built in Hunter, the junior tailback sounds primed for a breakout season with the Tigers. Lester expects Hunter’s season could come in the shape of 1,500 to 1,600 rushing yards. “That’s something that’s more than attainable, especially with Coach (Hugh) Freeze,” Lester said. “When people talk about Coach Freeze, they talk about throwing the football. But from what I’ve seen in the past years, when he has solid running backs, he really likes to establish the run game.” As the football season rapidly approaches, there’s a lot of buzz surrounding Hunter’s potential. Earlier in the offseason, Freeze called Hunter the best running back he’d ever coached. Meanwhile, On3′s Jesse Simonton named Hunter one of the “most intriguing” players in the SEC in 2023. Yet while everyone else is talking about him, Hunter doesn’t have much to say. “It’s funny, he doesn’t really say much. Jarquez, he’s a really quiet person. He’s a very respectful person. It’s yes sir, no sir,” Lester said. “But you can tell he’s hungry for this season. Last year he just had to play the role behind Tank, but now that Tank is gone, he gets his opportunity.”