Auburn signee Mark-Antony Richards reminds Gus Malzahn of Kerryon Johnson

Gus Malzahn NSD phone

Auburn coach Gus Malzahn talks to four-star running back Mark-Antony Richards after Richards announced his decision to sign with the Tigers on National Signing Day.Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics

When Mark-Antony Richards left his official visit to Auburn back in early December, one thing that truly stuck out to the four-star athlete was what the Tigers’ coaches sold him on philosophically.

Richards had yet to officially join Auburn’s 2019 class, but he was excited about how Gus Malzahn planned to incorporate him into the offense.

“All I can say is they have a plan,” Richards said that day.

Fast forward to last week, when Richards chose Auburn on National Signing Day, and Malzahn may have tipped his hand a bit as to how the Tigers plan to utilize the versatile 6-foot-1, 200-pounder out of Wellington, Fla.

“Mark-Antony, I really believe, was the most versatile running back in the country,” Malzahn said. “He can do a lot of different things. He’s a great running back, but he can catch the ball out of the backfield. I know a lot of people were recruiting him to be defensive back and all that. Really reminds me of Kerryon Johnson.”

Of course, the comparisons to Johnson — the 2017 SEC Offensive Player of the Year and second-round NFL Draft pick by the Detroit Lions a year ago — are natural.

Like Richards, Johnson was recruited by many programs as a defensive back as well. Both were dangerous all-purpose weapons for their respective high school teams. Richards amassed more than 3,000 all-purpose yards, including more than 1,300 rushing yards as a senior at Wellington, while Johnson was a two-way star at Madison Academy, winning Alabama’s Mr. Football award in 2015 before enrolling at Auburn. Both also have similar builds.

Richards is also the first top-100 recruit Auburn has signed at running back since Johnson in 2015. Richards is the nation’s No. 90 overall player in the 2019 class, while Johnson was 43rd in his class.

That one worked out pretty well for Auburn, which immediately found a role for Johnson during his freshman campaign, when he had 208 rushing yards and three touchdowns to go with 159 receiving yards and another 386 kick return yards. Johnson, of course, saw his role expand each of the next two seasons, splitting time with Kamryn Pettway in 2016 while rushing for 895 yards and 11 scores before following it up with 1,391 rushing yards, 18 touchdowns, 194 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions as a junior in 2017.

“He can do a lot of different things,” Malzahn said of Richards. “This guy is a real special player. Very excited about Mark-Antony.”

Richards is one of two running backs Auburn signed in the 2019 class, the other being four-star early enrollee D.J. Williams, whose style and skillset varies considerably from that of Richards’. That pairing was by design for Malzahn and his staff as they look to reestablish the Tigers’ once-dominant run game moving forward after a down year in 2018.

“We think we signed two of the best running backs in the entire country,” Malzahn said. “Of course, D.J., he’s different than Mark-Antony, and that’s a good thing. If you looked at our past when we’ve had our best offenses, we’ve had different guys with different skillsets and that way you can put them on the field at the same time if needed. With those two guys combined with what we’ve got coming back, I feel good about the running back position.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

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