There is no question that Raheim “Rocket” Sanders is the No. 1 option in Arkansas football’s backfield entering the 2023 season.

As a sophomore last season, Sanders made his name well-known on the national stage after he carried the ball 222 times for 1,443 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. Sanders also caught 28 passes for 271 receiving yards and two scores through the air in his second season as a Hog.

For his efforts, the Rockledge, Florida, native picked up AP First-Team All-SEC honors after ranking second in the SEC in rushing yards.

With new offensive coordinator Dan Enos now calling the plays, Sanders might be in for even more work this fall. Enos runs more of a balanced, pro-style offense than former offensive coordinator Kendal Briles did during his three years in Fayetteville.

During Enos’ previous stint with Arkansas, the running back room was consistently just about as strong as it’s shaping up to be in 2023. In Enos’ first year with the Hogs in 2015, Alex Collins ran for 1,577 yards and 20 touchdowns while Kody Walker added 394 rushing yards and six scores.

The next year in 2016, Rawleigh Williams carried the ball 245 times for 1,360 rushing yards and 12 scores. Enos’ last season with the Hogs his first time around was in 2017, when David Williams led all Razorback rushers with 656 yards and eight scores. Devwah Whaley also added a team-best 127 carries for 559 yards and seven touchdowns

With all of that said, it is clear that a workhorse back can thrive in an Enos-ran offense, but it’s also been proven that the No. 2 option can still rack up some significant carries.

Arkansas has two really talented options behind Sanders in junior AJ Green and sophomore Rashod Dubinion, who are the primary candidates for the No. 2 role.

In 2022, Green carried the ball 87 times for 414 yards and three scores. His best outing was the Liberty Bowl win over Kansas — a game that Rocket Sanders exited in the first quarter with an injury. The Tulsa, Oklahoma, native rushed for 101 yards and scored a touchdown against the Jayhawks.

As a freshman last year, Dubinion racked up 293 yards and five touchdowns on 71 carries. Like Green, Dubinion’s best game came against Kansas. The 5-foot-10, 213-pound back rushed 20 times for 112 yards and two scores. Dubinion also caught the go-ahead two-point conversion in the game’s third overtime to put Arkansas ahead 55-53 — the eventual final score after the Razorbacks’ defense made a stop.

Green has been around longer and he has elite speed that he has only shown glimpses of as a Razorback. While Green provided Sanders with more of a breather in 2022 than Dubinion did, it was the latter who was trusted in critical situations more down the stretch.

According to Pro Football Focus, Dubinion graded out just better than Green in 2022 with a 72.2 overall grade compared to Green’s 70.9.

Interestingly enough, Dubinion was more successful with outside rushes, as 157 of his yards (53.6%) came from rushing to the edges or behind either offensive tackle. Green was more effective up the middle as 63.2% of his carries were inside zone runs that resulted in 278 yards.

A very realistic possibility is that Green and Dubinion will just serve as 2a and 2b running backs and truly split a workload behind Sanders for the second straight season.

It also can’t be ruled out that redshirt junior Dominique Johnson could make a comeback after tearing the same ACL twice in as many seasons. Johnson rushed for 575 yards and a team-best seven touchdowns in 2021.

He hasn’t been seen in a Razorback uniform yet, but true freshman Isaiah Augustave is a highly-touted 5.7 three-star prospect out of Naples, Florida, who probably deserved a higher rating. It’s not out of the realm of possibility for the freshman to get carries this fall.

Arkansas will begin its season against Western Carolina on Sept. 2 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed on the SEC Network+ and ESPN+.