UA could add a graduate transfer running back to bolster depth, experience
Nick Saban signed two running backs in his 2016 recruiting class that provide some much-needed depth for his backfield but not much in the way of experience.
It’s true that B.J. Emmons ranked was the nation’s top running back and Joshua Jacobs from Tulsa, Okla., was a signing-day surprise. Both were needs for Alabama’s depth chart, but what is lacking from a backfield known for names like Ingram, Richardson, Lacy, Yeldon and Henry is a back that has any significant playing time in meaningful situations.
Of the 548 total rushing attempts by running backs in 2015, UA returns just 76 or 13.9 percent, and nearly, if not all, of those carries came after the offense had the game well in hand.Sophomore-to-be Damien Harris led the way with 46 carries for 157 yards (3.4 yards per carry) and one touchdown, which includes a 41-yard rush.
His classmate Bo Scarbrough comes with his own sort of mythology thanks to his size, build and speed. Yet he carried the ball only 18 times during his freshman season for a total of 104 yards (5.8 yards per carry) and one touchdowns with a long rush of 24 yards.
To address the lack of relative experience at running back Saban doesn’t rule out recruiting a graduate transfer player to help along the less-experienced backs.
"Well, I think we're always looking for good players,” Saban said. “I'm pleased (with the running backs in the 2016 recruiting class), but we're always looking for good players. And it seems with these graduate transfers, just looking at the history of it, there seems like there are more skill guys, receivers, running backs that do that type of things.
“So we'll probably be on the lookout for the next best player we can find, whether it's somebody that didn't sign on signing day or someone who is out there looking for an opportunity.”
Two running backs that fit that description are Stanford’s Barry Sanders Jr. and Michigan’s Derrick Green. Both were recruited out of high school by Alabama, both graduate this spring and both have expressed interest in transferring.
Green, a five-star rated rusher out of high school, was buried on the Wolverines’ depth chart in 2015 as a junior. He compiled 157 yards on 47 rushes in 2015 after a promising sophomore season that was derailed by a shoulder injury in which he rushed for 471 yards on 82 carries in six games.
Sanders Jr. is on schedule to graduate in June. During his three-year career he rushed for 701 yards and four touchdowns on 117 carries, serving as a back-up to Heisman Trophy finalist Christian McCaffrey this past season.
Then there are Emmons and Jacobs, but relying heavily upon freshmen is never big on any coach’s wish list, especially freshmen that don’t arrive on campus until the summer.
Jacobs was only truly discovered as a potential recruit after Alabama’s national championship win.
“He played a lot of, I guess people would be able to relate to wildcat quarterback…but he’s got really good quickness, he’s got great speed, he’s got good hands. Just very, very impressive to the point that we go up and see him, and [coach] Burton [Burns] calls back and says, we thought something was wrong with the guy maybe he’s too small or whatever, and he said ‘No, this is a pretty good looking guy and I watched him practice basketball and he’s very athletic and very explosive’ and I said ‘Well there’s got to be something wrong with the guy.’
“I know quite a few people offered him late. We were in need, we were searching. We wanted to make sure that we got two running backs. We only had a had a couple three guys on scholarship and that’s the least we ever had at that position, and nobody coming back that has significant experience.”
Reach Aaron Suttles at aaron@tidesports.com or at 205-722-0229.