Alabama will look to repeat as national champions this year as it aims to add a 19th title to its trophy case. The Crimson Tide opens its season on Sept. 4 against Miami inside Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. To help pass the time until then, BamaInsider is delving into 21 topics and questions concerning the 2021 season.
Today we continue our series by taking a look at how Alabama will distribute its carries in the backfield this year.
For the first time since 2015, a running back not named Harris will lead Alabama in rushing. The Crimson Tide leaned on Najee Harris as its bell-cow back the past two seasons after seeing Damien Harris head up a committee of backs the previous three years. With both five-star Harris’ now in the NFL, the Tide will need to find a new formula as it hopes to maintain a rushing attack that has averaged 5.0 or more yards per carry the past five seasons.
Fortunately for Alabama, it has a lot to work with.
Fifth-year senior Brian Robinson Jr. elected to take advantage of the NCAA’s blanket eligibility this season, giving him an overdue opportunity to lead the unit. The Tide will also see the return of Trey Sanders, who suffered season-ending injuries the past two years, as well as Keilan Robinson, who opted out last season. In addition, Alabama has a trio of talented sophomores in Jase McClellan, Roydell Williams and Kyle Edwards and is set to bring in the top running back in this year’s class in Camar Wheaton.
All seven of Alabama’s scholarship backs were ranked as either four- or five-star recruits coming out of high school, giving the Tide perhaps the deepest unit in the nation. The only question now is how first-year offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien plans to distribute the ball.
In past years, Alabama has varied in how it spreads out carries in the backfield. During Derrick Henry’s Heisman-winning season in 2015, the workhorse back carried the ball a whopping 395 times, roughly 61.5 percent of the Tide’s rushing attempts that year. The next three seasons, Alabama utilized a running back by committee as the Tide’s top back never received more than 26.2 percent of the workload. That distribution changed again the past two seasons with Najee Harris as last year’s Doak Walker Award winner earned 52.6 percent of Alabama’s carries last season and 47.9 percent of the attempts in 2019.
The chart above provides us with a look at how Alabama has handled its distribution in the past. In the “bell-cow'' model used with Najee Harris the past two seasons, the lead back received nearly half of the team’s carries while the No. 2 back carried the ball roughly 20 percent of the time. The drop off came in the third back, who received less than 10 percent of the attempts in each of the two years.
The 2016 and 2017 distributions are a bit skewed as quarterback Jalen Hurts served as the Tide’s leading rusher both of those seasons, taking away carries from the running back unit. While this year’s quarterback, Bryce Young, also possess dual-threat abilities, it’s likelier that any sort of running back by committee model would look a bit more like 2018 when the lead back received 26.2 percent of the carries while the No. 2 and No. 3 backs carried the ball roughly 20 percent of the time.
The model Alabama decides to use this season will likely depend on how Brian Robinson starts the year. If the senior displays the same dominance as Najee Harris did last season, it will be hard to take the ball out of his hands — especially given his experience. Three of the four first-round running backs drafted under Nick Saban had at least one 200-carry season at Alabama before moving on to the next level. It wouldn’t be surprising if Brian Robinson is angling for a similar workload as he looks to improve his draft stock with a breakout season.
If the level of play in the backfield is more balanced this season, Alabama will likely take advantage of its immense depth by using as many as four backs in its rotation.
Assuming the setup is reminiscent of 2018, Brian Robinson could be handed roughly 25 percent of the workload while Keilan Robinson and Jase McClellan could each net 20 percent of the carries. That would allow Alabama to ease Sanders back from injury by giving him somewhere between 8-10 percent of the workload.
It’s also worth noting that Williams is coming off a solid spring and could fight for a bigger role this coming season. If he emerges into a sizable threat, Alabama could elect to utilize Keilan Robinson as more of a receiving option. Sanders’ injury status could also come into play, potentially opening up more carries for Williams.
Today we continue our series by taking a look at how Alabama will distribute its carries in the backfield this year.
For the first time since 2015, a running back not named Harris will lead Alabama in rushing. The Crimson Tide leaned on Najee Harris as its bell-cow back the past two seasons after seeing Damien Harris head up a committee of backs the previous three years. With both five-star Harris’ now in the NFL, the Tide will need to find a new formula as it hopes to maintain a rushing attack that has averaged 5.0 or more yards per carry the past five seasons.
Fortunately for Alabama, it has a lot to work with.
Fifth-year senior Brian Robinson Jr. elected to take advantage of the NCAA’s blanket eligibility this season, giving him an overdue opportunity to lead the unit. The Tide will also see the return of Trey Sanders, who suffered season-ending injuries the past two years, as well as Keilan Robinson, who opted out last season. In addition, Alabama has a trio of talented sophomores in Jase McClellan, Roydell Williams and Kyle Edwards and is set to bring in the top running back in this year’s class in Camar Wheaton.
All seven of Alabama’s scholarship backs were ranked as either four- or five-star recruits coming out of high school, giving the Tide perhaps the deepest unit in the nation. The only question now is how first-year offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien plans to distribute the ball.
In past years, Alabama has varied in how it spreads out carries in the backfield. During Derrick Henry’s Heisman-winning season in 2015, the workhorse back carried the ball a whopping 395 times, roughly 61.5 percent of the Tide’s rushing attempts that year. The next three seasons, Alabama utilized a running back by committee as the Tide’s top back never received more than 26.2 percent of the workload. That distribution changed again the past two seasons with Najee Harris as last year’s Doak Walker Award winner earned 52.6 percent of Alabama’s carries last season and 47.9 percent of the attempts in 2019.
The chart above provides us with a look at how Alabama has handled its distribution in the past. In the “bell-cow'' model used with Najee Harris the past two seasons, the lead back received nearly half of the team’s carries while the No. 2 back carried the ball roughly 20 percent of the time. The drop off came in the third back, who received less than 10 percent of the attempts in each of the two years.
The 2016 and 2017 distributions are a bit skewed as quarterback Jalen Hurts served as the Tide’s leading rusher both of those seasons, taking away carries from the running back unit. While this year’s quarterback, Bryce Young, also possess dual-threat abilities, it’s likelier that any sort of running back by committee model would look a bit more like 2018 when the lead back received 26.2 percent of the carries while the No. 2 and No. 3 backs carried the ball roughly 20 percent of the time.
The model Alabama decides to use this season will likely depend on how Brian Robinson starts the year. If the senior displays the same dominance as Najee Harris did last season, it will be hard to take the ball out of his hands — especially given his experience. Three of the four first-round running backs drafted under Nick Saban had at least one 200-carry season at Alabama before moving on to the next level. It wouldn’t be surprising if Brian Robinson is angling for a similar workload as he looks to improve his draft stock with a breakout season.
If the level of play in the backfield is more balanced this season, Alabama will likely take advantage of its immense depth by using as many as four backs in its rotation.
Assuming the setup is reminiscent of 2018, Brian Robinson could be handed roughly 25 percent of the workload while Keilan Robinson and Jase McClellan could each net 20 percent of the carries. That would allow Alabama to ease Sanders back from injury by giving him somewhere between 8-10 percent of the workload.
It’s also worth noting that Williams is coming off a solid spring and could fight for a bigger role this coming season. If he emerges into a sizable threat, Alabama could elect to utilize Keilan Robinson as more of a receiving option. Sanders’ injury status could also come into play, potentially opening up more carries for Williams.
