There has been no shame in being Alabama's third-string tailback during recent football seasons.
Eddie Lacy backed up Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson in 2010 before going on to rush for 1,322 yards for the Crimson Tide's 2012 national championship team and more than 1,100 yards each of the past two seasons for the Green Bay Packers. Derrick Henry was third behind T.J. Yeldon and Kenyan Drake for most of the 2013 season, but Henry led Alabama in rushing last season and should be among the Southeastern Conference's premier runners in the fall.
Drake is back for his final season after breaking his leg in the fifth game last year at Ole Miss, but it's wide open for the third-team spot after a spring in Tuscaloosa that did as much harm as good at that position.
"We obviously have two guys who have proven around here over time that they are very, very good players," Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said following Saturday's A-Day game. "After the first two guys, there hasn't been a real solid opportunity to have any continuity in the development of the other players. Whether it's the freshman coming in or the players we have now and developing these players, that's where the depth has got to come from."
Freshman Bo Scarbrough, who signed in 2014 but was not eligible until January, was third on the depth chart when he tore his ACL late in the first scrimmage. The timing of his injury has led to uncertainty about the former five-star prospect's availability for the start of the upcoming season.
DeSherrius Flowers, an early enrollee from the 2015 class, was essentially hurt all spring according to Saban, while redshirt freshman Ronnie Clark wasn't 100 percent from the torn Achilles' tendon he sustained last October.
Alabama began this calendar year with three tailbacks from its heralded 2013 class, which contained Henry, Alvin Kamara, Altee Tenpenny and Tyren Jones. Kamara left the program last year and is now at Tennessee, while Tenpenny transferred in January and Jones was dismissed late last month.
"It's unfortunate, because we had some good guys here," Saban said. "They didn't live up to what they were supposed to do, and they're not here anymore."
Alabama's tailbacks combined for just 26 carries at A-Day, with Henry rushing 15 times, Drake and Clark five times each, and Showers once.
The third-team tailback spot could be earned by Damien Harris, the top-rated tailback in the 2015 class out of Berea, Ky. Harris will arrive this summer, when he will join a healthier mix of hopefuls looking to be that next Lacy or Henry.
"We feel comfortable and confident that we can develop the players that we have," Saban said. "We have some explosive players here, and we'll keep working with them."
Saban asked about Miller
Saban spoke in Huntsville on Tuesday night, and he was asked before the meeting if the Crimson Tide could be looking to add a high-profile transfer this summer. Tuesday afternoon, Paul Finebaum of the SEC Network said he had heard there was a chance Alabama could land Ohio State fifth-year senior quarterback Braxton Miller.
Finebaum cited an Alabama source.
"I'm not really allowed to talk about any players on any other teams," Saban told reporters. "I know nothing about any such rumors. I don't even know who you're talking about."
Saban did say if there was somebody out there who he felt could help the program, there is "a spot or two available."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.