Eight tailbacks and one football doesn’t seem like math that would work, but Alabama coach Nick Saban does not believe he has overcrowding at that position.
The Crimson Tide return sophomores T.J. Yeldon and Kenyan Drake, redshirt junior Jalston Fowler and redshirt sophomore Dee Hart from the 2012 BCS championship team. This past Wednesday, Alabama signed Derrick Henry of Yulee, Fla.; Alvin Kamara of Norcross, Ga.; Altee Tenpenny of North Little Rock, Ark.; and Tyren Jones of Marietta, Ga.
“I don’t really see how we have a stacked group at running back,” Saban said Wednesday, when he addressed his fifth top-ranked recruiting class in the last six years. “We have one guy coming back that rushed for a thousand yards. We have another guy that carried the ball a few times as a freshman and two guys that got hurt and may or may not be able to come back and play that position very well.
“To me, to have really good depth at running back, you need five really good players.”
Yeldon rushed for 1,108 yards and 6.3 yards a carry last season, while Drake had 281 yards and averaged 6.7 yards a carry. Fowler tore an ACL in the second game last season against Western Kentucky, and Hart tore an ACL in the fifth game against Ole Miss.