Link: Joshua Jacobs, The Secret Is Out.

His vision, moves, and general savvy.... I think it`s safe to say Josh can flat tote the rock.

I have a tongue in cheek nickname, 2 star-J.

This guy was on zero radar as a 5' 8" RB Junior in an area that had not produced big time recruits in years. Remember players are recruited and scouted mainly during their junior year. Jacobs is moved to a wildcat QB and grows to 5-11 between his Junior and senior year and the rest is history after teams only noticed him late senior year. Like Ingram he was a 3 star RB at the end but should have been a 5 star.

Burns saw him playing basketball and looked further. This is an Arenas type situation. To me? He has the traits of a modern NFL back. Hit the hole with authority and shift still running at 90%. I have seen enough to know he is a very special back. We have 3 #1 in the country 5 star backs and 2 star-J. Jacobs is the man. And all great bama backs let you know this out the gate. And he is built like a prototypical Saban back, like Ingram and Trent.

Sabanizer said:

I have a tongue in cheek nickname, 2 star-J.

This guy was on zero radar as a 5' 8" RB Junior in an area that had not produced big time recruits in years. Remember players are recruited and scouted mainly during their junior year. Jacobs is moved to a wildcat QB and grows to 5-11 between his Junior and senior year and the rest is history after teams only noticed him late senior year. Like Ingram he was a 3 star RB at the end but should have been a 5 star.

Burns saw him playing basketball and looked further. This is an Arenas type situation. To me? He has the traits of a modern NFL back. Hit the hole with authority and shift still running at 90%. I have seen enough to know he is a very special back. We have 3 #1 in the country 5 star backs and 2 star-J. Jacobs is the man. And all great bama backs let you know this out the gate. And he is built like a prototypical Saban back, like Ingram and Trent.

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I love, love, love the nickname. I hope it sticks!

I love this guy, because it reminds me of how obnoxiously wrong so many of our (I hate to use this overused cliche) "haters" have been. I saw a comment on Facebook during the Barnett transfer fiasco, and somebody made the comment that this is "payback to Saban for only stockpiling top talent, and leaving no playing time for all of our quality athletes." This "genius" said that there would be many more of these types of transfers because "top shelf kids are tired of getting no opportunities for playing time."

For one thing, even if that were true, what a great problem to have! We have too much talent and we can't play everyone... who wouldn't want that problem?

Secondly, Josh Jacobs is living proof that the coaching staff doesn't get "stars-struck," they couldn't care less about the highschool hype. It's still a talent evaluation process where determinations are made by hundreds of hours of scouting. It also proves that a guy, no matter how young or green they are, still has every opportunity to compete for playing time against their peers. Here Jacobs is the lowest ranked RB on our roster, and he's getting as many if not more carries than those who were ranked higher. He's also outperforming them all.

It's this type of player who we built our dynasty on. Not just the Top 10, blue-chip recruits, but the little guys who have a blue-chip on their shoulder from being overlooked.

I really hope Jacobs stays humble and hungry. If he does, he has the potential to be a truly dangerous back in this conference. I love being a Bama fan, y'all. I do hope every one of our fans realizes what a spectacular time it is we live in. We can't take this for granted.

Roll Tide!


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You do not see many backs look this strong as TF. Many look like they are reset back to being freshman in HS, and others just make the leap. It's hard to tell because you have to grade the competition in HS, but that is a time consuming. It is impossible to be an accurate scout because of all the variables. Henry was not rated the #1 back because he played against lesser talent........so you do not know how he would have fared against tougher defenses. And is why players in tougher areas are given more credit. Who is to say that Henry or J.J would not have excelled in suburban Atlanta? It is a guess.

Sabanizer said:

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he showed some crazy moves on the screen at 2:37

TIDE-HSV said:

I usually read the opposing team's boards the week before the game and it's surprised me how many of the Hogs are saying that we don't have the dominant RB like in years past. Of course, they haven't really watched us much and he's still blossoming. However, were I in their place, I'd be very, very concerned. Oh well...

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I find that laughable, especially if Damien is ready to go. If Jalen keeps playing like he has, I have no worries. Take care of the ball and we will wear them down.

Jacobs reminds me of Sherman Williams with more power. The speed of his legs after he has some space. Like all Bama freshman than show special talent, It's going to be fun to watch him pfogress after a year under coach Cochran. When Harris gets healthy, we will have our usual one two punch. Injury to Harris aside, I am very pleased with the RB position. I had no idea coming into the season. Jacobs and the improved Harris was very encouraging.
Look for him to be a go to safety valve in the passing game. Like Sherman or Drake, get him in the flats and he will take it 10 to 20 yards,

His hands and blocking are well ahead of most freshman that I have seen. Maybe not so much now, but I expect Kiffin to exploit his talents very soon.

JJ reminds me of Mark so much. Maybe a bit quicker and shiftier than Mark was at the same point. Arkansas will be surprised if all our backs are ready to go. Those guys come in waves. Then they get tired and we hit them with Bo, that would be a sight to behold.


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Sabanizer said:

His hands and blocking are well ahead of most freshman that I have seen. Maybe not so much now, but I expect Kiffin to exploit his talents very soon.

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Yeah, that's one thing I've noticed too. His blocking is probably the best I've seen out of any freshman CNS has had, even Trent.


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I LOVE JJ. He's a BEAST!!!!

When I saw he was on the radar I was hoping we'd offer him immediately. I'm pretty sure we did too. He really looks like he's a hybrid creation of previous backs we've seen. He runs North South like Emmitt and he catches the ball out of backfield like a veteran. Great blocker too. Don't laugh but his quick twitch ability is up there too. Not quite Barry Sanders but IMO the closest we've had in a LONG time. Me thinks he'll be super special when all is said and done.


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He's my favorite player on this year's team. He's got great burst as a runner, is a dual threat as a receiver, and plays very unselfishly. As long as he stays healthy he will have a great career here.

The thing that I like is that fact that he hasn't moved past BJ Emmons because Emmons isn't doing well, Emmons looks just as good in the time I've seen him running. In fact I'm thinking pass blocking is the real reason one is in there more than the other right now. With the wear and tare that running backs take I want to see us be able to let injured players heal. We saw in 2010 a gimped up Richardson and a Mark Ingram trying to play with an injury that would take several years in the NFL for him to truly get past. The results were less than optimal. In my experience total yards is irrelevant to how NFL scouts view running backs. It's all about what they do when they are in the game so 5 carries per game is just as good as 20 on average.

Running Back position is in good hands for a few years. Damien Harris, Josh Jacobs, and B J Emmons all playing well. With Najee Harris coming next year (Dont forget Brian Robinson). Move Scarbrough to HB (FB) and with Jalen's running ability, Yds should be plentiful in our running game behind our talent rich OL. Add in our talent rich WR group and defensive coordinators in the SEC will be pulling their hair out trying to figure out how to stop us. I get all tingly inside just thinking about it. When Jalen starts hitting the long ball we become an unstoppable force.DT_Armataz_02_47: on TideFans.com

Derrick Lassic.


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deliveryman35 said:

He's my favorite player on this year's team. He's got great burst as a runner, is a dual threat as a receiver, and plays very unselfishly. As long as he stays healthy he will have a great career here.

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Jacobs and Harris will make a potent duo. I predict lots of 8 man fronts to try to stop our running game. With continued development, that will be when Hurts eats their lunch.
Maybe some of our receivers will benefit from 1 on 1 coverage... Bubble passes should spread em out and open up the middle for our running game. (I hate Bubble Passes cause they are seldom producers of much yardage, but their job is to open things up.) Kind of like pounding someone in the stomach repeatedly till they drop their guard, then wham... The knock out head shot is coming.

Bamabuzzard said:

He's the model NFL running back in today's game. Though he wasn't highly recruited this cat may only be here three years. Barring injury he's only going to get better and it won't be long before NFL scouts are going to be drooling on this kid.

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I fully expect we will have him only three years.