This seems to be an age old refrain with these talented athletes. You have to be a complete player to consistently see the field at Alabama. Running the ball is just a portion of your duties. Protection schemes and blocking make up a lot. If he can do those things this year then they can't keep him off the field. He can workout and lift as many weights as he'd like, but the real test is getting in the playbook and learning those schemes - showing you can pickup blitzes. Everybody knows he can run the ball - that's why they recruited him. If being consistent in pass-pro kept Derrick Henry, the Heisman winning RB with a bevy of other records to his name, off the field, it'll keep Najee off the field as well.
That sounds promising! Tua is getting all the Heisman hype, but I could easily see Najee being the best chance we have at a Heisman over the next 2-3 years. This year will probably be a wash since he'll be splitting time with Damien, but I wouldn't sleep on him winning it in 2019.
Saban is going to keep doing what he has always done. I don't see this rule effecting Alabama at all. You were losing grad transfers before, but only role players who wanted to become starters. That will continue to happen, but not with any greater frequency.
And as much as we could be hurt by it we can also benefit from it. Players can leave but we can recruit other disgruntled talented players as well. I don't know whether there will be an uptick or not but I think it'll balance out either way.
On top of that, Najee's a beast receiving out of the backfield. I believe the threat of him breaking big runs will also cause linebackers to play too close to the line and open up lanes for him to blow past the defense while running routes. Add on the threat of Tua's deep balls keeping DB's from cheating up, and it opens a lot of big play opportunities for him
