I think Trey will be 3rd string and get some solid carries and yardage, but Najee and Robinson should take care of business first and foremost.
Predicting a championship: 1000-yard rusher
- Thread starter rgw
- Start date
For whatever reason I get the same feeling about Najee as I did about Bo in that he isn't as dominate as he should be, and will probably be our #2 back at some point of the season. I'm not going to say Trey because I haven't seen him yet, but I think Robinson may be the work horse and the guy with the lionshare of the carries when its all said and done.
FWIW Najee is highly talented, and probably the most talented on the team. But like Bo he doesn't hit the hole hard enough, and cant accept 2 yards might be the best you can get on a given down.
FWIW Najee is highly talented, and probably the most talented on the team. But like Bo he doesn't hit the hole hard enough, and cant accept 2 yards might be the best you can get on a given down.
Its kinda hard not to abandon the run when the other team has 11 in the box. If there is one complaint about Sark's playcalling that night its that he didn't attack Clemson more through the air because they were clearly giving us the pass.
Najee relies too much on juking and jiving, instead of great burst between the tackles. I like him a lot, but I don’t think he’s the prototypical back of the Saban era.
I agree that seems to try to do too much sometimes, but his production doesn't lie. I think/hope that when he's getting more than 7 carries a game he won't feel like he's got to do something special on every play.
His production vs Clemson and Georgia (SECCG) was non existent or wasn't major a factor. Josh Jacobs and Damien Harris were our two best backs by a landslide, but this rb hokey pokey has caught us twice (Auburn 17, and Clemson 19) but yet we still do it. I think Najee is a very talented back, but he looks and plays like Bo without the breakaway speed.
Last edited:
You can remember it how you want to want to remember it, but Najee had only 4 carries against UGA, one of which was a 17 yard run and he had more yards than Damien or Josh against Clemson with only 9 carries.
Najee - 9 carries for 59 yards - long 13 yards
Damien - 11 carries for 57 yards - long 15 yards
Jacobs - 11 carries for 47 yards - long 11 yards
Najee had 19 carries for 119 yards in the postseason this year (6.3 YPC).
I do agree that our coaches sometimes don't allow any of our RB's to get into a rhythm, but to act like Najee wasn't effective simply isn't true.
sometimes stats don't do reality justice. This is one of those times. Najee wasn't #1 or #2 for a reason, just like Damien was ahead of Bo for 2 years. CNS loves MI type backs that hit holes hard, and showcases them over side to side backs for a reason.
Last edited:
Sometimes stats don't support your stance -- and this time may be one of those times....
correct but he also started to hit the hole a lot harder in his final year. Henry years 1 and 2 was totally different than his Heisman year.
There are a lot of reasons that a running back might end up higher on the depth chart. One of those reasons would be things like pass protection. Seniority is a factor as well.
There's been a couple of times Alabama had running backs at the top of the depth chart that were not as good as the ones lower on the depth chart. Is anyone here really going to argue that Yeldon was better than Henry? I think we all know better at this point, considering Henry has been better in both college and the NFL. The flip side is, do you demote your 1,000 yard rusher? That's a hard thing to do.
Hindsight being 20/20 though, and I think you could easily argue that if Alabama had made Henry the #1 running back sooner, they might have had another championship to show for it. The same thing can be argued in this situation. But, it would be a huge step to take the back that's been effective, and does the things asked of him and say alright time to play this other kid.
Remember, Alvin Kamara never saw the field for Alabama. In some ways this is like the Hurts/Tua discussion. If you've got a proven, effective player at the top of the depth chart, it's hard to push them aside for a more inexperienced but perhaps more talented player. That doesn't diminish the talents of the younger guy one bit though.
But remember how much talk there was about Bo Scarbrough in 16 and 17, and how little there was of Damien Harris. You saw thread after thread after thread about how the offense was going to be super because Bo was going to be our back, but Bo wasn't. Why? Its probably a mixture of injury and the fact that Bo wasn't as physical of a runner as Damien, and rarely hit the hole hard like Damien. It was pretty apparent who the more effective back was when we played Ole Miss in 2016 and why Damien was the #1. Bo was more talented than Damien but talent wasn't probably the deciding factor.
My point in this is our #1 runningback is going to probably be the more physical back, and not the most physically gifted.
I have to make my own confession, I've said it before but it has been a while. When Trent arrived I wanted to see him ASAP and I wanted him to be the #1 running back. I saw him as can't miss talent, here's a dominant running back, just give him the ball.
And... Ingram won the Heisman that year. It wasn't that I was wrong about Trent, obviously. Just that Ingram was and still is the more polished running back, even if he never possessed Trent's raw physical skills. So, I get it. In a lot of ways Ingram represents that faction of Alabama running backs that were not just physically freaks, but guys who had better technique.
I've watched a lot of Ingram though, I'm a Saints fan, and he was and always has been an excellent short yardage back. He's not afraid to get 2 or 3 yards if there's no hole, and he'll make a couple if that's what he has to make. Comparing him to Kamara, and if there's no hole Karama might be stopped cold on one play, then magically fly through an invisible opening for 5 the next. Ingram, no hole, he'll get 2 one play and 3 the next.
That level of consistency isn't something all Alabama running backs have been able to replicate. Even Harris, there's a reason Bo had almost as many touchdowns in around half as many carries. Harris is the better open field runner really, but Bo was still better at a guaranteed couple of yards. There's also a reason that Alabama had to run Josh Jacobs in the wildcat in short yardage situations, it's because Harris just never became that type of guy. He's talented, he's physical, but he never really physically imposed his will.
I just really hope Alabama next year has a running back who can get you a guaranteed couple of yards, because they've done far better when they have someone like that.
Last edited:
I am a firm believer in running the ball, time of possession and great defense as the way to win championships. But turnovers will kill you!! 5 turnovers and Ole Miss can beat you! 5 turnovers, 2 int's and 3 stops on downs against a great team like Clemson will get you routed!!
As I said before, I think a lot of that hinges on these guys trying too hard to make big plays because they know they aren't getting many carries. Hopefully Huff coming in will help his game as well. Najee lacks blazing top end speed, but he has knack for seeing holes aren't there. I believe he can be a special back for us.
Latest threads
-
-
-
Political Meme - Cartoon/Joke Thread...Part XX- Started by Bazza
- Replies: 9
-
US Army replacing 5.56mm rifle with a 6.8mm for infantry- Started by Tidewater
- Replies: 6
-
-
Game One of Alabama-Texas A&M Alabama Series Moved to Friday as Part of Doubleheader- Started by Diamond Tide
- Replies: 0