All Things CW: Where Does Brian Robinson Jr. Fit Among Nick Saban's All-Time Best Running Backs?

Plus Football Things I Can't Help but Wonder About, 5 Things That Got Our Attention This Week, and Some Surprising Crimson Tide Rushing Statistics.

Brian Robinson Jr. was one of those players that fans had to go out of their way to not root for. 

He grew up in Alabama's back yard, and went to Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa. 

Even though the Crimson Tide was loaded in the backfield, he didn't hesitate to sign with Nick Saban in 2017. 

Robinson then had to wait, and work his way up through the depth chart. He made his biggest early contributions on special teams, followed by two years of backing up Najee Harris, who became Alabama's all-time rushing leader. 

Finally, Robinson got his chance to start during his final season, and he didn't disappoint. 

Robinson registered 14 rushing touchdowns to lead the Southeastern Conference. He was third in the league with 1,343 rushing yards.  

Against Ole Miss, he ran for a career-high 171 rushing yards yards and four touchdowns on 36 carries while becoming one of just nine players in Alabama history to rush for four-plus touchdowns and the first since Trent Richardson in 2011.

Robinson then topped that with 204 rushing yards, the most by an Alabama tailback in a bowl game, on 26 carries for a whopping 7.8 average against Cincinnati in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl.

But where does he fit among the Crimson Tide's greats in terms of legacy, or of players has coached throughout the years?

Crunching the Numbers

How Does Brian Robinson Jr. Stack Up?

TG Paschal/BamaCentral

Over his five-year career with the Crimson Tide, Robinson played in 55 games:

• Rushing: 545 attempts, 2,704 yards (5.0 average), 29 TDs
• Receiving: 52 catches, 446 yards (8.6 average), 2 TDs
• Scrimmage: 597 touches, 3,150 yards (5.3 average), 31 TDs
• Kick returns: 11 returns, 166 yards (15.1 average)  
• Scoring: 186 total points

Alabama Rushing Leaders During Saban Era: Game

T.G. Paschal/Bama Central

Yards, Name, School, Opponent, Season

1. 271 Derrick Henry, at Auburn, 2015
2. 246 Mark Ingram, South Carolina, 2009
3. 236 Derrick Henry, at Texas A&M, 2015
4. 218 Glen Coffee, Kentucky, 2008
5. 210 Derrick Henry, LSU, 2015
6. 206 Najee Harris, at Ole Miss, 2020
7. 204 Brian Robinson, vs. Cincinnati, 2021 (CFP)
8. 204 Derrick Henry, at Mississippi State, 2015
9. 203 Trent Richardson, Auburn, 2011
10. 189 Derrick Henry, Florida, 2015 (SEC) 

Alabama Rushing Leaders During Saban Era: Season

T.G. Paschal/Bama Central

Name, Season, Carries, Yards

1. Derrick Henry, 2015, 395, 2,219
2. Trent Richardson, 2011, 283, 1,1679
3. Mark Ingram, 2009, 271, 1,658
4. Najee Harris, 2020, 251, 1,466
5. Glen Coffee, 2008, 233, 1,383
6. Brian Robinson Jr., 2021, 271, 1,343
7. Eddie Lacy, 2012, 204, 1,322
8. T.J. Yeldon, 2013, 207, 1,235
9. Najee Harris, 2019, 209, 1,224
10. T.J. Yeldon, 2012, 175, 1,108

Alabama Rushing Leaders During Saban Era: Career

Alabama Athletics

Name, Seaons, Carries, Yards

1. Najee Harris, 2017-21, 3,843
2. Derrick Henry, 2013-15, 3,591
3. T.J. Yeldon, 2012-14, 3,322
4. Mark Ingram, 2008-10, 3,261
5. Trent Richardson, 2009-11, 3,130
6. Damien Harris, 2015-18, 3,070
7. Brian Robinson Jr., 2017-21, 545, 2,704
8. Eddie Lacy, 2010-12, 2,402
9. Glen Coffee, 2007-08, 1,928
10. Jalen Hurts, 2016-18, 1,976

All-Time Saban-Coached Rushing Leaders: Game

Butch Dill-USA TODAY Sports

Name, School, Opponent, Season, Yards

1. Derrick Henry, Alabama at Auburn, 2015, 271
2. Alley Broussard, LSU vs. Ole Miss, 2004, 250
3. Mark Ingram II, Alabama vs. South Carolina, 2009, 246
4. Sedrick Irvin, Michigan State vs. Penn State, 1997, 238
5. Derrick Henry, Alabama at Texas A&M, 2015, 236
6. Marc Renaud, Michigan State vs. Minnesota, 1995, 229
7. Glen Coffee, Alabama vs. Kentucky, 2008, 218
8. Derrick Henry, Alabama vs. LSU, 2015, 210
9. Brian Robinson, vs. Cincinnati, 2021 (CFP), 204
10. Derrick Henry, Alabama at Mississippi State, 2015, 204

Also

• Trent Richardson, Alabama at Auburn, 2011, 203
• Justin Vincent, LSU vs. Georgia, 2003, 201 

All-Time Saban-Coached Rushing Leaders: Season

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Name, School, Season, Carries, Yards

1. Derrick Henry, Alabama, 2015, 395, 2,219
2. Trent Richardson, Alabama, 2011, 283, 1,679
3. Mark Ingram, Alabama, 2009, 271, 1,658
4. Najee Harris, 2020, 251, 1,466
5. Glen Coffee, Alabama, 2008, 233, 1,383
6. Brian Robinson Jr., 2021, 271, 1,343
7. Eddie Lacy, Alabama, 2012, 204, 1,322
8. Sedrick Irvin, Michigan State, 1997, 246, 1,270
9. T.J. Yeldon, Alabama, 2013, 207, 1,246
10. Najee Harris, 2019, 209, 1,224

Also

• Sedrick Irvin, Michigan State, 1998, 272, 1,167
• T.J. Yeldon, Alabama, 2012, 175, 1,108
• Sedrick Irvin, Michigan State, 1996, 237, 1,067 

All-Time Saban-Coached Rushing Leaders: Career

T.G. Paschal/BamaCentral

Name, School, Seasons, Carries, Yards

1. Najee Harris, 2017-21, 638, 3,843
2. Derrick Henry, Alabama, 2013-15, 602, 3,591
3. Sedrick Irvin, Michigan State, 1996-98, 755, 3,504
4. T.J. Yeldon, Alabama, 2012-14, 3,322
5. Mark Ingram II, Alabama, 2008-10, 572, 3,281
6. Trent Richardson, Alabama, 2009-11, 540, 3,130 
7. Damien Harris, 2015-18, 477, 3,070
8. Brian Robinson Jr., 2017-21, 545, 2,704
9. Eddie Lacy, Alabama, 2010-12, 355, 2,402
10. LaBrandon Toefield, LSU, 2000-02, 511, 2,149  

Robinson's numbers are more than respectable, especially considering his peers in this case. Some will want to knock him because Alabama had switched to a pass-first offense, but you didn't see many people make that claim about Najee Harris a year ago.

After being a first-round draft selection he simply had an amazing season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and broke Franco Harris' rookie rushing record.  

Robinson won't be a first-round pick, but he'll be a valuable asset to an NFL team. Moreover, he'll always be embraced by the Crimson Tide faithful. 

Yes, More Numbers

Some more interesting notes about Alabama running backs in general:

• There have been 62 Crimson Tide players to top 1,000 rushing yards during their career. Only 14 have topped 2,500 rushing yards, including Robinson.

• Bobby Humphrey, and not Najee Harris, still holds the Alabama record for career all-purpose yards with 4,958. Henry has the season record with 2,310, while only three other players have topped 2,000: DeVonta Smith, 2,151 in 2020, Richardson, 2,083, and Humphrey 2,016, 1986. Keep that Smith statistic in your back pocket for the next Heisman Trophy debate. 

• Bobby Marlow had the best average per rushing attempt during a season at 7.5 in 1950. However, he no longer holds the career record of 6.27, which was topped by Damien Harris finishing at 6.44. He had the second- and third-best seasons with a minimum of 100 carries at 7.4 in 2017 and 7.1 in 2016. Derrick Henry finished his career with a 6.0 average.  

• In terms of honors, Richardson was the first Alabama player to win the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best running back, and not Ingram. Toby Gerhart of Stanford won the Doak Walker in 2009, with Mark Ingram II edging him out for the Heisman. 

• Shaun Alexander still holds the Crimson Tide mark for most career carries with 727, ahead of Kenneth Darby (702), Najee Harris (638), Humphrey (615) and Dennis Riddle (612). Henry is actually sixth with 602. Also in the bottom half of the top 10 are three players from the Saban era: T.J. Yeldon (576), Ingram (572) and Richardson (540).   

5 Things I Can't Help But Wonder

Ok, it's only February, but still:

1. Which team will be picked last in the SEC West?

2. Which team will actually finish in the division cellar?

3. Will things get nasty with the Big 12? 

I can't help but wonder after reading Ross Dellenger's piece on SI.com about Conference USA's uncoupling with Old Dominion, Marshall and Southern Miss that's becoming messy. If you missed it, the three schools said they're leaving for the Sun Belt for next season and the conference basically ignored them and released the football schedule. “A case like this has the chance to get very nasty, very quickly, as there are few if any settlement options other than the conference agreeing not to enforce their rules, which I doubt they will do," said Gregg Clifton, an expert in sports law based in Arizona. 

Both sides are lawyering up, but if Conference USA has any success with this how long do you think it'll take someone in Texas, or the state legislature, to try something desperate? 

4. What will be the next big college football twist? 

Here's one to keep an eye on. Front Office Sports is quoting sources as saying NBC Sports "is expected to make a major push" for Big Ten media rights, which are set to expire in 2023. It feels the combination of the Big Ten with its existing deal with Notre Dame has the potential to change the college football landscape. 

The Big Ten is currently in an exclusive negotiating period with ESPN, Sports Business Journal reported.

5. Welcome to the state that's both proactive and reactive with NIL

In case you missed it, Alabama, which hailed itself as being at the forefront of states forcing NIL change (a claim that's debatable), became the first to officially repeal its state's NIL law on February 3.

The thinking was that the NCAA's NIL policy was less restrictive than the legislation that was passed, which actually put its schools at a disadvantage.

5 Things That Got Our Attention This Week

Greg Sankey commented on NIL and SEC division format

Southeastern Conference

The SEC Commissioner shared thoughts on NIL's impact on coaching competition while making an appearance on the Paul Finebaum Show:

"Our coaches are dealing with a different reality and that creates discomfort, it creates stress, it creates commentary, but our coaches still work incredibly hard. They're subject to state laws, they're attentive to those, they work with their compliance offices so simply suggesting whether it's coach A or coach B that while the only reason somebody had recruiting success is because of Name, Image, Likeness that's not actually a fully-formed opinion. At the same time, it is a dynamic in recruiting now."

As for the future of conference divisions in college football, he believes the single-division format would need to be "carefully considered" with the key issue being how the conference championship game is determined. 

"It's interesting that those who want to change that aspect quickly that ties directly into the postseason don't want to look at the postseason and try to address those issues in a timely fashion. Let's have this single-division dialogue but let's not cram it into 30 days."

Now this is home-field advantage

Joey Blackwell, BamaCentral

Mississippi State set a new baseball season ticket sales record at 13,039 "and counting."

Imagine how many more seats may get sold if the Major League Baseball lockout continues.

Ah, but what about the football factor?

Alabama Athletics

According to a report by Julie Jargon of the Wall Street Journal, college students have forgotten how to talk to one another. 

“In a prolonged pandemic that has shifted more interactions online, college students are finding it harder to strike up conversations and make friends. In the past, socializing wasn’t just a perk but also a big incentive for students choosing campus life.” 

This on top of being part of a generation that is more engrossed in their phones and tablets. 

College instructors, Jargon continues, “worry that if they don’t do something to facilitate conversation in class, their students will be unprepared to enter the workforce. To overcome screen-reinforced social awkwardness, some even lean on smartphones and web browsers to encourage students to interact.” 

The Alliance May Not Be So Allied

It looks like the scheduling agreements that were touted as being the heart and soul of the The Alliance between the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 may not happen after all.

 Per Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith, the Big Ten wants to keep having nine conference games. “When we first started The Alliance, there was a little bit about scheduling and that kind of shifted," he said during a press conference. "We had the eight versus nine (conference games) conversation more intensely at that time with the thought that if we played eight, would there be an ACC or Pac-12 school that we might play? But we moved away from that pretty quickly because many of us felt like nine games was still right for us. We thought that conference contests, from a TV partner point of view, were just as valuable. We decided to kind of walk away from that a little bit. That doesn’t mean it might not come back up … The value of The Alliance was just bringing together schools that think alike.”

When asked about keeping up with the Southeastern Conference, Smith responded that Big Ten’s focus is more squarely on what it needs to do for itself, adding: “It’s rare that we compare ourselves to even the ACC or the Pac-12. The Alliance, if we were just looking at TV value, we’re more valuable to the ACC or the Pac-12 than they are to us."

Playoff games in the snow? Not so fast

Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch

Smith also commented on the College Football Playoff, and said he expects it to eventually expand to 12 teams: "I hope we get there because I think it's a cool thing, I really do." 

However, the idea of having playoff games in the snow, especially if a Big Ten team earns a top seeding and home-field advantage for a game or more? Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen. 

"I know our fans rally around that, and they'd like to host Alabama up here," he said. "But now we have the flexibility to move into domes. Now we can move into (Lucas Oil Stadium) or Ford Field (in Detroit) or Minneapolis or whatever if we ended up hosting. And I think that that's important, because who knows what the inclement weather could be like at that time of year in any of our places in the north. So we need that flexibility."

Did You Notice?

• Coach Bryan Harsin Is Staying at Auburn, But Now Faces Impossible Task

• 2022 NFL Draft Rankings: Prospect Big Board and Profiles

• Report: Arch Manning Adds UF, LSU to List of Schools Under Consideration

• The Magic Eight: One of These Teams Will Win the 2022 Men’s NCAA Tournament

Christopher Walsh's notes column All Things CW appears every week on BamaCentral.