Depth at Running Back a 'Good Problem' for Alabama Football in 2022

While 2021 saw the Crimson Tide's running back room riddled with injuries, the team is loaded up on solid, healthy talent heading into the upcoming season.

For Alabama football's 2021 season, the running back room quickly developed a major depth problem, but not for lack of talent at the position.

Jase McClellan was the first running back to go down with an ACL injury, with Camar Wheaton quickly following suit with an injury of his own. Roydell Williams also injured his knee against New Mexico State, leaving the Crimson Tide down to two running backs in Brian Robinson Jr. and Trey Sanders.

With Sanders limited in carries for the majority of the season after a car accident during the 2020 season forced him to slowly be eased back into making live contact on the field, the brunt of the work landed on Robinson. While Robinson made the most of it — rushing for 1,392 yards and 14 touchdowns off 271 carries over the course of the season — the injuries left the running back room in a situation where depth was a serious issue.

This year, however, the depth issue looks to be more than just resolved — a point that head coach Nick Saban made during Sunday's fall camp media day.

“It’s good to have depth at that position," Saban said. "It’s a position where we had significant injuries last year. Just let the guys compete. But you compete, and the guy that comes out the best is the guy that has the most opportunities. And that's just how we've always assessed the positions on our team.”

The 2022 Crimson Tide might just have one of the the deepest running back rooms in college football. While Robinson has headed off to the NFL and Wheaton transferred to SMU, the addition of Georgia Tech Jahmyr Gibbs and five-star freshman Emmanuel Henderson certainly help fill the gaps. There's also four-star freshman four-star Jamarion Miller, who had a solid showing at A-Day.

Combine the new duo with returners McClellan, Williams and Sanders, and Alabama is not lacking any talent in the backfield.

Last week, Alabama began fall camp in preparation for the upcoming season. On Sunday, offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien met with reporters and had nothing but praise for his running backs.

"I think that would be the same every single year with different skill guys at all the positions," O'Brien said. "You have to look at what you have, what their skillsets are how you’re going to use them in the offense. At the running back position, we have a lot of talent there. I feel really good about that position with the addition of Jahmyr Gibbs in the offseason and Jace McClellan and Roydell Williams and Trey Sanders coming back. We have Emmanuel Henderson, who’s been added to the mix there.

"Very, very good position. Another position that, like, you can really watch every single day. They compete, but they’re very tight-knit. It’s a fun group to coach and there’s talent there. So we have to do a good job of figuring out, like what you asked, what are these guys doing well when they’re in the game, what are we going to do with them. But that’s a good problem to have. I think that, again, over time it will be proven over the next 20 or 25 practices, as we go through training camp, how we’re going to use those guys."

This season, Alabama has a number of guys that will be fighting for carries. But as O'Brien said, each running back provides a different skillset, and with each player comes a different way to utilize them.

Gibbs brings with him solid speed, quick cuts and versatility due to his abilities as a pass-catcher. According to linebacker Henry To'oTo'o, Gibbs hasn't been making things easy for the defense in practices.

“Jahmyr has been doing great," To'oTo'o said last week. "So fast, so elusive, gets in and out of his cuts so quick. I’ve never guarded a back like him before. Being able to see that has been so helpful to me learning how I can work on my game.

"Jahmyr has been great. Whole running back room has been great. We’re really deep in that room. Competing.”

While Gibbs stands at 5'11", freshman Henderson brings height to the game at 6'1". With being taller, he brings a longer frame that looks to add plenty of bulk during his time at Alabama. His long stride has shown good burst as well as maintaining speed. Combined with dangerous cutbacks, Henderson looks to add to the Crimson Tide's depth even as just a freshman.

The trio of returners in McClellan, Williams and Sanders bring even more talent back. While McClellan played in just five games prior to his injury, he totaled 199 yards and a touchdown off 40 carries while playing backup to Robinson. McClellan was also responsible for one of Alabama's two punt return touchdowns of the season.

Williams had eight more carries than McClellan with 48, rushed for 285 yards and one touchdown. Sanders, while being eased back into the game, finished the season the the second-most carries for the Crimson Tide while rushing for 345 yards and two touchdowns off 72 carries.

With so much depth comes competition, with is something that neither Saban nor O'Brien shy away from. While Gibbs impressed at A-Day back in April and appears to have locked down the starting spot, the competition for second-string continued all throughout the spring and even as of fall camp has yet to be finalized.

"The mixture of all of those guys at that position is very, very good," O'Brien said. "We have to do a good job as a coaching staff — that’s another coach, Coach [Robert] Gillespie, that does a great job coaching that position — and we have to do a great job of making sure we’re doing things that suit their skillsets because they’re all a little bit different. But that’s, like I said before, that’s really a good thing for our offense.”

At A-Day, Gibbs led all Crimson Tide backs with 100 yards and a touchdown off nine carries, earning him the game's MVP award. Miller had the most carries of any running back with 15 and also finished with the second-most yards with 44.

With reporters unable to view practices this fall camp — and with practice viewings being limited even prior to media not being allowed to attend — it will be difficult to determine just who exactly will emerge as Alabama's second back. While there are stats from A-Day to go off of, the competition in the backfield is strong — and that's a good problem to have for the Crimson Tide.

Increased competition means that the players are mostly all at a high skill level. Outside of Gibbs and the freshmen, the trio of McClellan, Williams and Sanders bring with them not just running back experience, but Alabama, O'Brien and SEC experience as well.

When asked about the difficulties of spreading out carries among a talented backfield, Saban said that his solution is simple: the best players play.

“The plan works if the best players play," Saban said. "We don't have a plan to say ‘Ok, this guy gets this many reps, this guy gets this many reps, this guy’s the best player,’ — then we're going with the best player. And the next best player is going to spell him, and he'll get playing time. If somebody else can contribute in terms of a winning performance, whether that’s on special teams or in a limited role we can create for them, then we’re certainly going to try to do that."