This time a year ago, I had questions: “Are running backs a concern?” and “should we be talking more about this position group?”
The answers then were yes and yes, and they still are now. The new questions to add are “how did we get to this point” and “how can this be fixed?”
The 2025 Alabama running back group was about as bad as have been seen at Bryant-Denny Stadium in a generation. The Crimson Tide finished 125th in the nation in rushing yards per game with a 104.13 average. It is an amazing state of affairs from a program that has recently produced the likes of Derrick Henry, Jahmyr Gibbs, Josh Jacobs, Najee Harris, and Brian Robinson Jr. among others.
From the glass half full side, the Bama did score 21 times on the ground attack which tied for 63rd in FBS. Tide running backs had only two fumbles (by Jam Miller, Daniel Hill), but both were recovered by Alabama.
After turning the page., there was reason for optimism coming into Alabama’s fall camp, but a rash of injuries have stained the good feels.
COACHSPEAKFollowing Alabama’s 10th preseason practice on Monday morning, Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb spoke with the media. One discussion led to the Crimson Tide running backs. He did not single anyone out, but was asked to comment on a few freshmen.
Grubb’s comments on Trae’shawn Brown:
“Man, really, really good empty cut vision, meaning when he gets into a hole, blind cut defenders, he can see and feel that next guy. Very good anticipatory skills. Great out of the backfield. Much better pass protector than people would think. They think because he’s short, but he plays down the middle of defenders. He’s got good feet and he’s a smart kid. So, impressive young player.”
Grubb on EJ Crowell’s injury status:
“EJ is doing great. Sooner than later, he’ll be back. Definitely not season-ending. Fully expecting to be ready for the first football game.”
On how Crowell’s missed time could impact him:
“We don’t know. I mean, to be honest, we don’t know. I mean, I know he’s a really tough kid. That’s all I’ve seen from him, and he absolutely loves football. He’s been an all-in kind of guy. Just super impressed with him. So I’m very optimistic that we’re going to be able to play and have him out there.”
What is Grubb’s message to Brown with other RBs injured?
“Coach G’s (Robert Gillespie) the best, man. He’s a stud. His vision and his coaching style is very consistent. And so, that, I think, just breeds consistency in the room where nothing changes. The standard’s the standard. He keeps guys moving forward. The expectation is next man up. So it just doesn’t turn into this; you don’t give life to the problem. The guys just keep preparing and getting ready. So a lot of credit to Coach G on that one.”
Thoughts on Daniel Hill, Kevin Riley:
“Daniel Hill is, if I was picking guys that have had a lot of growth on this football team, Daniel would be one of the biggest ones. Just not only physically how he’s transformed his body, but just also his maturity, understanding preparation, schematically, his knowledge. I mean, you just hear him lining guys up and intelligent football players. So I just, I think the world of him. He’s put a lot of work into being one of our workhorses. And then Kev, same thing; maturity, knowledge of the offense. He’s a bright kid, consistently trying to work on keeping his weight up. He’s got good twitch, just trying to be a little more heavy-handed in the run game, which I know he’s working on.”
DEPARTEDFormer Alabama RB Jam Miller made his NFL debut for the New England Patriots last night – 14 carries for 55 yards pic.twitter.com/eQ6LnOD5LD
— Alabama Crimson Tide | AL.com (@aldotcomTide) August 14, 2026- Jam Miller – A disappointing season saw him rushing for a team-leading 504 yards. That total represents the lowest single season leading number by an Alabama running back since Chris Anderson tallied 492 over 12 games in 1990. Even so, Miller was selected by the New England Patriots in the seventh round of the NFL Draft. There is good reason to believe that he will make the Pats’ roster in some form.
- Richard Young – After picking up only 234 yards over three seasons, Young transferred to Colorado.
- Dre Washington – Former ULL transfer netted 59 yards and played on special teams, but nothing meaningful. He is out of eligibility.
- Now in his sixth season, running backs coach Robert Gillespie is the most tenured Crimson Tide assistants after DL coach Freddie Roach who is in year 7. It’s a little surprising Gillespie survived the axe in the off-season. The non-Jalen Milroe running game has been historically awful the last two seasons. There is only so much blame that can be put on the offensive line woes. His recruiting prowess is probably what keeps him hanging on. However, he needs a bounce-back performance from his unit this year or his seat could heat up.
- #4 Daniel Hill (Jr. 6’ 1’’/234 – down 10 lbs.) – Started the last three games of the season (UGA – SECCG, Oklahoma – CFP, Indiana – CFP), however, he had limited carries in those games and did not perform so well. His best game came in the regular season loss to Oklahoma in which he carried the ball 15 times and gained 60 yards with two scores. He also caught 5 passes for 37 yards in that match-up, but did have a fumble that was fortunately recovered by teammate Lottie Brooks. He is the most experienced back on the team.
- #6 Kevin Riley (RS-So. 5’ 11’’/198 – up 7 lbs.) – The Northport resident has shown flashes at time but has not done so consistently enough. On 59 rush attempts last fall, he picked up 224 yards and a pair of tuddies. Once again, if you remove the stats from the cupcake games, his stats drop to 40 for 119 – a 2.975 ypc average – with no rushing trips to the end zone. Against non-cupcakes, he pulled in 10 passes for 94 yards (9.4 ypr) including a vital TD grab vs Mizzou (above) across the middle in which he bulled his way across the end zone line. Due to an injury to Jam Miller, he started the ULM and Wisconsin games.
- #0 AK Dear (RS-Fr. 6′ 1”/216) – This Mississippi native was a highly-ranked recruit from the 2025 class and many fans hoped he would be able to help out the ailing running back corps last season. Yet, he had only 19 carries for 140 yards with 3 TDs. Subtract the ULM and Eastern Illinois games and his numbers were 5 rushes for 19 yards with no scores and one six yard reception. It would have to be assumed that the reason for his lack of playing time was based on other aspects of his game such as pass blocking which may have not been as honed as of yet. This year, the young hopeful was cursed by the touch of Loki – the god of mischief, trickery, deception, and untimely football injuries. In last Thursday’s preseason scrimmage of 100-plus plays, Dear was looking fantastic with several good runs and scoring a touchdown in the game-like practice. But then he came up lame and had to be helped off the field with the dreaded “lower-leg injury”. Reports have it that the current timetable for Dear is roughly six weeks. “It was unfortunate because he was having a real nice scrimmage there with the touches he got,” Kalen DeBoer told reporters. That timetable would roughly have him back in time for the Georgia game, 🤞 though nothing is guaranteed.
- #20 Khalifa Keith (Sr. 6′ 1”/232 Tennessee > Appalachian State) – The Birmingham-native (Parker HS) has 129 yards over three seasons. He is basically a depth piece and maybe work on special teams.
EJ Crowell
Jackson HS
Alabama commit
350 yard rushing yards four touchdowns in road playoff win at Handley. https://t.co/CLXxwCggeO
pic.twitter.com/W6NNCQALZC
- #13 Ezavier“EJ” Crowell (5′ 11” 224, Jackson, AL) – The 2025 Alabama Mr. Football winner rushed for 2,632 yards and 35 touchdowns this past high school season. As a 5-star prospect, he graduated early in order to reclassify and join the Crimson Tide in January. Unlike his teammate Ryan “He’s Only 17” Williams, Crowell has surpassed his 18th birthday. Unfortunately, he has already battled a slew of nagging injuries. He was sidelined for the majority of spring practices and missed all spring scrimmages—including the A-Day. Grubb downplayed the situation att he time as a “soft tissue” injury and added that the move was precautionary. Fast forward to fall camp and here we are again with the freshman on the shelf. This time, Grubb stated that Crowell is “doing great” and that his injury is “definitely not season-ending.” It’s fine that the staff wants him to heal up before the season starts, but this kid needs reps before staring down FBS defenders. The last time he was in an official game was eight months ago against Division 4A high schoolers. He is expected to be available for Alabama’s season opener against East Carolina.
Back in the Crib 🏟️
BTS at Bama Fall Camp: Presented by @TMobile. Best network in the game. Best network in America. pic.twitter.com/gkHGRWHhND
Watch #17 in the above video. ↑
- #17 Trae’shawn Brown (5′ 10”/206, Huntsville, TX) – This story is starting to have some real Josh Jacobs vibes – and not just because they are roughly the same size. Brown was pretty much an unknown prospect who did not even have a ranking by 247sports at the time of his December commitment. He had a fine senior season, rushing for 1,362 yards and 17 TDs on 8.3 yards per carry, but could not get eyeballs on him. He was not able to attend any high school camps outside of the Houston area and thus did not get a lot of notice. College Station is less than an hour’s drive away from his hometown and he received no attention from Texas A&M. Brown had offers from Arkansas State, Navy, New Mexico State, Texas State, UTEP, North Texas, and Boise. He was planning on signing with the Broncos, who offered him in late November, when Alabama came swooping in just before Signing Day. He is a tough runner who does not go down easily. This guy could be a breakout star. Gillespie was the primary recruiter but most of the credit should probably go to GM Courtney Morgan and Director of Recruiting Jatavis Sanders.
- During the 2026 Transfer Portal season, it appeared that the Crimson Tide had found the answer to their prayers at running back when NC State’s Hollywood Smothers committed to transfer to Alabama. But then the oil money of the Texas Longhorns swept him off to Austin. Smothers had 939 rushing yards and 6 TDs for the Wolfpack last season. More importantly, he did it on 5.9 yards per carry which blows away any average of Tide running backs over the last three campaigns.
- So… on to the next best guy. Right? Wrong. In a baffling move, the Tide staff decided it was Smothers or nobody. As if he was a luxury and not a need? Bama clearly had money budgeted for him. It is confusing why they could not go after someone else. [No, Khalifa Keith does not count. That is a guy who just wanted to come home for his senior season and he probably is not getting much NIL if any at all. Last year, the Tide staff made a similar move, picking up Dre Washington who was the third choice for ULL. The lack of shoring up the running back corps the last two years through the transfer portal is a bit baffling.]
- #25 J’Alan Terry (6′ 0”/190, Gadsden, AL) – 3-star
- #36 TC Washington (5′ 11”/220, Kennesaw, GA) – unranked
Again, here we may have the strong possibility of auditions spilling over into the regular season. It probably does not matter who starts against East Carolina on Sept 5. Several of the Tide backs should get touches in that Game 1 and perhaps in Game 2 against Kentucky as well. By then, someone should emerge.
At Monday morning’s practice, the running back line consisted of Daniel Hill, Kevin Riley, Trae’shawn Brown, Khalifa Keith and J’Alan Terry. Leaving Dear out of the discussion for now, it seems like Hill will be the starter heading into Game 1 versus the Pirates with Riley being the second back to enter the game. This is probably due to experience more than anything else. It feels like Brown has earned the number three spot over Crowell.
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