At times last season, Steve Sarkisian had to catch himself when dialing up another play for No. 22. Najee Harris’ number was an easy one to call for the offensive coordinator. The five-star playmaker rushed for a team-high 1,224 yards and 13 touchdowns and set Alabama’s single-season mark for most touchdowns receptions by a running back with seven.
Over 13 games, Harris was involved in 535 offensive snaps, more than one and a half times the combined total of the Tide’s next three backs. The only two non-linemen on Alabama’s offense to receive more playing time were receivers DeVonta Smith (626 snaps) and Jerry Jeudy (600 snaps). Neither of those two took quite the same beating as Harris, who touched the football on 44.1 percent of his snaps.
“I think last year was probably one of the first times around here where we leaned so much on one back the way we leaned on Najee, especially the last two-thirds of the season,” Sarkisian said. “I think, ideally, we would like to have a little bit more rotation, so that Najee is maybe a little bit more fresh into the second half.
“We always felt like, ‘Man, it's been how many ever carries and we like to throw the ball to the back,’ and so it's not always the carries, it's the catches, too. I think there is a fine line in finding that rhythm for your lead runner, but also your complementary backs.”
Harris is one of seven scholarship backs on the Tide’s roster along with fellow senior Brian Robinson Jr., sophomore Keilan Robinson, redshirt freshman Trey Sanders and true freshmen Roydell Williams, Jase McClellan and Kyle Edwards.
Keilan Robinson has not been practicing with the team during camp and doesn’t appear to be an option this season. Nevertheless, Alabama’s supporting cast should be able to provide ample relief out of the backfield.
Today we’ll take a look at what each of Alabama’s reserve backs has to offer.
