Alabama Football: Kenyan Drake Needs More Touches

Nelson Chenault-US PRESSWIRE

It was a given coming into this season that Alabama Crimson Tide freshman running back Kenyan Drake was going to be redshirted. There was no way Drake had a chance of seeing the field with the guys ahead of him on the depth chart and him not enrolling until the summer.

Alabama already had Eddie Lacy and Jalston Fowler returning from 2011. They also had former five-star recruit Dee Hart returning after recovering from knee surgery, and the much ballyhooed five-star running back from Daphne, TJ Yeldon.

Yeldon having enrolled during the spring would have the leg up on Drake, and he was considered the better prospect as determined by the recruiting circuits.

You could see why during the first game of the season, in Yeldon’s highly anticipated debut against Michigan in Dallas. After turning heads during spring practice, Yeldon burst onto the scene and carved up the Wolverines for 111 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown.

Drake, on the other hand, got one measly carry against the Wolverines, and it occurred on the last play of the game. He gained two yards.

Fast forward to the Western Kentucky game, and Drake was expected to see a little more action against a Hilltoppers team with which the Crimson Tide wasn’t expected to have trouble. It turned out that Drake only got one carry in that game as well. It didn’t matter, because Drake made the most of the one carry by showing his skills and rumbling to the endzone for a 32-yard touchdown.

It was against Arkansas that Drake really got an opportunity to show his ability, and he took full advantage as he led the Crimson Tide in rushing despite carrying the rock just six times. Drake rushed for 57 yards and his second career touchdown in the 52-0 romp of the Hogs.

This time it wasn’t against lower competition or backup players. When Drake was in the game against Arkansas, the Hogs for the most part had their starters still in the game, and Drake was running behind the second team offensive line.

It has been TJ Yeldon that has received all the hype from the media, but Drake has the potential to be special in his own right. You know the big difference between the two? Yeldon enrolled early, and Drake did not. By enrolling early, Yeldon was able to get a firmer grasp of the offense.

And please don’t take this as a slight at TJ Yeldon. It’s not. Yeldon has been spectacular and far deserving of his enormous recruiting hype and all the praise he received after tearing up Michigan on the big stage.

All I’m saying is, where is the praise for the freshman from Powder Springs, Georgia? Did you see him run against Arkansas? Drake has the size, speed, and strength needed to be a running back in the SEC, and he has spectacular field vision, which has been on full display when he has gotten the chance to touch the football.

Drake has the vision to find the hole, and can cut it up at the blink of an eye. Once Drake finds the seam, he has the breakaway speed to outrun defenders as all they see is the back of his jersey as he puts up six points for the Crimson Tide.

He showed a little flash of Trent Richardson against the Hogs. (Fast forward to the 2:02 mark). Drake pulled a Richardson versus Ole Miss move by stopping on a dime with a little stutter step and then taking it the rest of the way into the end zone for a run that captivated Uncle Verne and Gary on CBS.

After three games, Kenyan Drake has rushed for 91 yards on 8 carries (11.4 YPC) and a pair of touchdowns. He has the highest yards per carry average of any of the Tide’s running backs.

(Side note: Punter Cody Mandell is actually the team leader in yards per carry with 18.)

I understand that all of Drake’s carries have come in the fourth quarter. Even though the Hogs still had some defensive starters in, that was a beaten team that desperately wanted off the field. But that’s the point of this. It’s time to see what Kenyan Drake can do against first-team defenses running behind the first-team offensive line.

Let’s see Drake get a few touches in the first or second quarter of games that are still in doubt. His play in the first three weeks has earned him those carries. I think Drake will get more playing time against Florida Atlantic, and before Nick Saban yells at me, it’s not because I’m saying Alabama is going to blow the Owls off the field at Bryant-Denny. It’s because I genuinely believe Drake has earned playing time and should be getting touches earlier in games.

And I believe he will. It’s only a matter of time before he becomes a household name in Tuscaloosa just like Yeldon did after the Michigan game. He has that ability.

Alabama fans can look no further for the next Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson tandem in the backfield.

They may very well have found it already with a pair of freshmen.

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