Turnover Plagued Alabama Rushing Attack Expects Boost From Henry

Alabama fans don’t believe in moral victories. Fans of teams that regularly have the success of the Tide seldom do. There was nothing good about the Crimson Tide’s loss to Oklahoma this past January but there were a couple of bright spots to come out of it. Finally having wideouts DeAndrew White and Amari Cooper healthy showed up in the passing game stats with quarterback AJ McCarron amassing 389 yards through the air. Both Cooper and White surpassed the century mark in receiving yards for the game.

But maybe the biggest bright spot of the day was the play of true freshman Derrick Henry.

Henry’s opportunities during the regular portion of the Alabama schedule was limited to 26 carries for 282 yards and a touchdown. The all time leading rusher at the high school level totaled a hundred yards against the Sooners on just 8 attempts with a rushing touchdown. He also took a screen pass 61 yards for another score finishing the day with 161 total yards and two scores.

Starter TJ Yeldon and his backup Kenyan Drake are as good as any running back in the country when it comes to gaining yards on the ground. Yeldon rushed for 1235 yards on 207 carries while Drake had 694 yards on 92 carries last year. As good as those numbers were, both struggled holding on to the ball last season with several of those fumbles coming at critical times in the oppositions red zone. Those are the type turnovers that can just deflate an offense and drive a head coach crazy.

Take away the fumbles and Henry has little hopes of supplanting Yeldon. The junior has earned the starting role with his past performances and his talent is not in question. Let him show this fall that he’s failed to address his fumbling issues though, and all bets are off. Surpassing Drake would likely only require Henry outperforming him in practice to win the backup role.

Alabama coach Nick Saban has made it clear that putting the ball on the carpet will not be tolerated. One of the main focuses by Alabama running backs coach Burton Burns so far this spring, has been holding on to the football. He’s had the backs running drills carrying two footballs while he and other staffers tried to strip them of the ball. He’s also making sure the thought of ball security is never to far from their minds by constantly hounding them on the subject.

Should Drake or Yeldon continue to struggle with holding on to the football then Henry could very well find himself taking over the starting role. Either way, the sophomore can probably expect to earn at least a hundred carries on the season. He just has too much talent for offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin to be able to afford to give him less. His rare combination of size, strength and speed makes him a prime candidate to be the workhorse in the Alabama offense.

Opposing defenses will tire from the constant pounding they’re likely to get from the Alabama run game. The Alabama offense on the other hand should be able to constantly rotate in a succession of fresh legs to attack them with. Come the fourth quarter, who wants to see 6-3, 238 pound Derrick Henry bearing down on their tired, bruised and beaten body?

Altee Tenpenny, Tyren Jones and newcomer Bo Scarbrough all have the talent capable of making them starters in the SEC. Tenpenny showed last year he has the chops to run between the tackles against top competition. Jones redshirted and made a name for himself playing on the scout team. He reminds many of Alabama heisman trophy winner Mark Ingram. Incoming freshman Bo Scarbrough will bring in nice size and speed as well as the hands to make him a dangerous receiver out of the backfield.

It will be a challenge for Kiffin to be able to find enough carries to keep the Tide’s bevy of SEC quality running backs happy. Alabama will likely dress no less than six SEC quality tailbacks for conference contests this season, so Kiffin and staff can afford to be demanding when it comes to the level of preparation and preparedness they expect going into those games. None of these players will be able to afford taking plays off in practice or games. They won’t be able to fail to show up for classes. There will be no failing to pick up pass rushers when called on to help out with pass protection. Doing any of those things or fumbling the football will likely find the offender cheering on his fellow backs from the bench.

Find yourself in the dog house on a team this deep and your likely to never be able to dig your way all the way back out again.