Alabama Football: Projected Depth Chart after fall camp scrimmages
By Ronald Evans
Running Back Starters – Damien Harris or Bo Scarbrough
The talents of Harris and Scarbrough are well-known. They can be defined as co-starters. Combined the pair rushed for 1852 yards in 2016 and together scored a total of 15 touchdowns. The yard-per-carry average for Harris was 7.2 yards and 6.5 yards for Bo.
Backup Running Back – Josh Jacobs
Jacobs has the broadest combination of skills of the three returning backs. Last season Jacobs rushed for 564 yards with a 6.6 yards-per-carry average.
Jacobs is bigger than last season. He has excellent hands and is elusive in space. Insiders report Brain Daboll loves Jacobs’ versatility and expect him to see plenty of snaps. The 2017 rotation might include a bigger role for Jacobs in 2017. That may not include action against FSU due to Jacobs currently recovering from a hamstring injury.
Additional Backups – Najee Harris and Brian Robinson
Najee Harris and Brian Robinson will also compete for playing time. Harris is too good to redshirt. It is very difficult to create sufficient snaps for five running backs. For that reason, we expected Brian Robinson to redshirt. His fall camp performance indicates he too, may be too good to redshirt in 2017.
The quality of the five running backs is exceptional. Depth is not a problem at running back for Alabama football.