Alabama sophomore RB AK Dear suffered an injury during the Crimson Tide's first scrimmage of fall camp, which will keep him out for at least the first few games of the regular season. Dear is expected to be out for roughly six weeks, putting him potentially in line to return on September 26th against South Carolina.
Dear's injury comes at an unfortunate time, as he was positioning himself for a big role in his second season in Tuscaloosa. By many accounts, Dear had been the most impressive Tide running back in fall camp thus far, and with Alabama desperately needing to improve the ground game in 2026, Dear being out is a difficult blow.
It's also a familiar one.
This time a year ago, rising senior RB Jam Miller had been the talk of the offseason for the Alabama RB room. But in the Tide's second scrimmage of fall camp, Miller went down with a dislocated collarbone that would cost him the first three games of the regular season. Without Miller, Alabama managed just 87 rushing yards against Florida State in the opener and then 72 yards two weeks later against Wisconsin.
Miller's absence kicked off a chain reaction that led to season-long struggles for the Alabama running game. Hopefully Dear's absence won't be the same sort of omen.
Kalen DeBoer and Alabama must overcome AK Dear's injury
Alabama fans won't accept any excuses with the run game this season. It doesn't have to jump from inept to elite, but signs of progress have to be obvious, the health of the roster be damned.
Depth at the position is concerning heading into the season. DeBoer failed to make a splash in the Transfer Portal, banking on organic growth from the returning players and the hope that the two freshmen could contribute right away.
But with Dear on the shelf and EJ Crowell missing more practice time, Alabama could enter the season with only four healthy scholarship running backs, one of whom is a true freshman in Trae'shawn Brown, and another is a little-used senior, Khalifa Keith, who has 34 carries in three seasons between stops at Tennessee and Appalachian State.
Daniel Hill and Kevin Riley might be the only running backs DeBoer knows he can for sure rely on heading into the season, and neither proved to be a real difference-maker a season ago. It feels like Hill will take a step forward, but Alabama needs both Dear and Crowell to get - and stay - healthy going forward in order for the RB room to reach the ceiling it's capable of.
The good news is that Brown appears ready to play a role right away. He's been a standout in practice dating back to the spring, and he ripped off some impressive runs during the scrimmage on Thursday. How he'll handle the pressure of legitimate game reps remains to be seen, but Alabama does get a tune-up game against East Carolina in Week 1 before hitting the road to face Kentucky in Week 2.
Dear is likely to get back around the same time this year as Miller came back last season. Hopefully he'll be returning to a RB room that has acquitted itself better through the first few weeks than it had a year ago.
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