Jalen Milroe may be waiting until after the December 31st ReliaQuest Bowl to announce the decision on his future, but Jam Miller put any worry to rest yesterday, announcing his decision to stay with Alabama in 2025.
Miller, a four-star recruit from Tyler, Texas, signed with Alabama out of high school. Since arriving on campus as a freshman, Miller has been a steady contributor for the Crimson Tide, carrying the ball 209 times for 1,065 yards and 10 touchdowns.
In 2024, Miller served as the Tide’s primary running back and was the No.2 rusher on the team behind the quarterback Milroe. Miller’s rushing numbers in 2024 don’t pop off the page but show a running back who grinds in a loaded backfield. Miller rushed for 641 yards on 135 carries and seven touchdowns, the most productive season of his career.
Miller also made real strides in the passing game this season, working as more of a release valve in the short game than a primary target. Miller had 13 catches on 16 targets for 119 yards and a touchdown.
For Alabama, retaining Miller is huge, especially with uncertainty around the quarterback position. With Milroe potentially leaving for the NFL, it’ll be a quarterback battle in the spring between talented, yet unproven players, Ty Simpson, Austin Mack, and incoming freshman Keelon Russell.
For any of the quarterbacks, it'll be a relief to retain Miller. Simpson is a solid athlete who can make plays in the running game; he carried the ball eight times for 44 yards and a touchdown this season. He lacks the explosive legs of Milroe, though, and dating back to his time in high school, has been considered more of a pocket passer.
Should Simpson be the starter in 2025, it’ll likely mean a huge increase to Miller’s workload, In 2024, the Tide’s leading rushers were Milroe with 152 carries, Miller with 135, and Justice Haynes with 79. In addition to Milroe likely leaving for the NFL, Haynes has already announced his decision to try the transfer portal. It is always possible for him to pull out and stay with Alabama in 2025, but if he doesn’t, Miller will be all alone as the Tide’s bell cow back.
Keelon Russell, the incoming freshman, is one of, if not the best, dual-threat quarterback in this year's recruiting class. He is a guy who has the potential to be a day-one starter for the Crimson Tide, and given Kalen DeBoer’s reputation for developing quarterbacks, it will be fun to see what Russell does in Tuscaloosa. Still, he will be a true freshman, and there will be ups and downs.
Traditionally, for Alabama, one thing that has eased that transition for young quarterbacks is the stable of great running backs. When Jalen Hurts was a freshman in 2016, it was the three-headed monster of Damien Harris, Bo Scarbrough, and Josh Jacobs. In 2018, when Tua Tauovailoa first moved into the full-time starting role, he did it with a running back room led by not one, not two, not three, but four NFL running backs splitting carries. If you want to go way back, you can take it to AJ McCarron’s first year as the starter in 2011, when he got to turn around and hand off to Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy.
Regardless of who plays quarterback next year, retaining Miller is a huge win for Alabama, and it’ll be fun to watch him carry on the Alabama tradition of being Running Back U.