Kalen DeBoer and Alabama have a lot of eggs in the basket of 5-star freshman RB EJ Crowell.
After not landing a difference-maker at the position in the Transfer Portal, the Crimson Tide is banking on improvement from guys returning, along with the immediate impact of Crowell, who is as talented a RB to come through Tuscaloosa in several years.
Unfortunately, Crowell has been dealing with a soft-tissue injury that has kept him from gaining the amount of reps you would hope an early enrollee freshman would get in spring practice, particularly one you are banking on playing a pivotal role in the fall.
Two weeks ago, OC Ryan Grubb initially alerted the media to the soft-tissue injury Crowell has been dealing with, but called his limited practice reps "precautionary" while also not shying away from how important spring practice was for Crowell.
On Friday, following Alabama's first scrimmage of spring practice, DeBoer called Crowell "week to week" and that his 5-star RB is not taking a lot of reps right now, "unfortunately."
Spring injury setback could be bad news for both EJ Crowell and Alabama football
Crowell has the talent, but there's no substitute for experience, and spring ball is a time for him to gain invaluable experience that will help him when the games start to count in the fall. Hopefully, the budding superstar RB is taking advantage of every mental rep available, even if his body won't allow him to take on many physical reps right now.
Crowell is a big part of Alabama's offensive plan in 2026. DeBoer and Grubb have not shied away from doing what it takes to improve the running game. That started with a complete overhaul of the OL room, along with a new coach for the position in Adrian Klemm and the addition of TE coach Richard Owens, who has a background as an OL coach in his own right.
But while the offensive line wasn't good enough in 2025, neither were the running backs. If Crowell's progress is slowed, Alabama is going to really need guys like Daniel Hill, Kevin Riley, and AK Dear to take a step forward and become the difference-makers Alabama has been missing in the RB room the past three seasons.