Kalen DeBoer, Ryan Grubb face difficult, yet necessary decision to improve run game

I'm far from an X's and O's expert when it comes to football. For that, I defer to those who are. One of the guys who is an expert is Brooks Austin, AKA The Film Guy on YouTube.

He took the time this week to break down the film of Alabama's run game against LSU. Austin explains things so anyone watching can understand. After watching it, it's confirmation of what I already believed: the issues in the run game aren't from any one thing. There are multiple issues compounding on one another and keeping the Crimson Tide from having any success whatsoever.

The blocking certainly hasn't been good enough. And when it has, on occasion, the running backs haven't pressed the gaps correctly and gained the yardage that was there to be gained.

Watching the tape from the LSU game, a lot of that was a Jam Miller issue. Miller clearly doesn't trust the guys in front of him to block things correctly, and as a result, he's overcompensating at times and missing available yardage.

There were several decent runs to be had that Alabama didn't get because Miller was too late identifying the running lane.

Miller has struggled mightily since suffering a concussion against Missouri. He produced 136 yards on the ground against Vanderbilt the week prior, by far a season-high for any Tide back. He was over 80 yards on four yards per carry against Missouri - not great, but respectable numbers against a really good run defense.

But over the last three games, Miller has produced 30 carries for just 54 yards. A 1.8 yards per carry mark. The offensive line hasn't been good enough, certainly, but neither has Miller. And that fact may be uncomfortable for Kalen DeBoer and Ryan Grubb to accept. They've offered nothing but praise for Miller for a year straight.

Miller should still have a role, but the bulk of the carries need to be given to Daniel Hill. The Film Guy agrees:

Daniel Hill should be Alabama's RB1 moving forward over Jam Miller

Hill hasn't exactly set the world on fire this year himself, averaging just 3.6 yards per carry. But he's finding a little more consistency as the season wears on. While Miller has averaged just 1.8 yards per carry on 30 attempts the last three games, Hill is at 3.8 on 17 attempts.

The redshirt freshman is a load to tackle at 240+ pounds. He doesn't get tackled in the backfield often. He falls forward and gains at least a yard or two. That's pivotal to keep the Tide's offense ahead of the chains.

Hill also presses the hole immediately on tape. He doesn't dance around; he just explodes through it and barrels his way forward. He's also proven to be a pretty good receiving back. He led Alabama in receiving against South Carolina two weeks ago.

The offensive line is what it is. All the guards have struggled with run blocking. So has RT Wilkin Formby. There's no changing that in season. The coaching staff has tried pretty much every combination you could imagine, and nothing has worked.

But what they haven't tried is more consistent carries for Hill. Against an Oklahoma front that could eat Alabama alive next week, give me the downhill bowling ball who is going to at least gain positive yardage.