5 Alabama football players who will be rewarded for staying with Kalen DeBoer

Or Jam Miller, but probably not both. DeBoer is excellent at maximizing the talent on his roster, so he may change his philosophy, but DeBoer and Grubb are one-back guys, especially when they like their No. 1 guy. 

In 2022, Wayne Taulapapa and Cameron Davis split snaps with 431 and 339 respectively, but last season, it was all Dillon Johnson. Despite dealing with nagging injuries all season, Johnson was on the field for 592 snaps, which was 388 more than Will Nixon, and Nixon only took 33 carries to Johnson’s 233. 

Grubb and DeBoer were so loyal to Johnson that his injury report looked like the game operation and he still played 36 snaps in the national championship game. 

Haynes would likely be the favorable choice at running back as a true sophomore after averaging 6.7 yards per carry in his 25 carries compared to Miller’s 4.9 yards per carry on 41 attempts. 

It could be a split backfield, and both will benefit from playing behind Alabama’s excellent interior offensive line, but DeBoer would prefer a workhorse if one of the two emerges and I’m betting it’ll be Haynes.