Alabama starting RB Jam Miller suffered an injury during the Crimson Tide's second scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday and is expected to miss several games as a result. It's a big blow to the Crimson Tide's offense just two weeks before kickoff. Kalen DeBoer will have to hope some inexperienced backs are ready to fill the void.
Alabama has talent at the position and plenty of depth, but Miller is the most experienced, and there's been a clear hierarchy in the backfield in fall camp. It has looked like this:
Tier 1: Jam Miller
Tier 2: Richard Young, Daniel Hill, Dre Washington (in some order)
Tier 3: Kevin Riley, AK Dear
With Miller projected to miss at least the first three games of the season, Alabama will turn to its tier two backs to handle the meaningful carries.
Young, Hill, and Washington are all talented in their own right, but there's a reason Miller had separated himself at the top of the depth chart. The tier two trio can handle the carries, but the biggest concern in my mind comes from the other stuff that the running backs are asked to do. It's the blitz pickups and being QB-friendly in the checkdown game, knowing when to look back and anticipating the needs of your quarterback.
It's why the more experienced of the trio could see a major increase in work.
Dre Washington's experience could give him an edge over Richard Young, Daniel Hill
Alabama snagging Dre Washington out of the Transfer Portal became all the more important following Miller's scrimmage injury. Washington has a major edge in experience over Young and Hill, and that experience could lead to him picking up a lot of Miller's slack.
Career carries:
Washington: 229
Young: 36
Hill: 21
Washington has over 150 more carries than Young and Hill do combined at the college level. He's going to be more capable of doing the little things at the RB position that fans often forget about. He might not have the raw talent of Young and Hill, but he probably brings the highest floor to the position with Miller out.
Ryan Grubb said recently that he anticipated each game having major roles for three running backs. Determining which two backs were going to get playing time behind Miller was going to be tough. Now, all three guys will have a massive opportunity for the first few weeks of the season to make their case for carries even after Miller comes back.
All three backs will play in Tallahassee, but how much will probably be determined more by how well they can pass block than how good they are at toting the rock.