RB Kenyan Drake Is the Key to Alabama's 2015 Offensive Success

Remember when Omar Epps took over for Wesley Snipes and became Willie Mays Hayes in Major League II?

That, times nine, is what the Alabama offense will look like in 2015 in the sequel to the "Lane Kiffin Experience."

Nine starters are gone from last year's Crimson Tide offense, which won the SEC title and earned a berth in the inaugural College Football Playoff. One of those new "starters" is going to hold the keys to Alabama's offensive success.

Running back Kenyan Drake.

Drake was used mostly as a changeup back behind T.J. Yeldon and Derrick Henry last year before a gruesome leg injury suffered against Ole Miss ended his season in October.

He is working his way back into shape and, from the looks of the Instagram video Drake posted last week, is gaining some quickness back.

He followed it up with another video this week.

When he gets back to 100 percent, he's absolutely the kind of player who can make this offense click.

Lightning to Derrick Henry's Thunder

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Yeldon was a perfect blend of power, quickness and speed. While Henry possesses all those attributes, the 6'3", 241-pounder's best attribute is the power he brings and the punishment he takes between the tackles. He can turn on the jets too, but if Drake is healthy, he's best-suited to gobble up those carries on the edge.

At 6'1", 202 pounds, Drake isn't just a changeup back, but that is his best attribute. Once Drake gets to the edge, he can make one cut and take it to the house. When he gets into the open field, there aren't many defenders in college football who can catch him.

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Since offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin has so many weapons at his disposal, he'd be wise to keep all of them fresh and design his offense around their strengths.

Alabama has always been more of a traditional offense that thrives with one main running back, even though the backup typically has quite a bit of success statistically as well thanks to feature-back responsibilities on specific drives and quite a bit of mop-up duty.

In 2015, that should change.

Henry and Drake could serve as "1A" and "1B" early in games, with Henry getting more carries later in games as "the closer." After getting punished by Henry and chasing Drake side-to-side for three quarters, it'd be a perfect way for Bama to put close games away late.

Threat in the Passing Game

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Kiffin was just scratching the surface of what he had planned for Drake when Drake injured his leg, but the world got a brief glimpse of what that plan was against Florida.

On Alabama's first play from scrimmage, Drake lined up wide, and quarterback Blake Sims hit him deep downfield for an 87-yard touchdown. 

"We were in an empty set, Kenyan was outside," Kiffin told Tommy Deas of TideSports.com. "If they didn't leave a corner outside and the corner came inside, you knew that it was man-to-man. Didn't think they would play man-to-man on the first play of the game with Kenyan in the game because Kenyan's kind of a Reggie Bush factor. When you have a guy like that you see a lot of zone coverages."

Hello, Reggie Bush comparison.

Kiffin also commented on Drake's versatility in an interview with 103.7 in Little Rock during the Broyles Award ceremony in which Kiffin was a finalist.

"The other guys are phenomenal running backs but don't do the other stuff that Kenyan did, but it will be exciting to get him back next year," Kiffin said, according to AL.com. "And I always, I shouldn't do it, but I think sometimes, 'Imagine if we still had him.' It would be such a mismatch issue."

Kiffin must replace his top three receivers, including Heisman finalist Amari Cooper, along with quarterback Blake Sims.

Drake, when healthy, can serve the same purpose as Cooper did early last season, albeit in a much different way. He can be the safety net that allows the new quarterback to get into early grooves and make opposing defensive coordinators' heads spin, which will open everything up for the Crimson Tide offense.

Depth, Depth and...Not as Much Depth as Usual

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Alabama has been blessed with enough running back depth to make entire conferences jealous over the last few years, but that depth has been chipped away lately.

Yeldon declared early for the draft, Altee Tenpenny decided to transfer and the school announced this week via email that Tyren Jones has been suspended indefinitely for conduct "not standard to the football program."

That leaves Henry, Drake (when he's healthy) Bo Scarbrough and early enrollee Desherrius Flowers as Alabama's running backs as long as Jones' suspension lingers, with 5-star signee Damien Harris coming in this summer as part of the class of 2015.

That's still more depth than most programs have, but still a departure from what has become the norm in Tusclaoosa over the last few years. Furthermore, only Henry and Drake have significant experience. 

There's no such thing as "too many running backs." Alabama has a lot—all of whom had four or more stars attached to their names coming out of high school. But Drake's experience not only in the system but in the SEC will be critical as some of the newcomers transition into life in college football.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports' composite rankings. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.