Alabama Football: Tyren Jones Suspension a Perfect Opportunity for Bo Scarbrough

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama is seemingly getting thinner and thinner at a position that hasn’t lacked for talent and depth at all in the last eight years.

Nick Saban released the following, one-sentence statement on Tuesday through a UA spokesman: “Tyren Jones has been suspended indefinitely for conduct not to the standard of the Alabama football program.”

Neither Saban nor UA gave any further details—what Jones did, what he has to do to get back on the team, what he does next. But the timing and manner are a bit curious.

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Suspensions this time of year are usually handled in-house and not publicly. There are no games or practices to miss so they typically fly under the radar. Saban also isn’t the one to necessarily get out in front of news like this, again, especially if there won’t be any noticeable loss.

This isn’t the first time Jones has been in Saban’s dog house either. Jones was suspended during Alabama’s second bye week this year and missed a practice in the spring because he “didn't do what (he was) supposed to do in school this week” and spent the time in study hall instead.

It hasn’t exactly been the smoothest of runs for Jones lately.

And as it stands it leaves Alabama with two running backs that have in-game experience on the roster, one of whom is recovering from a gruesome leg break suffered against Ole Miss (with all due respect to walk-on Buddy Pell, who carried the ball twice in the Crimson Tide’s win over Western Carolina).

Altee Tenpenny announced his transfer in January. He and Jones were the only two other returning running backs with live game experience in addition to Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake.

That leaves quite the opportunity for a green back in 2015, at least in spring practice, assuming Jones remains suspended. Bo Scarbrough is best primed to be the next man up, and this could be a huge opportunity for him and his Alabama career.

To recap: Scarbrough was a 5-star prospect out of Northridge in Tuscaloosa his first three years in high school. He transferred to IMG Academy for his senior year and was primed to be one of Alabama’s top signees of the 2014 class.

But academic eligibility issues held him back from doing so. He came back to Tuscaloosa in the spring of 2014, enrolling at cross-town Tuscaloosa County, to get academically eligible.

He cleared and was practicing with the team during Sugar Bowl prep, getting a head start on even the 2015 early enrollees.

Scarbrough is a freak athlete who could play any number of positions. But it looks like he’ll get his first crack at running back.

“He's big, he's physical,” outgoing star running back T.J. Yeldon said of Scarbrough on the day he declared for the NFL draft. “I only saw him in practice a couple times. I wasn't really practicing when he was out there. He's still learning. He'll be good.”

It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Scarbrough—or fellow freshmen Damien Harris or Desherrius Flowers—could get first-team carries in 2015.

Last year, Lane Kiffin had three versatile, diverse backs at his disposal, and he used them a fair amount through the first four games of the season, until Drake broke his leg against Ole Miss. At that point, it became a two-headed show again, with Henry carrying a lot of the load while Yeldon nursed an injured ankle.

But while the trio was healthy, Kiffin used all of them and found ways to get the ball to them:

Running back	Rushing yards	Receiving yards	Total offense
T.J. Yeldon	284	56	340
Derrick Henry	320	29	349
Kenyan Drake	112	149	261

Scarbrough’s style won’t complement Henry and Drake’s quite like Yeldon’s did, but he is still another top talent who Saban and Kiffin can throw at defenses.

Those two would love to have a solid No. 3 option to add to their arsenal of offensive weapons.

If Jones can’t get back on the team anytime soon, it opens up an opportunity for a young running back on Alabama’s roster. Scarbrough seems most primed to grab hold of it and get kick-started what should be a promising career.

Marc Torrence is the Alabama lead writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes and reporting were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Follow on Twitter @marctorrence.