Alabama Fall Position Preview: Running Backs and Half Backs.

By Brandon Foshee

Alabama is a team that has been deprived of quality depth at numerous positions on both sides of the ball over the course of the last few seasons. The arrival of Nick Saban kick started a talent influx like the Crimson Tide had not seen in years, so the depth deficiencies are slowly but surely starting to dry up. One position that is looking very good from a depth standpoint going into this season is that of running back. The Tide has several guys that are more than capable of handling the job, some are veterans, and others are talented newcomers. Most all of them will be fighting each other for valuable playing time. Saban has always elected to use a rotation of backs in his career, when the talent allowed him to do so. With the quality of depth this year, it is certainly possible that three or four guys will find themselves in that steady rotation, with all of them getting a similar number of carries.

The returning workhorse from last fall, and the favorite to lead the backs out of the stable this season, is sophomore Terry Grant (5-10, 188). Grant has great speed and elusiveness, while also being a sure handed receiver out of the backfield. He isn’t big enough to be as productive between the tackles, but he’s a tough kid who likes the ball in his hands. Last season the speedy back rushed for 891 yards on 180 carries (4.9 average), and scored 8 touchdowns, both of which were records for freshmen running backs at Alabama. He displayed his receiving ability by hauling in 26 passes for 176 yards and 1 touchdown. Look for Grant to compliment the bigger more powerful backs this year, but still get numerous carries himself when all is said and done. He had surgery to repair a sports hernia during the winter, an injury that plagued him nearly all of last season, but he proved that he had recovered fully this past spring.

A player that has a good opportunity to earn a significant amount of carries this season is junior Glen Coffee (6-2, 197)

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