Alabama Football: TJ Yeldon Steals Show in Spring Game

Trent Richardson may be one of the top five picks in this year's NFL draft, but Alabama has quickly replaced him with plenty of backfield talent to give it a chance of repeating for the title next season.

And while Eddie Lacy sits out the spring as he recovers from a turf toe injury (via AL.com), some of the very newest talent is getting an opportunity to steal the show.

In Saturday's spring game in Tuscaloosa, freshman TJ Yates—a January enrollee at Alabama—rushed for 88 yards and added on 91 receiving yards, leading the White team to a 24-15 win.

Lacy, an upcoming junior, rushed for 674 yards and seven touchdowns in 2011 behind Richardson, who is expected to go fourth or fifth in the 2012 draft. In his career, Lacy has 1,080 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Though Lacy will almost certainly be first on the depth chart next season, Yates made a case for himself on Saturday, impressing the coaching staff and the fans with his abilities.

The Crimson Tide's backfield is stocked with talent beyond Lacy and Yates; it also features Jalston Fowler and Dee Hart. Fowler, an upcoming junior, had 385 yards and four touchdowns in 2011, while Hart is entering his redshirt freshman season. 

In what is proving to be a crowded backfield, Yates will have to compete for playing time early on, but his efforts on Saturday—which earned him the Dixie Howell Most Valuable Player of the Game Award—went a long way toward impressing head coach Nick Saban. After the game, Saban told the Associated Press: 

"

TJ did a good job in all the scrimmages. He made the difference for his team. He made a lot of good plays today and had a lot of production. I think that's important for us because we needed someone like that. He has a really good opportunity. Eddie will hopefully be able to come back, Jalston [Fowler] can do certain things, Dee Hart can do certain things. T.J. is one of those guys who can do everything. 

"

Whoever ends up starting, the backfield will have the challenging task of replacing Richardson's prolific production. In 2012, Richardson rushed for 1,679 yards and 21 touchdowns. But despite the challenge to replace the kind of experience the Crimson Tide is losing to this year's draft, Saban is confident he can do it.

And by all indications, a few years down the line—or maybe even this year—Yates will be guy whose enormous production needs to be replaced.