AK Dear’s return is starting to feel close, and Alabama may be walking into a running back logjam nobody saw coming a few weeks ago.
The sophomore has missed the first two games after suffering a high-ankle sprain during Alabama’s first scrimmage of fall camp. He was in the middle of a breakout camp and looked like he was forcing his way into a real role before the injury slowed everything down.
For Saturday’s matchup with Florida State, Dear is still not fully in the clear. On3 reported that he is questionable, and after dressing out and going through warm-ups in back-to-back weeks, he now appears headed toward another game-day decision rather than a clean debut.
Without him, Alabama has still found answers. Junior Daniel Hill has led the way as the starter, while true freshmen EJ Crowell and Trae'shawn Brown have both earned snaps and handled themselves well.
That’s where the real wrinkle comes in for Kalen DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb. Once Dear is ready, Alabama may have more capable backs than available touches.
There’s no obvious reason to force Dear back before he’s ready, especially with the ground game already producing. Against Kentucky last week, Hill delivered Alabama’s first 100-yard rushing game since Jam Miller’s performance in early October last season against Vanderbilt. The Tide also piled up 150 rushing yards in the second half alone in Lexington, and they did it without sophomore guard Michael Carroll, who was out with a concussion.
Still, the carry distribution is going to get tricky.
Hill has been the most reliable back so far, so it’s hard to imagine Alabama pulling back his workload too much. Crowell, a 5-star talent with obvious star upside, has also flashed plenty despite working behind Brown in both games this season. Even with a slower ramp-up, the usage he’s gotten suggests Alabama plans to keep him involved.
Then there’s Dear, who may have been the best back on the roster during fall camp. People who watched that scrimmage said he was having a huge day before the injury hit on a play that ended in a touchdown, with Dear dragged down from behind as he was headed into the end zone.
That kind of burst is exactly why Alabama will want to see what he can do once he’s healthy.
So if Dear is ready, the question becomes who loses work. Brown looks like the most likely candidate eventually, though that’s not easy to say given what he’s already shown. But with Dear pushing for a role, Brown may be the piece that makes the most sense to slide back if Alabama needs to make room.
It’s the kind of issue most teams would love to have. Not long ago, Alabama’s running back room looked like a question mark after the Tide didn’t land a major transfer addition. Now, heading into Week 3, the concern may be the opposite: too many backs, not enough carries, and a rotation that’s only going to get harder to sort out once SEC play starts in earnest next week.
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Alabama Just Got Pulled Into Florida States Mike Norvell Drama
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It is the sort of noise Alabama usually hears from the other side of a high-profile matchup, but this one has an especially uneasy edge because the speculation is already moving past the current coach and into replacement talk. Manny Diaz and Jimbo Fisher are among the names being floated on fan sites, even as Fishers possible return remains a complicated subject, which is a reminder that one loss can turn a rivalry game into something much bigger than the scoreboard. [Read more 🡒]