BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
Death, taxes and coach Nick Saban fielding a punishing rusher are just about the only certainties in life.
From Glen Coffee to Mark Ingram to Trent Richardson to Eddie Lacy to T.J. Yeldon to Derrick Henry, Alabama has had an NFL-ready ball carrier starting in the backfield since 2008 — Year 2 of the Saban experience.
Sophomore Bo Scarbrough, originally a five-star recruit from the class of 2014, hopes to be next in line.
But unlike all of those Crimson Tide greats before him, each of whom was eventually selected in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft, Scarbrough wasn’t given much of a chance to get his feet wet prior to starting.
The 6-foot-2, 230-pounder only has 18 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown thus far in his ‘Bama career.
Coffee, for example, split time with Terry Grant in 2007 and rushed 129 times for 545 yards and 4 scores. Finally the featured back in 2008, he broke out in a big way with 1,383 yards and 10 TDs on 233 attempts.
Who backed up Coffee that year? Ingram, as a matter of fact, who put up a marvelous 143-728-12 stat line. In 2009 with Coffee in the pros, Ingram ran his way to the Heisman Trophy — not to mention a national title — by racking up 1,658 yards and 17 touchdowns on 271 carries.
Ingram battled minor injuries and a bit of ineffectiveness in 2010, as his numbers dipped to 158-875-13.
With Ingram declaring for the draft early, Richardson became the No. 1 back in 2011. He had been arguably the best No. 2 in the land backing up Ingram, running for 751 yards as a freshman and 700 as a sophomore.
As a junior, Richardson was totally dominant with 283-1,679-21, finishing third in the Heisman race.
It was Lacy’s turn in the spotlight in 2012. He was the No. 3 behind Ingram and Richardson in 2010 and then No. 2 behind Richarsdon in 2011. He was credited with 406 and 674 yards on the ground, respectively.
Like Richarsdon, he only started one year. Like Richardson, he shined — 204 carries, 1,322 yards, 22 TDs.
Lacy wasn’t the Tide’s only 1,000-yard rusher that season, though. Yeldon had 1,108 as a freshman reserve. With Lacy gone in 2013, Yeldon became the starter and rushed for a career-high 1,235 yards and 14 scores.
Yeldon started again in 2014, but by this time Henry was making noise. Yeldon posted 979 yards, Henry 990.
From 2008-14, even when Saban had an experienced back putting up big numbers before moving on to Sunday, there were still plenty of carries left over for young RBs looking to establish themselves in Tuscaloosa.
But that pattern changed in 2015. Henry hardly came off the field and recorded an SEC-record 395 attempts.
Henry also set new conference standards for rushing yards (2,219) and rushing touchdowns (28) in a single season. His little-used backup last year, Kenyan Drake, was a senior. They’re both in the NFL.
Scarbrough was only fourth on that team in rushing behind Henry, Drake and fellow freshman Damien Harris.
Calling Scarbrough an unknown may not be accurate, as he was a blue-chip signee out of high school — the No. 16 player in the country according to 247Sports. However, we’ve seen very little of him collegiately.
Sure, Henry was overpowering, especially late in games. But Saban couldn’t find more time for Scarbrough?
Ingram was the premier back in the nation the year he won the Heisman. Still, Richardson was in the huddle quite often. When Richardson then became the elite runner in FBS, Lacy got his fair share of carries, too.
Is it possible that Saban drove Henry into the ground because he didn’t trust Drake, Harris or Scarbrough?
“I think Henry’s usage was pretty conservative coming into his junior year, so Saban knew he could ride him and he was going to be fresh enough to wear down defenses,” said Corey Long, who is the recruiting analyst for Saturday Down South. “And at a certain point, you look at the numbers and Henry had the potential to have a special season, so they wanted him to get the honors he deserved. Just wasn’t enough carries for the other guys.”
Drake was a senior this past season, so there was no need for Saban to get him live-bullet reps to better prepare him for the future. Despite never being the No. 1 at ‘Bama, he was still a third-round draft pick.
Scarbrough and Harris, however, were freshmen. Like Scarbrough, Harris was a five-star stud as a prepster.
The green duo combined for 64 carries, 261 yards and 2 touchdowns in 2015. That was a week’s production for Henry — against SEC competition, too — although he most likely would’ve done it in half the carries.
Henry had 46 attempts vs. Auburn and 44 seven days later vs. Florida. Scarbrough didn’t get the ball once.
Even in the College Football Playoff semifinal blowout of Michigan State, a night when Henry wasn’t overly effective, Scarbrough and Harris were given but four carries. And that game was 31-0 in the third quarter.
It remains to be seen what kind of a runner Scarbrough will be, although Long recognizes a familiar style.
“Richardson is the one that I would compare him to,” he said. “He’s a tough runner, doesn’t want to go out of bounds, wants to initiate contact. Richardson was a very physically strong player, and Scarbrough’s strength is something that has been talked about quite a bit.”
Like most of the Alabama tailbacks before him, Scarbrough will be blessed with an ideal situation. Saban always plays an old-school brand of football revolving around running the rock and playing tough defense.
We’ve seen this movie before, but this time there was no sneak preview beforehand. Stay tuned, Tide fans.
Unlike previous Alabama running backs, Bo Scarbrough is a question mark
From Glen Coffee to Mark Ingram to Trent Richardson to Eddie Lacy to T.J. Yeldon to Derrick Henry, Alabama has had an NFL-ready ball carrier starting in the backfield since 2008 — Year 2 of the Saban experience.
Sophomore Bo Scarbrough, originally a five-star recruit from the class of 2014, hopes to be next in line.
But unlike all of those Crimson Tide greats before him, each of whom was eventually selected in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft, Scarbrough wasn’t given much of a chance to get his feet wet prior to starting.
The 6-foot-2, 230-pounder only has 18 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown thus far in his ‘Bama career.
Coffee, for example, split time with Terry Grant in 2007 and rushed 129 times for 545 yards and 4 scores. Finally the featured back in 2008, he broke out in a big way with 1,383 yards and 10 TDs on 233 attempts.
Who backed up Coffee that year? Ingram, as a matter of fact, who put up a marvelous 143-728-12 stat line. In 2009 with Coffee in the pros, Ingram ran his way to the Heisman Trophy — not to mention a national title — by racking up 1,658 yards and 17 touchdowns on 271 carries.
Ingram battled minor injuries and a bit of ineffectiveness in 2010, as his numbers dipped to 158-875-13.
With Ingram declaring for the draft early, Richardson became the No. 1 back in 2011. He had been arguably the best No. 2 in the land backing up Ingram, running for 751 yards as a freshman and 700 as a sophomore.
As a junior, Richardson was totally dominant with 283-1,679-21, finishing third in the Heisman race.
It was Lacy’s turn in the spotlight in 2012. He was the No. 3 behind Ingram and Richardson in 2010 and then No. 2 behind Richarsdon in 2011. He was credited with 406 and 674 yards on the ground, respectively.
Like Richarsdon, he only started one year. Like Richardson, he shined — 204 carries, 1,322 yards, 22 TDs.
Lacy wasn’t the Tide’s only 1,000-yard rusher that season, though. Yeldon had 1,108 as a freshman reserve. With Lacy gone in 2013, Yeldon became the starter and rushed for a career-high 1,235 yards and 14 scores.
Yeldon started again in 2014, but by this time Henry was making noise. Yeldon posted 979 yards, Henry 990.
From 2008-14, even when Saban had an experienced back putting up big numbers before moving on to Sunday, there were still plenty of carries left over for young RBs looking to establish themselves in Tuscaloosa.
But that pattern changed in 2015. Henry hardly came off the field and recorded an SEC-record 395 attempts.
Henry also set new conference standards for rushing yards (2,219) and rushing touchdowns (28) in a single season. His little-used backup last year, Kenyan Drake, was a senior. They’re both in the NFL.
Scarbrough was only fourth on that team in rushing behind Henry, Drake and fellow freshman Damien Harris.
Calling Scarbrough an unknown may not be accurate, as he was a blue-chip signee out of high school — the No. 16 player in the country according to 247Sports. However, we’ve seen very little of him collegiately.
Sure, Henry was overpowering, especially late in games. But Saban couldn’t find more time for Scarbrough?
Ingram was the premier back in the nation the year he won the Heisman. Still, Richardson was in the huddle quite often. When Richardson then became the elite runner in FBS, Lacy got his fair share of carries, too.
Is it possible that Saban drove Henry into the ground because he didn’t trust Drake, Harris or Scarbrough?
“I think Henry’s usage was pretty conservative coming into his junior year, so Saban knew he could ride him and he was going to be fresh enough to wear down defenses,” said Corey Long, who is the recruiting analyst for Saturday Down South. “And at a certain point, you look at the numbers and Henry had the potential to have a special season, so they wanted him to get the honors he deserved. Just wasn’t enough carries for the other guys.”
Drake was a senior this past season, so there was no need for Saban to get him live-bullet reps to better prepare him for the future. Despite never being the No. 1 at ‘Bama, he was still a third-round draft pick.
Scarbrough and Harris, however, were freshmen. Like Scarbrough, Harris was a five-star stud as a prepster.
The green duo combined for 64 carries, 261 yards and 2 touchdowns in 2015. That was a week’s production for Henry — against SEC competition, too — although he most likely would’ve done it in half the carries.
Henry had 46 attempts vs. Auburn and 44 seven days later vs. Florida. Scarbrough didn’t get the ball once.
Even in the College Football Playoff semifinal blowout of Michigan State, a night when Henry wasn’t overly effective, Scarbrough and Harris were given but four carries. And that game was 31-0 in the third quarter.
It remains to be seen what kind of a runner Scarbrough will be, although Long recognizes a familiar style.
“Richardson is the one that I would compare him to,” he said. “He’s a tough runner, doesn’t want to go out of bounds, wants to initiate contact. Richardson was a very physically strong player, and Scarbrough’s strength is something that has been talked about quite a bit.”
Like most of the Alabama tailbacks before him, Scarbrough will be blessed with an ideal situation. Saban always plays an old-school brand of football revolving around running the rock and playing tough defense.
We’ve seen this movie before, but this time there was no sneak preview beforehand. Stay tuned, Tide fans.
Unlike previous Alabama running backs, Bo Scarbrough is a question mark
