Yeldon or Drake – Who’s the Best? Touchdown Alabama Debates It
By your Touchdown Alabama Featured Writers: Stephen Smith and Larry Burton
Yeldon the best running back? Yes, he good, but he’s only better at staying out of Saban’s dog house. That may be the key reason he’s not the starter right now, but let’s not quibble on such things as this, but some hard facts.
Drake is averaging 7.8 yards a carry to Yeldon’s 6.3, a yard a half per carry difference is a huge difference. There’s my main point. but there’s more.
Yeldon has rushed the ball 115 times to Drake’s 63. That’s almost 55% more carries, but with all those extra carries, he’s got just 10 touchdowns. Drake has 7 touchdowns with 52 less carries. Yeldon scores once every 11.5 carries on average while Drake scores once every 9 carries. There’s another good reason to put Drake over Yeldon.
But wait! Surely Yeldon must be a better receiver out of the backfield. Well, as Lee Corso would say, not so fast my friend. Due to Yeldon playing so much more, he’s had 14 catches to Drake’s 9. But here’s the difference that matters, Drake is averaging 12.89 per catch and once again, Yeldon is in second place averaging just 9.5 per grab and while Yeldon still has yet to take a pass to the endzone, Drake has already scored a touchdown pass.
Drake has that breakaway speed that makes defenders nervous.
So there’s no argument, at least one that could be won, that Yeldon is performing at a rate that is less than Drake as a running back or as a receiver and he loses in every foot race they’d have. While Yeldon may be bigger and more physical, Drake is a threat to “bust one” every time he touches the ball, yet he too can muscle those third and short runs like Yeldon.
Given the yards per average, had Drake had those extra 52 carries that Yeldon got, Bama’s offense would have generated 78 more yards on the ground. Doing the same for the passing game, they would have gotten an extra 19.5 yards by giving those extra passes to Drake.
You have to give the nod to Drake.
But in the end, the one truth that could not be debated is that this is a wonderful thing for the Alabama football team to have. Both of these men are quality backs and as has been the case for the last several years, form the nation’s best one-two punch at running back. What’s even more delightful is that you could throw Jalston Fowler’s stats in the debate and make an argument that he’s in the running for best back too.
Stephen’s Take… It’s got to be Yeldon
Both Yeldon and Drake are good backs, but I would give the slight edge to Yeldon because of his combination of speed, power and potential. At 6-foot-2, 218 pounds, Yeldon is a physical back who loves to meet defenders in the hole and run straight through them. He reminds many Alabama fans of Trent Richardson and Mark Ingram in the aspect of gaining yards after contact and refusing to be brought down by one guy.
Just because he’s got power, don’t think that Yeldon isn’t quick. For his size, he is very shifty. He moves fast in the hole and allows his vision to help set up gaps and cutback lanes down field. He has a keen sense of direction and understands how to stop on a dime and go to the other side of the field for more running room.
As far as statistics go, Yeldon is well on his way to duplicating the same numbers from last season or maybe even higher. In his freshman season, he totaled 175 carries for 1,108 yards (6.3 yards per carry) and 12 touchdowns. So far this season, Yeldon has 115 carries for 729 yards (6.3 yards per carry) and 10 touchdowns. Despite having 60 fewer carries thus far and 379 less yards, Yeldon has the same yards per carry average.
At 6-foot-1, 201 pounds, Drake is what you call a great change of pace back. He’s very elusive in the hole and uses his vision like Yeldon, but with Drake it’s more juking or shifting away from the contact versus trying to gain yards after. Drake is not a big bruising back and that’s okay because it plays into the notion of Saban giving a defense two things to prepare for. While Yeldon is shifty, Drake has breakaway speed. He can really take the top off a defense, if you allow him space in the open field.
Yeldon can run to daylight or over defenders and they hate both
If you look at statistics, Drake has vastly improved from last season to this season in the aspect of gaining Saban’s trust. He has 63 carries this season as opposed to just 42 last season. The difference in yardage between Drake’s freshman season and this season is 210 yards (2013: 491—2012: 281). The touchdowns have increased for Drake going from five last season to seven thus far and his yards per carry averaged went from 6.7 last season to 7.8 this season.
The one thing that Drake does have on Yeldon is the improvement in yards per carry average. While Yeldon stayed constant both season at 6.3 yards per carry, Drake went from 6.7 yards per carry as a freshman to 7.8 yards per carry now. Career wise, Yeldon has Drake so far. In two seasons Yeldon has compiled 290 carries for 1,837 yards with 22 touchdowns. Drake has amassed 105 carries for 772 yards with 12 touchdowns.
It was mentioned earlier that both backs are good and rightfully so. I’m pretty sure Nick Saban would be pleased with the combined effort from his backs in this season (178 carries for 1,220 yards and 17 touchdowns) and career wise (395 carries for 2,609 yards and 34 touchdowns). The one aspect that both backs need to work on is ball security. Unless they get that dynamic down, you can forget seeing either running back going into Alabama history books as on the greats.
Your take? Sound off in the comment section and let us know what you think.
