A competition is ongoing among Alabama football’s running backs

Alabama Running Back Dre Washington (20) catches a ball in Practice at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Saturday, Mar 22, 2025.

Kalen DeBoer is excited about the growing depth Alabama football has at its running back position behind senior tailback, Jam Miller heading into the 2025 season.

The Crimson Tide’s offensive staff is currently holding auditions during fall camp to see who will be their second ball carrier on offense to complement Miller. This search comes after the departure of former running back, Justice Haynes, who served as Alabama’s secondary tailback all of last season before deciding to transfer to Michigan last December. Despite this loss, DeBoer and company feel they have capable backs in place to fill this hole.

The second-year Alabama head coach made this evident on Wednesday when speaking to reporters after the Tide completed their first practice of fall camp.

“You’ve got Richard Young, Daniel Hill coming back also, I feel like those guys are healthier than they’ve ever were last season, through out the year” DeBoer said. “And then Dre (Dre’Lyn Washington), I thought he had a really nice practice today. You can see a new guy come in and now he’s seeing the install a second, third time from spring, summer to fall. And how we were talking about the quarterback position and how it’s clicking more. So he’s got himself right in the mix, for sure, as we kind’ve narrow it down.”

DeBoer continued his evaluation by making it known that the competition behind Miller is a close one.

“There’s skillsets, there’s different things that each guy brings, body types are a little bit different but in the end it’s not like someone is so much different than to where it affects who’s in there, we’re just teaching them all the offense,” DeBoer said. “Especially when you get into the padding, the physicality, the blocking pieces, that’s a big part of it, is breaking tackles, being able to get in there and protect for the quarterback and do a great job of it. So, they’re all really competing but that’s really where it’s at with those guys. They’re all doing a really good job.”

Each running back will have their opportunities this fall to further prove their worth as Alabama football works deeper into fall camp this August.

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