Why Alabama feels its system opens the door for 5-Star freshman running back to make impact

Photo via Alabama Athletics

EJ Crowell missed a significant portion of spring practice for the Alabama Crimson Tide. However, the hype around his highly anticipated freshman season remains intact.

Crowell is a former five-star recruit who signed with the Crimson Tide as a member of its 2026 recruiting class.

Kalen DeBoer was asked about the potential of Crowell starting at running back this fall, despite him missing some spring practices, while talking to Greg McElroy on “Always College Football.” McElroy asked DeBoer how comfortable would he be starting the freshman at running back.

“Just take EJ or take our situation out of it,” DeBoer said. “I’ve had that happen. We’ve been very successful, I think our system allows that. It’d be easier if— now back to our situation— EJ would have been practicing all spring long. It’s knowing your job, and it’s much like we talked about with offensive line. It’s doing your job, but it’s also doing it along with everyone else, trusting the offensive line when there’s a pressure, going to take this guy, and having those reps, banked reps, and done it so many times where it’s just you can’t do it wrong. It’s always going to be done right. And again, that a lot of times, that’s not just you doing your job and confident in yourself, it’s you being confident in everyone else and having seen that take place where you’re picking up a blitz over and over.”

DeBoer sees Crowell as a running back with a high ceiling.

“I think the raw instincts of EJ as you’re kind of alluding to from what we’ve seen, whether it’s high school film or just a few snaps he took at the beginning of spring ball, there’s a high ceiling for him,” said DeBoer. “He can run well. That comes out through the winter workouts. I think there’s football instincts and things like that.”

Crowell was spotted wearing a boot on one of his legs while riding a scooter on A-Day. DeBoer recently updated the health of Crowell.

“I think by the time we get to June, he will be in a good spot,” DeBoer said at the Regions Tradition Celebrity Pro-Am on Wednesday. “That’s everything I’m hearing and feeling. That’s going to be really critical for him to get the summer in, not just from a workout standpoint, but they run the player-run practices. Any reps for him are going to be good quality ways for him to continue to improve in his development here, especially early in his career.”