Where DeBoer feels Alabama football’s run game has shown the most improvement

Alabama Running Back Daniel Hill (4) in action against A-Day at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL on Saturday, Apr 11, 2026.

The Alabama Crimson Tide struggled on the ground over the course of the 2025 season. 

Former Alabama running back Jam Miller was extremely underwhelming throughout his final campaign in Tuscaloosa. Miller recorded 504 yards and three touchdowns last season, and the running back was unable to perform at a high level on a consistent basis. 

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer was recently asked how the running back room has improved over the course of the offseason, as DeBoer claims the tight ends will play an essential role in the ground game moving forward. 

“I would say the most improvement, there’s pieces you can add in there as well,” DeBoer said. “I think I’d add in tight end, they can really help add change to your run game. Guys like Kaleb Edwards, Marshall Pritchett, Josh Ford. Guys like that who are just a year older, Kaleb was just coming to us a year ago and all of a sudden gets thrown on the football field. Marshall understands some things, his physicality is great. Josh brings that deminure. But getting back to your question, I would say all those running backs haven’t had a chance to get reps mainly due to injury status, EJ in particular. There are certainly things like Daniel Hill, just body transformation and he’s been healthier this offseason. Kevin Riley continued to grow and get bigger, I think those areas have happened but I would say the offensive line is the area where I’ve seen us just improving. Again, we got to prove it, our guys know that. But for now we got to focus on where we are at and that’s the summer months before we put the pads on in a couple of weeks.”

Both Hill and Riley are prime candidates to take on the majority of the workload in Alabama’s backfield this season. Edwards, Pritchett and Ford are expected to aid in creating space as well, and the Tide’s ground game as a whole could quickly begin to improve with Miller no longer in Tuscaloosa.