Kalen DeBoer outlines Alabama's running back room behind Jam Miller

The Alabama Crimson Tide are going into year two under the Kalen DeBoer-led coaching staff. There are going to be high expectations on the offense with another year in the system, but with a new starting quarterback in Tuscaloosa, the running game is going to be as important as ever.

With practice underway ahead of the 2025 season, Jam Miller appears to be the clear starting running back. It’s a deep room, though, and DeBoer broke down what the Alabama backs look like behind him recently after practice.

“Sure, you’ve got Rich Young, Daniel Hill coming back also,” Kalen DeBoer said. “I feel like those guys were healthier than they probably ever were last season, throughout the year. Then Dre, Dre Washington. I thought he had a really nice practice today. You can see a new guy that’s come in and now you’re seeing the install a second, third time from spring, summer, to fall. Just like we were talking about with the quarterback position and how it’s clicking more. So, he’s got himself right in the mix there, for sure as we kind of narrow it down.”

Richard Young is a redshirt sophomore for Alabama. He’s appeared in 10 games over the last two seasons with the Crimson Tide, rushing for 170 yards and three touchdowns on 36 carries. Daniel Hill, meanwhile, is a sophomore who appeared in nine games, rushing for 61 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Then, in Dre Washington’s case, he’s a transfer coming in from Louisiana. There, over four seasons, the slightly undersized back played in 33 games and rushed for 1,343 yards and nine touchdowns on 229 carries. Alabama lists several other running backs on their roster, but those three, along with Jam Miller, appear to be the rotation for Alabama as of now.

“There’s skill sets. 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 to where it affects who’s in there. We’re just teaching them all the offense. Especially when you get into all the padded and the physicality and the tackling pieces. That’s a big part of it is being able to break tackles and get into there and protect for the quarterback and do a great job of it. So, they’re all competing,” DeBoer said. “But really, that’s probably where it’s at with those guys, and they’re all doing a good job.”

Those backs are all expected to rotate in behind Jam Miller. Now going into his fourth season with the Alabama program and his second in the DeBoer offense, Miller rushed for 668 yards and seven touchdowns last season. He did that on 145 carries.

With practice underway, the Alabama running back room is coming into clearer shape now. By the opener on August 30th against Florida State, the Crimson Tide should have some idea what that unit is going to look like for the rest of the season.