Nick Saban opens up on his running back rotation ahead of Ole Miss game
Alabama football came out sluggish early against the South Florida Bulls, but eventually managed to pull away for a 17-3 win on Saturday with help from their running backs. The Crimson Tide will look to regroup this weekend as they play against an opponent that has managed to upset them a number of times in the past decade, the Ole Miss Rebels.
In the early part of the 2023 campaign, the Alabama offense has only deployed Jase McClellan and Roydell Williams at the running back position. Now that the Crimson Tide are beginning SEC play, will other running backs get the opportunity to get some snaps? In his Wednesday press conference, Alabama head coach Nick Saban gave us some answers.
“Well I hope so. I think Jase and Roydell have played very, very well,” Saban began. “Both guys. But I also have, we also have confidence in Jam [Miller] and you know, Justice [Haynes]. And I think both of those guys will contribute at some point in time in the season pretty significantly. Because they’re both really good players and I think they’re both ready to play.”
Jase McClellan has 35 carries this season for 158 yards and one touchdown. Roydell Williams has 30 carries for 177 rushing yards and one touchdown this season for the Tide.
Running back is what Alabama has been known for over the years, and they’ve got two more waiting
Jamarion Miller is the all-time leading rusher in the history of Tyler Legacy, a school formerly known as Tyler Lee. According to the On3 Industry Rankings for the 2022 cycle, Miller was ranked as the No. 4 running back in the country and the No. 90 overall prospect.
Justice Haynes was yet another highly regarded running back, coming out of Buford High School (Buford, Georgia). According to the On3 Industry Rankings for the 2023 cycle, Haynes was ranked as the No. 2 running back in his class and the No. 33 overall prospect in the country. He drew plenty of praise from Nick Saban in fall camp.
Once he wrapped up his prolific high school career, Haynes ended up with 7,574 yards and 95 touchdowns on the ground. Haynes currently ranks sixth all-time in Georgia’s all-time leaders in career rushing yards, just behind Nick Chubb, who racked up 7,601 yards with Cedartown.
Haynes comes from a family of great football lineage. His father, Vernon, way a running back at Georgia and a fifth-round selection by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2002 NFL Draft.
Kickoff between the ranked conference foes is set for 3:30 PM EST. The game will be nationally televised on CBS.
On3’s Barkley Truax also contributed to this article.