Former Alabama running back first RB selected in 2022 USFL Draft

The inaugural draft is being held this week for the re-start of the USFL. On Wednesday afternoon, Day 2 of the draft, the Tampa Bay Bandits selected the first running back off the board. They picked former Alabama Crimson Tide running back BJ Emmons. The 6-foot, 220-pound running back was a five-star prospect in the 2016 recruiting cycle, according to the On3 Consensus. He originally committed to the Alabama Crimson Tide and enrolled there in the fall of 2016.

During his freshman season with the Tide, he rushed 35 times for 173 yards and also had one score. Emmons also tallied a number of tackles on special teams that season. He suffered a season-ending foot injury in the eighth game of his freshman year. He then transferred to Hutchinson Community College (Hutchinson, Kansas) for the 2017 season. There in 12 games, he rushed for 694 yards and 10 touchdowns on 150 carries. After not playing in 2018, Emmons returned back to FBS, latching on with Lane Kiffin’s Florida Atlantic Owls. During the 2019 and 2020 seasons with the Owls, he rushed for a total of 353 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 4.0 yards per carry.

In the 2021 NFL Draft, Emmons was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Seattle Seahawks. In the 2021-2022 NFL season, he bounced around for a brief time on a number of teams, including Seattle, Las Vegas, and more recently, Jacksonville. The Jaguars signed him to their practice squad over a month ago in January.

But now, it appears Emmons will get his shot in the new startup league, the re-start of the USFL. His college career didn’t shake out nearly as well as he would have liked, but he has examples of players like D’Ernest Johnson of the Browns to look to. He shined with the Orlando Apollos in the AAF and now he’s turned himself into one of the more impressive backup running backs in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns.

Emmons was one of the most prolific high school running back prospects in the country

It will be interesting to see how it works out for the former Alabama running back. He was one of the most decorated prospects in the country coming out of high school. The North Carolina native rushed for 6,573 career rushing yards and 101 touchdowns during his storied prep career. When he chose Alabama, he chose the Tide over offers from Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and many others.