Will Alabama Have a 1,000-Yard Rusher in 2026? Just a Minute

Brian Robinson Jr. in 2021 was the last Crimson Tide player to run for 1,000 yards in a season.

Alabama running back Daniel Hill runs along the sideline in the second half of the SEC Championship on Dec. 6, 2025. | Sarah Munzenmaier/Alabama Crimson Tide on SI

Welcome to BamaCentral’s "Just a Minute," a video series featuring Alabama Crimson Tide on SI's beat writers. Multiple times per week, the writers will group up or film solo to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.

Watch the above video as Alabama Crimson Tide on SI assistant editor and football writer Katie Windham discusses whether or not Alabama will have a 1,000 yard rusher this season.

No Alabama running back (or quarterback) has rushed for 1,000 yards in a single season since Brian Robinson Jr. did so in 2021 with 1,343 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns that season. Jahmyr Gibbs came close the next year with 926, but Robinson was still the last Crimson Tide player to reach that milestone.

Will an Alabama player rush for 1,000 yards in 2026?

There are four possible candidates to do so: junior Daniel Hill, junior Kevin Riley, sophomore AK Dear and freshman EJ Crowell.

I think Crowell will have a 1,000-yard season at some point in his Alabama career, but I don't think it will be in 2026. Because of the way Kalen DeBoer and Ryan Grubb like to run their offense, I don't see any of the other three players crossing the threshold either.

It's no secret that the Crimson Tide has to run the ball better in 2026 than it did in 2025. Last season, Alabama finished 125th out of 136 FBS teams in rushing at just 104 yards per game. Despite missing the first three games of the season, Jam Miller finished as the team's leading rusher with just 504 yards. (Miller is now off to the NFL after getting selected by the New England Patriots in the seventh round.)

As an offense, Alabama ran for just 1,562 yards as a team last season. It was a completely different style of offense, but to put that number in perspective, Derrick Henry ran for 2,219 yards during his Heisman season in 2015.

Alabama can certainly run the ball better without anyone achieving the individual milestone, but there will need to be improvement from somewhere. It will have to be a team effort with the running backs, tight ends and offensive line working in cohesion as the Tide breaks in a new quarterback.

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