Alabama has Confidence in Running Backs Behind Brian Robinson Jr.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. —Over the last two games against Ole Miss and Texas A&M, Brian Robinson Jr. has a combined 60 carries and 318 yards.
The next closest running back during that stretch is Jase McClellan with six carries for 28 yards. McClellan was injured in the third quarter of the Ole Miss game and is now out for the rest of the season.
Current backup Roydell Williams did have a receiving touchdown against A&M, but he only had two carries for three yards.
On Monday, Nick Saban was asked if Robinson has been getting a bulk of the carries because of the depth or if he was just the hot hand. According to Saban, it's a little of both, but he wants to start utilizing other guys more.
"I think that B-Rob's played really really well," Saban said. "The last two weeks, really well. He’s been an outstanding performer for us. And we have confidence in the other guys, and we want to play the other guys.
"We're going to continue to try to use B-Rob and help him be as effective as possible and he's been extremely effective in the last two games, but also utilize the talents of the other players, maybe more and more as we go on."
With a combined 60 carries against SEC defenses that can create a lot of wear and tear on a body, Robinson described feeling like he's been in a physical fight.
"I don’t feel like anyone in this league would be feeling great around this time, but I can say I feel good," Robinson said. "I feel good enough to prepare myself for another week.”
As Alabama heads into another week, this time against Mississippi State, Saban wants Robinson's load to be lightened by guys like Williams and Trey Sanders. Robinson said he has a lot of confidence in what Williams brings to the table for the Crimson Tide.
"We sit in the same meeting room, and we prepare very hard every week," Robinson said. "We go out to the practice field and we prepare hard. We make sure that we are very detailed in everything that we do so just watching him and just helping him along the way helps me build more and more confidence in him.
"Throughout the weeks of practices, just seeing how hard he competes and in the meeting room how much he’s learning and how much he understands of the game and plan and what we’re trying to accomplish, so it just helps me build more confidence in Roydell.”
Alabama will also be looking to utilize the running backs more in the red zone after there were limited touches for them in that area against the Aggies. Saban referred to it as an area of improvment.
"I don’t know if we challenged them running it as much as maybe we could," Saban said. "And you know, that’s one of the things that I think we need to work on trying to improve on."
