Now a Veteran, Brian Robinson Jr. Hopes to Become a More Complete RB in 2021
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — While he could have graduated in 2021 as a national champion, Alabama running back Brian Robinson Jr. has unfinished business.
As the Crimson Tide’s primary backup running back in the 2020 season, Robinson saw 91 carries over the course of all 13 of the team’s games, rushing for 483 yards and six touchdowns. In the second half of the College Football Playoff National Championship against Ohio State, Robinson rushed for 69 yards on just 10 carries in the second half — a worthy feat that could quite possibly have earned him a late-round NFL draft spot.
But for Robinson, he wanted more than just a brief moment in the spotlight.
On Friday Robinson spoke to the media for the first time this spring, just eight days before Alabama’s annual A-Day scrimmage game. It was there that Robinson provided an short explanation as to why he returned for one last season in Tuscaloosa.
“Just coming back, I knew it would be important for me to kind of do what I got to do to kind of set myself up for the next step in my life,” Robinson said. “And I just chose to come back so I can join this team, and we can continue to work hard and try to push for another good season.
“So it is a lot that went into that decision, but I’m glad that I came back.”
Over the last four seasons, Robinson has served in a backup capacity to the likes of Bo Scarbrough, Josh Jacobs, Damien Harris and Najee Harris. All four running backs were quality starters, leading to a crowded running room that saw Robinson get the short end of the stick in terms of carries.
This season, though, Robinson hopes to take what he’s learned over his past four years on the bench from those talented backs and translate it into his own personal success on the field.
“Once I started getting recruited, I used to be around Derrick Henry a lot and just watching how he did things around here and how he approached every practice and every game,” Robinson said. “That was a big way for me to kind of see how things should be done around here. And when I came to Alabama I was here with Damien Harris and Bo Scarbrough and Josh Jacobs, and all of those guys developed great leadership roles around me.
“Just watching those guys have success at the college level and onto the NFL level, it’s just influencing, and I just continue to just watch and continue to learn.”
Despite him being expected to take on the primary leadership role, Robinson once again has competition this spring. While he is the veteran in this year’s stable, Robinson leads a relatively young room with redshirt-sophomore Trey Sanders and sophomores Jase McClellan and Roydell Williams — all talented running backs, and all poised to make an impact on next season.
What separates Robinson from the other running backs behind him? For the first time in his career at Alabama, he enters the upcoming season as the most-experience running back on the team.
While he’s spent all four of his seasons with the Crimson Tide, Robinson said that he hopes that what he’s learned over his years in Tuscaloosa will help him become a more complete back in his final season in 2021.
“I would like to do everything a running back can do out of the backfield,” Robinson said. “Whatever that may be whether it’s running, catching, blocking or whatever a feature back should do in the backfield. So that’s definitely something I want to bring into my game — catching the ball, picking up blitzes, obviously having great success in the run game.”
