How comfortable is Kalen DeBoer with going with a freshman running back?

Alabama wants to run the ball better in 2026. The Crimson Tide fielded one of the nation’s worst ground games last season, and its leading rusher, Jam Miller, is now on an NFL roster.

Alabama welcomed back three running backs from its 2025 team, but none of them topped 300 total yards a year ago. The Tide signed two freshman tailbacks in its 2026 class, including 5-star EJ Crowell. But Crowell missed most of spring practice because of a soft-tissue injury.

Still, the elite recruit is expected to challenge for early playing time this fall. If he lives up to the hype, how comfortable is head coach Kalen DeBoer with playing a freshman running back?

“Well, I think just take EJ or take our situation out of it — I’ve had that happen,” DeBoer told Greg McElroy on the Always College Football podcast. “We’ve been very successful. I think our system allows that. It’d be easier if, now back to our situation, EJ would have been practicing all spring long. 

“It’s knowing your job. And it’s much like we talked about with the offensive line, it’s doing your job, but it’s also doing it along with everyone else. Trusting the offensive line when there’s a pressure is gonna take this guy and having those reps, banked reps, and done it so many times where you can’t do it wrong. It’s always gonna be done right. 

“Again, a lot of times, that’s not just you doing your job and confident in yourself, it’s you being confident in everyone else and having seen that take place where you’re picking up a blitz over and over.”

As DeBoer said, it wouldn’t be the first time he leaned on a rookie running back. In fact, during the 2017 season at Fresno State, he relied on two — Jordan Mims (151 carries, 627 yards) and Ronnie Rivers (101, 480). If Crowell can play some catch-up, he could be similarly used.

“I had two freshmen at Fresno State that we’d go out there on the field against anyone, and we did there in 2017, and they were good players,” DeBoer said. “Both of them had, but one is still playing, Ronnie Rivers, there with the Rams as of last year. 

“But it wasn’t a size thing. It was just a matter of a guy who was technically sound, had the instincts, was disciplined, and I think a lot of those things do carry over with our young guys we’ve added to the running back corps that already exists.”

Mr. Football in the state of Alabama this past year, Crowell rushed for more than 2,600 yards and 35 touchdowns in what should have been his junior season at Jackson (Ala.) High School. He reclassified to the 2026 class and enrolled early at Alabama for the spring semester.

Crowell was sidelined this spring, but the coaching staff has high hopes for the talented rookie.

“I think the raw instincts of EJ … from what we’ve seen, whether it’s high school film or just a few snaps he took at the beginning of spring ball, there’s a high ceiling for him,” DeBoer said. “He can run well. You can see that, and that comes out through the winter workouts. I think there’s football instincts and things like that.”

Crowell isn’t the only running back on Alabama’s roster. Daniel Hill, Kevin Riley and AK Dear are all back, and the Tide also brought in Trae’Shawn Brown and Khalifa Keith. That entire unit wants to be more explosive after Alabama ranked 125th out of 136 FBS teams last year.

“I’m proud of that group, the way that they help each other right now,” DeBoer said. “I don’t wanna say that they got a chip on their shoulder, but I think they all know that they each can elevate their own game individually and as a whole. We wanna get more out of their group and the run game altogether.”

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