Alabama’s running back performance was one of the most discussed topics surrounding the team in 2025.
Averaging 3.4 yards per carry and 104.1 rushing yards per game, Alabama’s offense never figured out how to consistently pick up yards on the ground and suffered from one-dimensionality on offense as a result.
“[It’s] not being consistent and doing what they’ve got to do every play,” head coach Kalen DeBoer said of the team’s running struggles. “I think it’s a full group effort.”
While the reconstruction of the running game will be a task for the entire offense, including the offensive line, the running back room has been transformed going into 2026. The coaching staff will be counting on both instant-impact additions and improved returners to increase the room’s production from last season.
Junior Daniel Hill is the most productive returner to the room, coming off of 75 carries for 284 yards in 2025. He accounted for seven total touchdowns, easily the most of any tailback on the team.
Listed at 6 feet, 1 inch tall and 244 pounds, Hill brings a unique size-speed combination to the position that some fans have compared to that of Heisman-winner Derrick Henry. He showed flashes of elite upside in his sophomore year, particularly in both matchups against Oklahoma where he largely kept Alabama’s running game alive.
Like all backs on the team, however, Hill struggled to find consistency throughout the season, and his 3.8 yards per carry on the year is a number that will have to improve for Alabama to have a dynamic running game in 2026.
Redshirt sophomore Kevin Riley and redshirt freshman AK Dear round out the returners at the position. Riley matched Hill’s 3.8 yards per carry in 2025, and Dear did not see the field much as a true freshman.
Riley showed promise early in the season, picking up 6.3 yards per attempt across his first two games. However, he struggled to replicate that success as the season went on, averaging fewer than 3 yards per carry through the rest of the season.
Dear’s role heading into the new season is possibly the most uncertain of any running back. He had memorable performances against inferior competition in Louisiana-Monroe and Eastern Illinois but was utilized minimally against Alabama’s power conference opponents.
“[Dear] is a guy that was really swimming this spring and has shown some promise here lately,” offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said during fall camp in August.
Dear’s athletic upside could lead to him seeing more snaps this year, and much of his role will depend on his improvement in pass-protection.
With none of Alabama’s returning tailbacks putting up major production last season, however, there is a high chance that freshmen newcomers will be looked to for immediate contribution on the ground.
Freshman Ezavier Crowell, a five-star recruit in the Rivals Industry Rating, is coming into the year as one of the most accomplished high school signees in the class of 2026. He won Gatorade Player of the Year in Alabama after scoring 35 touchdowns on 12.6 yards per carry in his junior season.
Crowell arguably became Alabama’s most talented player at the position upon joining the team. With the large roles true freshmen have played under DeBoer, Crowell’s youth likely won’t keep him out of the rotation if he’s good enough to play immediately.
“Getting him here is huge for us and our program and the running back position,” DeBoer said on early signing day. “[He’s] breaking tackles, bouncing off guys, running through them, making guys miss. He’s an exciting athlete.”
Rounding out the room is another true freshman in Traeshawn Brown, a consensus three-star recruit who joined Alabama’s 2026 class the week of signing day.
Although far less heavily recruited than Crowell, Brown finished his senior season rushing for 1,362 yards and scoring 17 touchdowns. Such a level of production makes it hard to rule him out from early contributions on a team that saw little success from any running back last year.
“We were closer to hitting some runs,” DeBoer said after the win against Georgia in September. “We’ve just got to stay the course and keep working.”
