Rising sophomore running back T.J. Yeldon repeated his performance from last year in Saturday’s A-Day game.
In 2012, Yeldon compiled 178 yards and a touchdown. On Saturday, he racked up 130 all-purpose yards and a score and received his second consecutive Dixie Howell Award, which is given to the game’s most valuable player.
His numbers may have decreased from his previous spring game, but his importance to Alabama’s offense is greater than a season ago.
With Eddie Lacy leaving for the NFL, Yeldon will be the Crimson Tide’s No. 1 running back in 2013. He will be the example for the inexperienced players to him as a guide in terms of how to approach the game and run the football with authority.
Yeldon was impressive in his freshman year at Alabama, as he rushed for 1,108 yards and 12 touchdowns behind Lacy. He is a balanced runner who can make defenders miss or run right through them.
Early in his career he showed he could be the No. 1 back for the Tide, and just one year into his collegiate tenure, he has the opportunity to head a deep backfield for head coach Nick Saban.
But Yeldon’s performance was not the dominant showing Alabama fans wanted to see at A-Day. Fans had planned to flock to Tuscaloosa and pack Bryant-Denny Stadium to witness the anticipated debut of early enrollee running back Derrick Henry.
Those fans were let down after learning Henry would not be participating in the spring game because of a broken leg. Those same people cancelled their trips with crushed hopes of seeing a big-name recruit run all over one of the Tide’s defenses.
If the fans really wanted to see a special back rack up yards on the first-team defense, they should have come to see Yeldon. Instead, they heard the comparisons of Henry to former Alabama star Trent Richardson and lost focus on the star player who would actually took the field on Saturday.
Yeldon is not given the credit he deserves from two outstanding spring performances and a stellar true freshman season. He is a complete back who can be a major factor in Alabama’s offense for at least the next two seasons.
Next year, he will produce the same numbers with a year of Southeastern Conference experience under his belt. That is a scary thought.
