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Ranking The RBs In The Saban Era

Posted on 6/3/21 at 9:57 am
Posted by CrimsonClover
Member since Oct 2020
1063 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 9:57 am
This is a ranking list based on how good they were, as opposed to statistics. Any back on any Saban Alabama team is eligible.

1. Derrick Henry
2. Alvin Kamara
3. Mark Ingram
4. Najee Harris
5. Kenyan Drake
6. Josh Jacobs
7. Eddie Lacy
8. TJ Yeldon
9. Trent Richardson
10. Bo Scarbrough
11. Damien Harris
12. Glenn Coffee


Posted by internetdad
Member since Mar 2021
607 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 10:09 am to
Swap Najee and Mark.

Swap Drake and Josh.

Swap Yeldon and Trent.

Posted by Carlton
Good Cop/Bad Cop
Member since Feb 2016
11647 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 10:10 am to
The things you doing with 6-9 I cannot cosign.
Posted by CrimsonClover
Member since Oct 2020
1063 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 10:23 am to
Swap Najee and Mark. - this is a tough one, but Mark Ingram has proven a lot more to this point.

Swap Drake and Josh. - A good argument could be made for this. At Alabama before his injury, Drake was the baddest dude I've ever seen - reminiscent of Waddle. His talent was unreal. He wasn't properly utilized in his first 3-4 seasons in the NFL, and at this point he's lost a step or two, but is still a productive NFL back.

Swap Yeldon and Trent. - it's hard to rate Trent because his total failure in the NFL is mind-boggling. He was great in college, but it makes you question how good he really was vs. how good our O-line was.
This post was edited on 6/3/21 at 1:54 pm
Posted by Alfie Solomons
Alabama
Member since Aug 2020
826 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 12:28 pm to
Eddie Lacy at 7 and Trent Richardson at 9 shows this list really isn’t based solely on how good they were at Alabama.

Definitely some NFL bias going on here.

Kamara in the top 10?

1. Henry
2. Ingram
3. N. Harris
4. Richardson
5. Lacy
6. Yeldon
7. D. Harris
8. Drake
9. Jacobs
10. Coffee
11. Scarborough
12. Kamara

Posted by Bama2020
Member since Sep 2020
541 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 1:01 pm to
1. Derrick Henry
2. Mark Ingram
3. Trent Richardson
4. Damien Harris
5. Najee Harris
6. Josh Jacobs
7. Eddie Lacy
8. Kenyan Drake
9. TJ Yeldon
10. Glenn Coffee
11. Bo Scarbrough
Posted by OldPete
Georgia
Member since Oct 2013
2804 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 1:17 pm to
Henry
Ingram
N. Harris
Richardson
Yeldon
Lacy
D. Harris
Jacobs
Drake
Coffee
Scarborough
Posted by Carlton
Good Cop/Bad Cop
Member since Feb 2016
11647 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 1:28 pm to
Man I think Josh Jacobs is criminally underrated on these list. I know he was never full time but he is the second highest drafted back in the Saban era, 3rd highest in like the last 60-70 years at Bama. He could run out the backfield, slip guys in small spaces, hit with power, was an outstanding blocker, catch the ball out the backfield and from any of the receiver positions running very good routes and return kicks and punts. I thought he was the best out the group when he, Najee and Damien were here.
This post was edited on 6/4/21 at 6:49 am
Posted by 1BamaRTR
In Your Head Blvd
Member since Apr 2015
22506 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 1:29 pm to
quote:

Definitely some NFL bias going on here.

Kamara in the top 10?

I was confused too but he seems to be basing it off pure talent. Not what they did because otherwise Kamara shouldn’t be on this list at all. Even Dee Hart would rank higher because he actually played.

But based on pure talent, Kamara is no.2
Posted by 14&Counting
Eugene, OR
Member since Jul 2012
37564 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 1:36 pm to
quote:

2. Alvin Kamara


LOL wut?

Posted by FourThreeForty
Member since May 2013
17290 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 1:39 pm to
quote:

Swap Drake and Josh.



You did that on purpose
Posted by CrimsonClover
Member since Oct 2020
1063 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 1:51 pm to
quote:

I was confused too but he seems to be basing it off pure talent

Exactly. It's about who was the best - not who had the most productive Alabama career (most playing time).
This post was edited on 6/3/21 at 1:56 pm
Posted by CrimsonClover
Member since Oct 2020
1063 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 1:54 pm to
quote:

4. Damien Harris
5. Najee Harris

bruh.. wut?
Posted by CrimsonClover
Member since Oct 2020
1063 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 2:00 pm to
quote:

D. Harris
Jacobs

Posted by internetdad
Member since Mar 2021
607 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 3:06 pm to
I definitely did.
Posted by OldPete
Georgia
Member since Oct 2013
2804 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 6:19 pm to
quote:

quote:
D. Harris
Jacobs





Jacobs
2016: 85-567, 6.7, 4 TDs rushing / 14-156 receiving
2017: 46-284, 6.2, 1 TD rushing / 14-168, 2 TDs receiving
2018: 120-640, 5.3, 11 TDs rushing / 20-247, 3 TDs receiving

Harris
2016: 146-1,047, 7.1, 2 TDs rushing / 14-99, 2 TDs receiving
2017: 135-1,000, 7.4, 11 TDs rushing / 12-91 receiving
2018: 150-876, 5.8, 9 TDs rushing / 22-204 receiving
Posted by Eli Goldfinger
Member since Sep 2016
32785 posts
Posted on 6/3/21 at 6:57 pm to
Why no love for Terry Grant?
Posted by CrimsonClover
Member since Oct 2020
1063 posts
Posted on 6/4/21 at 2:25 am to
Did you not read the OP? This isn’t a stat comparison. This is a discussion about who was the best. We’re all capable of Googling stats, and we all know Damien Harris shouldn’t have been starting over Josh Jacobs and Najee Harris, but whatever
Posted by RollTide1987
Augusta, GA
Member since Nov 2009
64889 posts
Posted on 6/4/21 at 4:49 am to
quote:

we all know Damien Harris shouldn’t have been starting over Josh Jacobs and Najee Harris, but whatever


This is all based on where Jacobs and Najee were drafted in the NFL Draft compared to where Damien was drafted. Bottom line...Najee didn't come into his own until 2019. He was something of a disappointment in 2018 because he frequently missed assignments and could not see the holes as well as Damien Harris and Jacobs could. Najee eventually cleaned his play up and went on to be one of the best RBs of the Saban Era.
Posted by OldPete
Georgia
Member since Oct 2013
2804 posts
Posted on 6/4/21 at 7:49 am to
Yeah, but you disregard that Harris had a better YPC than Jacobs in each year, more yards, not to mention he had back to back 1,000 yard seasons, I believe which, of the other backs on the list, only TJ Yeldon & Najee Harris achieved, and he was much more durable than Jacobs. Harris also averaged over 7 YPC in his two 1,000 yard seasons which might be the two highest YPC for any season for a back in the Saban era (that had a decent amount of carries). And they played at the same time with the same offensive line and Harris had better production in those three years running the football...so how are stats not relevant? And it’s not like I had Harris way above Jacobs just a notch above...

Stating who was the most talented is entirely subjective; shoot, a healthy Bo Scarborough may have been the most talented of the bunch but no one has him near the top of their lists for a reason...
This post was edited on 6/5/21 at 11:38 pm
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