Kalen DeBoer would 'love' to see Jam Miller, Justice Haynes get more touches

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Following three straight games of 11 combined carries, Alabama running backs Jam Miller and Justice Haynes saw an uptick in their utilization. The Crimson Tide backs received 23 total touches (20 carries, 3 receptions) in the win over South Carolina.

But Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer would still like to see more.

“That number, I think we would love to see that be higher,” DeBoer said on Monday.

Miller is Alabama’s leading rusher with 360 yards and five touchdowns on 51 carries. Haynes, who has started all six games, has run for 249 yards and three touchdowns on 39 carries. Both backs rank among the top 10 in the SEC in yards per carry, as Miller leads the league with an average of 7.06 yards per carry and Haynes is ninth at 6.38 yards per tote.

DeBoer said you want to have two running backs to rotate, but with quarterback Jalen Milroe, who leads the Crimson Tide with 77 rushing attempts (sacks included), that affects the ground game as more designed runs have been baked into DeBoer’s offensive system.

“How come that number is lower? I think it gets taken from some of J-Mill’s carries, which how can you argue with some of that when you’re rattling off some of the runs that he’s had?” DeBoer said. “There’s that fine line of using him and keeping him fresh and using these other guys.”

Alabama rushed for 104 yards and three touchdowns on 38 carries a week ago against South Carolina, with the backs accounting for 68 of those yards and one touchdown by Haynes.

“I thought Jam and Justice ran very hard,” DeBoer said. “… They’re very critical to our offense. They’re extremely athletic. They can do it all. They’re every-down backs in their own right, and we need to continue to grow. And I think we took another step this week. 

“I think South Carolina had a very strong defensive front, not just upfront but tying the linebacker corp and how they fit and that was going to be a challenge going in and I thought we took another step in our physicality and our execution. I thought those guys ran hard, as well.”

As for Alabama offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan, he said he probably wouldn’t ever use the word “pleased” when it comes to the run game – or any area – but provided his thoughts.

“I think we took strides running the ball in the game this past week,” Sheridan said. “We had some negative-yardage plays that really kind of skewed the numbers that way, but I thought there was some really strong, tough, physical runs by both Jam and Justice in the game, and so there was things to be encouraged by how we ran the ball at times. 

“I think across the board, we’re looking for consistency. That’s in all areas. There are certainly things that we can do better, both in the run game and the pass game from this past week. And every week presents new challenges. You flip the page, you go to the next week, you start breaking down the next opponent and the things that you’re gonna have to do to be successful, and that is in all areas offensively. 

“But I thought there was some physicality up front. I thought there was some tough running that occurred. You have to eliminate the negative-yardage plays that obviously hurt us in the game, and so, I saw strides. I wouldn’t use the word pleased, but I would say that there was improvement.”

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