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How Alabama football, Kalen DeBoer plan to replace Jalen Milroe, the runner, in 2025
- Story byThe Tuscaloosa News
- How Alabama football, Kalen DeBoer plan to replace Jalen Milroe, the runner, in 2025
When thinking about replacing Jalen Milroe , and especially the former Alabama football starting quarterback's running ability, Kalen DeBoer knows where the average person's mind goes.
"You kind of think, 'Well, the runs Jalen had just translate to the running backs,'" DeBoer said.
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Simple, right?
Well, not quite.
In the quarterback room, as DeBoer, newly-hired offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan work to secure Milroe's replacement, it's not a room of dual-threat options.
It's not that Ty Simpson , Austin Mack and Keelon Russell are not athletes. It's not that they can't run the ball. It's a recognition DeBoer and his staff have already made that none of the three, whoever takes the first snap against Florida State Aug. 30, will have the same rushing production as Milroe.
Milroe's kind of production in the run game is difficult to replicate, leading the team in carries (168), rushing yards (726) and rushing touchdowns (20), nearly doubling the total rushing scores compared to the rest of Alabama 's 2024 roster.
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What will Alabama football run game look like without Jalen Milroe ?
So what is the answer? Who does DeBoer see as making up that production? It's not solely about the running backs, he said. But it starts there.
"To me, those runs go to the running backs, but it also may be a few more pass attempts that you have that the play-action game gets opened up with more handoffs to the tailback," DeBoer said. "I see a lot of that kind of developing now with the play-action game because there are more carries the running backs have."
In his two seasons as a starting quarterback, 160 of Milroe's 603 pass attempts came out of play-action sets — about 26%. He completed about 66% of those throws for 1,460 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions.
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Alabama may be resorting back to the play-action styles Bryce Young brought, who had 297 play-action drop backs in two seasons per Pro Football Focus, or Mac Jones , who had 200 play-action plays on 428 total drop backs in 2020.
For DeBoer, especially paired with his quarterback guy in Grubb, that lack of a dual-threat quarterback is expected.
Sep 7, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe (4) leaps over the goal line for a touchdown against South Florida at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images
In Grubb's five seasons as an offensive coordinator with Fresno State and Washington, one quarterback eclipsed 100 yards rushing in a given season: Jorge Reyna in 2019. In Grubb's one season as offensive coordinator with the Seattle Seahawks , quarterback Geno Smith had 272 rushing yards.
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Even with the return of Jam Miller and Richard Young in the running back room, Alabama still has a gaping hole in terms of run game production. And DeBoer and his team of offensive minds are putting a plan in place to replace it.
"The system is the same, the concepts are the same," DeBoer said. "It's just what what direction to do you call more plays when it comes to the style of runs, which are definitely more tailback oriented right now for sure compared to what we had a year ago."
Alabama will hold its annual A Day spring game at noon April 12 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: How Alabama football, Kalen DeBoer plan to replace Jalen Milroe in run game
