Is Josh acobs your average Alabama running back or is he special? Scouts looked over Jacobs and said that he would likely be a later first or early second round pick. The thing about Jacobs is that he is completely different in terms of how he was drafted to other star running backs at Alabama. For example, Trent Richardson was a completely different story. He was expected to be drafted early, an NFL draft bust, while guys like Mark Ingram are looked at as a reasonable pick at 28th, because he has had 1,000 plus yards in 2 of his 8 seasons, being named a pro bowl running back twice.
Can we forget about the story of Eddie Lacy too, the guy who would rather put fat into him than hit the gym (which he claimed he did throughout high school), somehow drafted within the first two rounds of the NFL draft. TJ Yeldon looked solid for a backup, sadly, though he was picked in the second round. Derrick Henry looked to rise with great performance at the end of the 2018 NFL season, highlighting the end of the season tied for the longest run in NFL history, which was 99 yards!
Five of the eight NFL drafts have had Alabama running backs get picked in the first two rounds from 2011 to 2018 drafts. Only two of them became pro bowl running backs since 2011 so far, combining for three pro bowls. What is better about these two running backs is that they were only recruited as four stars out of high school, which means three of the five running backs out of Alabama were drafted within the first two rounds in the last eight drafts were drafted as former four star recruits.
The only running back that didn’t make a pro bowl out of Alabama as a four star recruit who was drafted within the first two rounds was TJ Yeldon. The five star recruits as of 2018 that didn’t make a pro bowl were Derrick Henry and Trent Richardson. However, Henry is likely good enough to make a future pro bowl.
What is more special about Josh Jacobs than any of these running backs? Well the answer is that Josh Jacobs was the only three star recruit drafted from Alabama within the first two rounds since 2011, which means that Jacobs likely had the hardest time getting carries during his time at Alabama than the five previously mentioned. Also, he was trying to take over for more carries than Damien Harris, who was a five star running back. This was the way it was throughout the whole college season, which was two running backs Jacobs and Harris splitting carries. Impressively, Jacobs did have thirty less carries than Harris and still managed to have five more total touchdowns than Harris, being more successful in the red zone for Alabama than Harris in both receiving and rushing.
What makes Jacobs just as special as any of the running backs mentioned is that he got on the field as a freshman and played for three straight college seasons and only played three seasons at Alabama. Usually running backs rated that low during recruiting are typically coming out of very small schools, which means we might not see a three star running back like Jacobs be successful in the NFL coming out of a big school. However, this makes his story even more interesting than the majority of running backs in the NFL.
“What makes Jacobs just as special as any of the running backs mentioned is that he got on the field as a freshman and played for three straight college seasons and only played three seasons at Alabama”
