In recruiting, the ‘athlete’ tag is given to a player for one of two reasons: He either has the athletic potential to excel at any number of positions, or he doesn’t really seem to have a true position and evaluators call him an athlete because they don’t know where he’ll end up.
Less than a week after signing his letter of intent with Alabama, five-star athlete Bo Scarbrough already has his position. He’s going to be a tailback in the Crimson Tide offense, according to head coach Nick Saban. But make no mistake, he won’t just be a grind-it-out type of back.
“We think Bo is a multi-talented guy but we look at him as a running back first,” Saban told Al.com. “He has really a diverse skill level for a big guy, he’s a physical guy. He has really good running ability but he also has great receiving skills. He’s actually played as much wide receiver as he has running back.”
However, Saban wants to avoid the temptation to play him at any other spot.
“As a running back, we can use him in those kind of roles and if he can learn and be ready to help us, I think that because of the kind of player he is, maybe he will be able to contribute in other ways as a player besides running back,” Saban said. “That’s how we would use him as a running back, not playing him at another position.”
If there’s any drawback to this move, it’s that Alabama’s backfield is ridiculously crowded with depth. Not only is TJ Yeldon back for at least one more season, there’s also the quickly-developing Derrick Henry, plus Kenyan Drake, Jalston Fowler, Altee Tenpenny, Dee Hart and Tyren Jones.
But at 6-foot-2, 234 pounds, Scarbrough -- ranked the 16th-best player in the country by Rivals.com -- has the potential to be scary good. His size-speed combination is rare. Here’s a look at his highlight reel. It won’t be the last highlight you’ll see from him.
Photo: Rivals.com.
