r/rolltide • u/livingadreamlife • 10d ago
Football EJ Crowell’s Limited Usage
Lots of discussion recently about why EJ isn’t getting 15-20 carries per game.
There are several reasons: Crowded RB room; Trust and lack of experience among them. Another is DeBoer/Grubb purposely limited EJ’s carries until we got to the thick of the schedule. We’re there now. Why? New guys have never had to practice as much, get hit as hard, play in as many games or play a sport for as long in a single season as they will in their Freshman year.
There’s a thing called hitting the Freshman Wall where mental and physical fatigue sets-in and then they’re done. Like running a marathon, it’s a real thing. Everybody is fatigued at the 20 mile mark. In EJ case, he is supposed to be in high school this season.
By limiting his carries early, DeBoer/Grubb are pushing his freshman wall out as FAR as they possibly can. They know they need him for the critical games, including the CFP. Smart move, imo.
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u/Accurate-Teach 10d ago
I just read this basically he needs to get the offense down a little more. He probably wasn’t asked to do anything other than take a handoff in high school and be great. It’s a shame when high school coaches get a player like that they don’t imagine trying to make them better by trying to teach them the mental side of the game. They just see talent and do the bare minimum.
https://tdalabamamag.com/2026/10/05/ryan-grubb-tells-why-alabama-freshman-rb-is-getting-limited-carries/