Alabama Crimson Tide

College football prognosticator Phil Steele continues his look at the top depth charts around the country. Today, we're looking at his top running back depth charts .

Steele has three SEC teams on his list, with Georgia taking his top spot. Alabama is No. 2, while Texas A&M is 14th.

It's hard to argue against having Georgia No. 1. The Bulldogs bring back the top one-two rushing punch in Todd Gurley, who led SEC running backs with 1,385 yards and 17 touchdowns, and slasher Keith Marshall. The duo combined for 2,144 yards and averaged 6.3 yards per carry. There isn't much behind these two, but they did just fine with the majority of the carries last year.

Alabama has a very deep backfield that's led by sophomore T.J. Yeldon, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards last year. He should compete to be one of the top players at his position this fall as both a slasher and a pounder. The Tide will get back the beastly Jalston Fowler, who is coming off of knee surgery, and scat back Dee Hart, who is also returning from a knee injury. Sophomore Kenyan Drake is back and true freshman Derrick Henry should help out as both a running back and H-back this fall.

As for the Aggies, they're also very deep at running back. Leading rusher Ben Malena (808 yards) is back, and he'll be working with some younger but very talented teammates. Brandon Williams, who transferred from Oklahoma, has the potential to be very special. Then you have Oregon transfer Tra Carson and sophomore Trey Williams. There is a lot of speed and athleticism in Texas A&M's running back stable.

I'd also keep an eye on Florida, LSU and Ole Miss this fall. The Gators will be led by sophomore Matt Jones, who had a very good spring and should pick up right where Mike Gillislee left off. He'll also get help from redshirt junior Mack Brown, who left spring as the No. 2 back, and freshmen Kelvin Taylor and Adam Lane. Taylor had a good spring and Lane should come in and help right away.

LSU might have made Steele's list if Jeremy Hill wasn't suspended from the team. Hill's recent arrest has his future at LSU in doubt, but if he plays this fall he'll be one of the league's best. Kenny Hilliard and Alfred Blue are nothing to sneeze at. Both have shown flashes in the past and Blue should be healed from a knee injury that cost him most of his 2012 season. Losing Hill will really hurt, but the Tigers have a solid duo in Hilliard and Blue to work with.

Ole Miss returns rushing leader Jeff Scott and a talented bunch of youngsters. Scott is a solid all-purpose-type back, while sophomores I'Tavius Mathers and Jaylen Walton came on strong late last year and this spring. True freshman Mark Dodson will get his chance to see the field as well after a strong spring.

During the summer, TideNation will analyze each of the scholarship players on the Alabama roster -- excluding the Tide's 2013 recruiting class -- in our Crimson Countdown series. Starting with No. 1 Dee Hart, we will go through the roster numerically, finishing with No. 99 Brandon Ivory.

No. 1 Dee Hart
Redshirt sophomore running back

Expectations for 2013: Until he proves he can get to 100 percent and stay there, it's hard to determine just what kind of impact he'll have on the football field. He does have a unique skill set, though, with the speed to get outside the tackles and the hands to catch the ball out of the backfield. Simply put, he's a scatback in a room full of bruisers. But it's also a crowded rotation with T.J. Yeldon, Kenyan Drake and Jalston Fowler all vying for carries. The addition of early enrollee Derrick Henry further complicates things, and it's conceivable that one of the three incoming freshmen at the position creates a role for himself as well.

Best-case scenario: Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier can get creative with Hart if he chooses. In addition to being a threat in the return game, Hart could be a weapon on third down and a possibility to split out as a wide receiver at times, something Alabama hasn't done much of in years past. He may not be a guy the defense circles in the running game, but he's someone it will have to account for as a pass-catcher. However, Hart's biggest asset might be his knowledge of the system and his ability to pass protect, something Yeldon struggled with at times last season and something the younger backs will have to pick up quickly.

Worst-case scenario: Hart isn't someone the staff should rely on this season. You can't ignore back-to-back major knee operations. And even if he finds a way to stay healthy, there are still questions whether or not he'll have the same burst that made him such a highly regarded prospect coming out of high school.

Future impact: A few carries per game a significant role on special teams looks to be Hart's future at Alabama for the time being. After a spring spent learning the ropes on defense, there's also a real possibility that he could transition to cornerback in the event of a few injuries at that position.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Most high school seniors take to the beach for their spring break. Not ESPN 150 running back Altee Tenpenny. Instead, he visited the University of Alabama, his home for the next three to five years.

Tenpenny spent four days in Tuscaloosa, where he met with the coaches and the players and watched the Crimson Tide’s first week of spring practice.

“It was good,” he said. “I went down there and really got to see the environment, the tempo of their practice and got to see what they were doing.”

This spring, all eyes have been on freshman sensation T.J. Yeldon and early enrollee Derrick Henry, but it was the veteran of the group who pulled Tenpenny aside and gave him advice during practice.

“The one that I communicated with the most was Jalston Fowler,” Tenpenny said. “I watched the drills, and he would come over there and tell me what was going on and what Coach [Burton] Burns kind of expected.”

As for Burns, Alabama’s running backs coach, he’s ready to get Tenpenny on campus.

“He was just telling me what he expected of the running backs and how he expected us to practice,” Tenpenny said. “He told me when I come down there, he expects me to get to work.”

On his visit, Tenpenny toured the Tide’s new weight room. Because of track, he’s only been able to lift in his spare time, but he says he’s can’t wait to put some work in when he gets to UA. He plans to return in April for Alabama’s spring game.

Editor's note: From now until the start of spring camp on March 16, TideNation will count down the 12 most intriguing players to watch on the Alabama football roster. Today we look at running back Kenyan Drake.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Barring injury or some catastrophic setback, T.J. Yeldon is a given for the University of Alabama. The rising sophomore became the first rookie in school history to rush for 1,000 yards this past season, an accomplishment that neither Eddie Lacy, Trent Richardson nor Mark Ingram can claim despite their lofty placement in the pantheon of Crimson Tide running backs.

If there was any doubt who Alabama's next great running back would be when Lacy left, that question was answered definitively by every one of Yeldon's 1,239 total yards and 13 touchdowns. The former blue-chip prospect led the team in rushing for much of the season and finished with just 29 fewer carries than Lacy, who earned First Team All-SEC honors.

Now that Lacy is off to a career in the NFL, the question is no longer who the top dog will be at running back, but rather who his sidekick will become. The answer, as Lacy put it, isn't so simple.

"That's a tough one," he said. "I have no idea. … However they decide to do it, I'm pretty sure they'll be the same way T.J. and I were this year, if not better."

Said Alabama coach Nick Saban: "We have one guy coming back that rushed for a 1,000 yards. We have another guy that carried the ball a few times as a freshman, and two guys that got hurt that may or may not be able to come back and play that position very well."

While Kenyan Drake lacks the experience of a Jalston Fowler or Dee Hart, he might be best equipped to become Yeldon's backup. Both Fowler and Hart are health risks after major knee operations last season, as Saban pointed out, and while Drake carried the ball just 42 times as a true freshman, he hasn't shown many holes in his game. In fact, he might have been the most explosive tailback on the roster. At least his numbers indicate as much.

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The University of Alabama has utilized more and more true freshmen each year, and it should be no different with the 2013 class. The Crimson Tide already have 21 commitments, including 10 ranked in the ESPN 150. It also doesn’t hurt that nine of them have already enrolled and will compete in spring practice.

Instant-impact recruits

RB Derrick Henry: With Eddie Lacy leaving a year early for the NFL, T.J. Yeldon expects to carry the load at running back next year for Alabama. But who will spell him? Both Jalston Fowler and Dee Hart are coming off major knee injuries, and Kenyan Drake will be just a sophomore. After the season Yeldon put together, don’t count out another true freshman making an impact in the backfield next year.

The Tide expect to sign at least three, possibly four ESPN 150 running backs, but the most physical and ready to play is Henry -- who broke the high school career rushing record. The 6-foot-3, 243-pound could see some time at H-back as well, but expect him to start out as a running back.

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