Alabama true freshman running back Trey Sanders suffered what team officials fear is a season-ending foot injury Thursday night in practice, sources confirmed to ESPN.
AL.com first reported that Sanders suffered a significant foot injury on the last play of the team’s practice Thursday night and was expected to miss the entire season. The Crimson Tide are holding their first full scrimmage of the preseason on Saturday, and coach Nick Saban is expected to address the severity of Sanders’ injury following the scrimmage.
Saban said earlier in the week that the 6-foot, 214-pound Sanders, who played at IMG Academy, had shown a lot of promise since arriving on campus as ESPN’s No. 2-ranked running back prospect nationally in the 2019 signing class.
The loss of Sanders would put a dent in Alabama’s running back depth. Josh Jacobs and Damien Harris are both now in the NFL after being drafted in the first and third rounds, respectively, earlier this year.
The Crimson Tide’s leading returning rusher is junior Najee Harris, who was second on the team to Damien Harris with 783 rushing yards last season and a team-leading 6.7 yards per carry.
Alabama coaches are especially high on junior Brian Robinson Jr., who played in 15 games and rushed for 272 yards a year ago. His role will grow considerably this season. The Crimson Tide also brought in ESPN 300 running back Keilan Robinson of Washington, D.C., in this signing class.