First, Kalen DeBoer praised him Wednesday. Then, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb did the same Thursday.
Training camp remains in its infancy, but it’s clear running back Dre Washington has made a good early impression.
“Dre Washington is a guy who’s really showed up the first few days,” Grubb said after the second practice. “I was really impressed with his vision.”
Washington is a transfer running back from Louisiana. He joins a running back corps that returns starter Jam Miller but has plenty of uncertainty otherwise. Washington is competing with Richard Young and Daniel Hill primarily for playing time.
“I think the big thing, they all have their style of running that they are good at,” Grubb said. “I think the pass protection, the consistency and understanding their rules and things like that, I think everybody’s playing catch-up to Jam.”
Young, Hill and Washington are the three running backs DeBoer discussed behind Miller on Wednesday, and the Alabama coach made clear Washington’s firmly in the mix with the returners at the position.
“Dre Washington, I thought he had a really nice practice today,” DeBoer said after the first day. “You can see a new guy that’s come in and you’re seeing the install a second or third time, from spring, summer to fall and how, just like we were talking about with the quarterback position, how it is clicking more.”
Washington is a 5-foot-9, 216-pound running back from Hemphill, Texas. He took 73 carries for 478 yards and five touchdowns a season ago at Louisiana.
Alabama completed its second of 20 preseason practices Thursday. The Cris
