Whither Kenyan Drake: Why (we think) Alabama hasn’t utilized him more in 2015

For Alabama fans, the moment they realized the 2014 season had a chance to be something special was probably the opening play of the Tide’s massive home date with Florida.

Remember that one? The Gators had run through their September schedule undefeated — they almost always run through September undefeated — and came to Tuscaloosa sporting a stout defense. The game promised to be a classic.

And then on the first play, a clever bit of scheming by Lane Kiffin resulted in this:

Alabama walked to a relatively easy 42-21 victory over the Gators, and though the game’s primary story was Amari Cooper — who finished second in the Heisman voting for 2014 — Kenyan Drake was a valuable supporting player. At 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, Drake had evolved from the Human Victory Cigar in 2012 to something of a Swiss Army Knife by the time we reached 2014. He was that tailback who could line up wide, in the slot, catch passes, run draws, whatever you needed. He was splitting carries with T.J. Yeldon and Derrick Henry, to be sure, but Drake seemed like the most dynamic of that trio only because of his versatility.

Fast forward to the middle of 2015 … and Drake has yet to actually achieve the heights many of us expected. Through seven games in 2015, Drake has touched the ball a mere 70 times on offense, for an average of 6.2 yards per touch. By comparison, his backfield mate Derrick Henry has 160 touches for 6.1 yards per — and only two touchdowns (one rushing and one receiving). He has returned eight kicks for an average of 21.3 yards, which is nice but still, some fans were expecting more.

So, what gives?

The most obvious explanation is probably Drake’s injury. Only two weeks after playing such a vital role in the victory over Florida, Drake was advancing a screen pass from quarterback Blake Sims when he suffered a horrific lower leg injury against Ole Miss. Anyone who could hear him screaming thanks to CBS’ field microphones knew it was serious, and it was. He didn’t return for the rest of 2014.

It is worth wondering whether the injury robbed him of some of his explosiveness. As someone who endured a similar injury — not playing college football, but walking my dog (don’t ask) — I can say with some confidence that the real effect of the injury isn’t so much physical as mental. The greatest challenge to overcome is to have confidence that you can do all the things you used to do, without fear that your leg will suddenly betray you again for no good reason. The quad injury he suffered last week vs. Texas A&M — unrelated to last year’s leg injury  — probably didn’t help, though he is scheduled to be full speed vs. Tennessee this Saturday.

Still, Drake professed that he felt “back to my old self” after Alabama’s season-opening win over Wisconsin, his best game to date — 10 carries, 77 yards and a touchdown, and two catches for 48 yards. He is still the fastest player on the team in terms of pure speed — his 40 time in the spring was 4.44, for whatever that’s worth.

So is there another explanation here? It is true that Alabama’s offense has changed somewhat in 2015, as Kiffin has molded a slightly different look for a unit quarterbacked by Jake Coker (and Cooper Bateman, briefly) instead of Blake Sims. The game plan understandably centers around Henry — who amassed 236 yards last week in the win over A&M — and the playmaking abilities of freshman receiver Calvin Ridley. There simply aren’t that many touches to go around.

There is another possibility.  The offense is still evolving. With Tennessee and LSU still to come, it’s possible we simply haven’t seen Drake utilized in the way he could be only because Alabama is waiting.

One can only hope, anyway.

Will Heath

Will Heath is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football.