TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — When Altee Tenpenny was being recruited by the University of Alabama as part of the signing Class of 2013 he obviously hoped to move up the depth chart as quickly as possible.

It’s finally happening, but probably not the way the sophomore running back envisioned.

Saturday, the product of Little Rock will return to Arkansas third on the Crimson Tide depth chart (6 p.m. ET, ESPN). However, due to injuries that’s also the number of tailbacks that Alabama has available, three.

“He’s done really well, he’s been a really good special-teams player for us all year long,” Coach Nick Saban said. “He certainly will get more opportunities. He’ll move up to the third back now, and Jalston Folwer can play tailback, has played tailback too. But Altee has done really, really well for us.”

The attrition is due to junior Kenyan Drake sustaining a season-ending leg fracture against Ole Miss last week, in the wake of redshirt freshman Tyren Jones having surgery to fix a torn tendon in his finger. Jones is back practicing in a black non-contact jersey, but won’t be ready to play in a game for some time.

They’re Alabama’s speed guys out of the backfield. Jones has 13 carries for 89 yards and one touchdown this season, but Drake in particular was a difficult matchup for defenses. He had 22 carries for 112 yards and four rushing touchdowns, five catches for 159 yards and two receiving touchdowns, and one lost fumble.

“He’s a big part of our offense,” Fowler said. “We lose like speed, quickness, him catching the ball, him playing wide receiver, stuff like that.”

Making matters worse for the Crimson Tide is that the primary ball carriers, junior T.J. Yeldon and sophomore Derrick Henry, have both been banged up and haven’t taken the reps they normally would during practices.

Yeldon, who has 77 carries for 407 yard and two touchdowns, is dealing with a hamstring injury.

Henry banged up his shoulder in the season opener against West Virginia and has 70 carries for 357 yards and two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Fowler, with 101 carries for 669 yards, hasn’t taken a handoff this season. Tenpenny has seven for 42 yards, and last year had 22 for 82 yards and a touchdown.

“You could put me in there and let the other running backs do what they do, you could put a tight end and let them do what they do,” Fowler added about replacing Drake. “It won’t be hard, but it’s a big loss to our offense.”