During Nick Saban’s tenure at Alabama, each of his teams featured at least one experienced running back and one promising young back, with a lone exception.

In Saban’s first season at the helm, the running back situation was less than ideal. Redshirt freshman Terry Grant and redshirt sophomore Glen Coffee split carries during the 2007 season. Coffee played sparingly during his freshman season before redshirting the following year with a medical injury. The 2007 team finished the season with a 7-6 record, the worst during Saban’s time in Tuscaloosa.

This season marks a similar situation with inexperience in the backfield. So, should Tide fans be worried?

Well, yes and no.

Unlike 2007, Saban is working with players he and running backs coach Burton Burns personally recruited, not a couple of guys they inherited.

While Saban hasn’t named a starter, the early presumed candidates are Bo Scarbrough and Damien Harris, who took the first and second-team snaps at the annual A-Day spring game. In fact, Harris earned MVP of the game.

Scarbrough, who finished high school at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., leaned toward Alabama early in his recruitment but also received strong interest from the top schools in Florida, including Miami and Florida State. A five-star recruit, Scarbrough grew up in Tuscaloosa. His 6-foot-2, 230-pound frame fits the profile of a physical Alabama back.

Meanwhile, Alabama had to fend off Ohio State and others to win the recruitment of Harris of Madison Southern High School in Berea, Ky. Harris, also a five-star recruit, has a more prototypical running back size at 5-foot-11, 214 pounds.

Both players saw some action last season, but they played sparingly. Harris had 46 carries for 157 yards and a touchdown, while Scarbrough had 18 carries for 104 yards and a score.

So, a bigger question might be: How do the Alabama backs stack up against the rest of the conference?

Because Alabama runs the ball more than the average team (even in the SEC), Harris and Scarbrough should stack up reasonably well in terms of production. After all, the Tide ground game has finished among the SEC’s top five in seven of the last eight seasons dating back to Year 2 under Saban (finishing sixth in 2014).

LSU probably wins any bragging rights when it comes to the running back position with junior Leonard Fournette returning for what could be his final collegiate season. Fournette rushed for nearly 2,000 yards last season while averaging a spectacular 6.5 yards per carry. With former four-star recruit Derrius Guice expected to get more carries and help Fournette shoulder his workload, LSU rightfully stands at the top of the position heading into the season.

In the SEC East, Tennessee has one of the strongest groups. Jalen Hurd was fourth in the conference in rushing yards with 1,288, coming in behind two NFL draftees (Derrick Henry and Alex Collins) and Fournette. Teammate Alvin Kamara finished 13th in the conference in rushing yards with 698.

Georgia should have a strong backfield, but Nick Chubb returning from a gruesome injury last season remains a major question mark. Chubb didn’t even play in six full games last season and still finished 11th in the conference in rushing yards. He averaged a staggering 8.1 yards per carry. If he returns fully healthy, then put Georgia at the top with LSU.

Georgia’s problem is felt by most of the SEC this season at the position: uncertainty. Arkansas lost Alex Collins and Texas A&M lost Tra Carson, leaving some doubts in the backfield. Auburn lost Peyton Barber but should be okay with Jovon Robinson taking on a bigger role.

Despite Alabama’s lack of experience at the position, having two five-star recruits who have shown well in practice and are running behind a strong offensive line should make them one of the better units in the conference, especially with Saban’s recent history at the position.

In 2008, Coffee proved worthy of starting reps at back. His backup? Mark Ingram, Jr. Obviously, Ingram took over the starting role in 2009 and did well enough to win the Heisman with Trent Richardson serving as his backup during both the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

Since then, it’s been a revolving door of stellar stables.

Richardson took over the starting job in 2011 with Eddie Lacy serving as his backup. Then, Lacy took over as starter in 2012 with T.J. Yeldon in the backup role. Yeldon earned the starter role in 2013 with Kenyan Drake serving as his backup. Yeldon was again the starter in 2014 with Derrick Henry serving as his backup. Last season, Henry earned the Heisman trophy as the starter and Drake served as his backup.

Richardson, Yeldon and Henry were all five-star recruits coming out of high school, and all three received numerous carries and racked up thousands of rushing yards during their time at Alabama. Ingram, Lacy and Drake were four-star recruits.

Given the lack of experience of Scarbrough and Harris, Tide fans have good reason for some trepidation. Still, if Scarbrough and Harris remain healthy, there is no reason to believe they won’t be able to put up similar numbers to recent Alabama running backs.

It would actually turn more heads if they didn’t.