Tyler Booker says Alabama wants to 'make people quit' with run-first approach
Tyler Booker arrived at Alabama as a 4-star prospect and key offensive lineman in the 2022 recruiting class. After appearing in 12 games as a freshman, he’s prepared — and ready — for the run-first approach of Tommy Rees’ offense.
Speaking with the media, Booker addressed the mindset of Alabama’s new offensive coordinator. Booker admitted he likes the approach and the run-first mentality with the Crimson Tide getting back to the passing attack serving as a complement to the run game.
He also said Alabama’s goal this season is to “make people quit this year” with a run-first mentality that grinds the opposition down:
“We wanna make people quit this year, and there’s no better way to do that rather than to run the ball. So we’re gonna run the ball this year,” said Booker on Monday. “We’re gonna pass the ball, as well, because we have a lot of talented guys at receiver and we have a lot of guys who can throw the ball very well. Just having that run-first mentality as an offensive line, that just gets us going because we wanna make people quit.”
Booker went on to describe his attitude while blocking as “physically dominating.” That’s the approach of Alabama’s entire offensive line with the Crimson Tide hoping to intimidate opposing defenses with the ground game.
“We wanna physically dominate you. We wanna intimidate you. We want the third quarter to roll around and the defense to be like, ‘Oh my gosh, we still can’t stop the run. How are we gonna stop this run?’ We want guys to tap out,” Booker explained. “We want guys to fear us.
“But that’s a mindset that we have to develop now in camp. Being here at the University of Alabama, that’s the mindset of running the ball. You’re not gonna play offensive line here if you don’t have that mindset. Whoever you see on the field has that physically dominating mindset. We’re going out there like we’re trying to make you quit every play.”
Last season, Alabama averaged 195.5 rushing yards per game while the passing attack averaged over 280 yards per game. In Alabama’s 2 losses, the Tide averaged just 125.5 yards per game.
While the quarterback battle is generating a lot of attention in fall camp, there’s no denying an improved run game would do wonders for the program in 2023. We’ll see if Rees’ offensive approach and run-first mentality help Alabama better control the flow of games this season.
