College Football: Top 5 early breakout candidates for 2020 season

Najee Harris returning to Alabama for his senior season makes sense. With running backs like JK Dobbins, Jonathan Taylor, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and D’Andre Swift going to the NFL, it was hard to gauge where he would go in the draft.

He, along with offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood returning to Tuscaloosa was good news for Crimson Tide fans. More specifically, it was good news for the coaching staff.  When starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was lost for the season because of a knee injury, Harris became an integral part of the offense.

This season Harris stands to be a key to Alabama’s offense once again. With the departure of Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III — in addition to Tua — Harris stands to get a lot of carries. If offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian and Nick Saban decide to start freshman Bryce Young, Harris could see a lot of carries until Young absorbs the playbook.

If junior quarterback Mac Jones stars, he is still going to see a lot of carries. When Tua went down, Najee’s carries went up. Of his 209 carries, he got 24.4 percent of them — 51 carries — in the last two games of the season. Without the dynamic playmakers on the outside, Saban might try to play a bit more power football.

That means more carries for Harris and behind an offensive line led by Alex Leatherwood, Harris could have a big season.