FOX Sports Analyst Discusses If Alabama Running Backs Are Overused Entering NFL Draft [Audio]

Charles Davis, college football analyst for FOX Sports, joined Ryan Fowler inside "The Game" to break down the Alabama players in the NFL Draft, but also to give his thoughts on if Nick Saban-coached running backs are overused before they get drafted into the NFL.

A couple weeks ago, Davis' colleague at FOX Sports Colin Cowherd made a comment that Alabama running backs under Nick Saban are overused and beat up when they decided to call it quits for their collegiate careers and enter the NFL Draft. The past few highly touted running back from Alabama that are now in the NFL haven't been extremely productive, save for Eddie Lacy (although injuries have plagued him from time to time), and Cowherd said that that is from Saban using them too much while in Tuscaloosa.

Ryan asked Davis if this supposed overuse is a real problem or a concern for NFL front office suits, and Davis made it clear that college coaches have one job: to win for their university, but they must consider the health of their players simultaneously.

"As long as I know that any coach, and I'm not going to use Coach Saban as the only example, is not sending a kid out that is not medically cleared, is not ready to play, you know if you're not forcing them to go against their will... This is college football and his job is to do what's best for the University of Alabama.

"Is there some sense of, 'Hey, make sure you're looking out for your kids?' Yes there is, but not at the expense of trying to win games for the good, the greater good."

The player in question is Derrick Henry and the amount of work he was asked to do last season for the Crimson Tide. Running backs in the NFL have short shelf lives, and some argue that running backs don't need to be overrun in college if they want a long and successful NFL career. In Henry's case, he was rarely used during his first two year's on campus, but was used extensively during his junior season, rushing 395 times for 2219 yards. However, Davis believes that this is a non-issue in this instance.

"If he had had that same workload for three years, four years at aAlaabama, now we've got something to talk about. But again, will that be on the coach? I don't know that's necessarily true. If you told me he was carrying it 45 times and they were winning 60-0, then I'd worry about what they were doing over there. But he's carrying it to win an SEC Championship, a college football semifinal, and a college football championship game."

You can hear his comments on the topic below, and you can hear the entire interview in our podcast center.