Alabama fifth-year senior running back Brian Robinson Jr.’s patience and persistence paying off

Even by the rough and tumble standards of major college football, Alabama running back Brian Robinson Jr. has dealt with plenty of setbacks during his longer-than-expected college career.

Despite being from Tuscaloosa — or maybe in spite of it — he considered leaving when he failed to break into the starting lineup as a sophomore … and then as a junior … then again as a senior. A once highly coveted prospect, he could have said “forget it” this past offseason and gone to the NFL as a potential late-round pick, forsaking the extra year of eligibility afforded to everyone by the NCAA because of COVID-19. He didn’t. He was determined to make the most of his last opportunity.

He finally became the starter this summer, but even that didn’t come without a potential complication: Robinson promptly cracked one of his ribs three weeks into the season against Florida. Nevertheless, he took only one week off, against Southern Miss, and hasn’t missed a game since. He’s watched two of his backups suffer season-ending injuries, and he hasn’t flinched, shouldering the load with the 11th-most carries in the Power 5 (223).

Despite playing behind one of the least effective offensive lines of the Nick Saban era at Alabama, Robinson has made the most of it with 56.9% of his 1,071 rushing yards coming after contact. A tough, physical runner with deceptive quickness, he leads the SEC with 68 evaded tackles, which is a combination of broken and missed tackles. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. now ranks Robinson as the No. 8 draft-eligible running back on his latest Big Board.

Originally, Robinson thought going to Alabama would be a three- or maybe four-year proposition in which he’d learn all he could before punching his ticket to the NFL.

“It felt like getting knocked down and it was a low point and there was nothing I could do about it,” he said, looking back on his journey. “You can just keep working and working and working, and still it’s not going to get handed to you. But you…