If you are looking for storylines surrounding the USFL heading into week 7, in my opinion none is better than this one. Bo Scarbrough, a man born, and raised in Alabama, has been signed to the only professional football team in his home state. The Birmingham Stallions needing depth at running back have signed the Alabama native.
Alabama Through and Through
The Alabama kid is back to his old ways, tearing up opposing defenses not far from where he grew up. Bo Scarborough is an Alabama legend, and for good reason. This man was born in Eutaw, Alabama and didn’t stray far to attend high school ultimately graduating from Tuscaloosa County High School in Northport, Alabama.
His high school is just under an hour’s drive from Protective Stadium and the City of Birmingham where he now plays every week for the Stallions. Scarbrough, despite having a rough stretch with several injuries in high school still managed to obtain an offer to Alabama, and ultimately chose to stay home when his dream school came calling.
Injuries As Early As High School
After suffering a broken ankle as a freshman, a torn ACL as a sophomore, and a high ankle sprain as a junior, no one would have blamed Bo if that had been enough to hang up the cleats. However, he simply couldn’t put down the sport he loved.
Attending Alabama was unfortunately more of the same for the young back. As a redshirt freshman, he would tear an ACL once again and miss the first four games of the year. He sat on the bench behind guys like Derrick Henry, Kenyan Drake, and Damien Harris, all of which are still in the NFL right now.
Only the Best Backs in ‘Bama
The depth chart at Alabama when it comes to running back has always been a dog-eat-dog atmosphere where Nick Saban simply recruits the best talent year after year and then waits for the cream to rise to the top. In Scarbrough’s sophomore and junior years, he would end up competing with Damien Harris, Naaje Harris, and Josh Jacobs for carries.
This led to some relatively paltry numbers coming out of college. However, this also kept him more or less healthy over the bulk of his college career. In total, he managed 267 carries for 1,512 yards and 20 TDS with a 5.7 yard per carry average. He also showed that he could add value in the passing game as a blocker, and receiver at 6’1 235 lbs. He would rack up 21 receptions for 131 yards, 17 of which came in his final season.
NFL Draft
Bo left college following his junior year. He would go on to be selected in the 7th round by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2018 NFL Draft. Scarbrough was the victim of an odd situation in Dallas when they chose to keep just two backs on the active roster. He was released and left on the open market for almost a month.
When Darius Jackson was signed away by the Packers off of the Cowboys practice squad, Scarbrough took his spot for about a month before being let go once again. Over the rest of the season, he spent time on the practice squad in Jacksonville, and was then signed to the active roster by the Seahawks but didn’t appear in a game.
First NFL Carries Come at Ford Stadium
In 2019 he got his first NFL action when he landed in Detroit. He would go on to play in 6 games and rack up 89 carries for 377 yards and 1 TD, 4.2 yards per carry. He added just 1 reception for 5 yards but also fumbled just one time on 90 touches. However, Detroit did not retain him following 2019.
He would again land with Seattle this time ultimately seeing action in one game where he had 6 carries for 31 yards. Since then he has only gotten one more opportunity to show what he can do with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021 but was released before the regular season.
Bo, Back at Home in Bama
However, now that his home state has a professional team, Bo Scarbrough is back. He returned home to the Stallions. After one game as a depth piece, giving him a chance to get a feel for the offense, he was handed the start. After two games Scarbrough has 23 carries for 130 yards and 1 TD. He has the highest yards per carry average on the team and tops the next running back by 0.6 yards per carry.
He immediately walked up and kicked the door in on the USFL leader board after just two weeks of playing time. Scarbrough and Anthony Jones are the only two players in the top 20 rushers currently, who have played four games or less. Needless to say, I am excited to see what Scarborough can do in week 7, and beyond as the new face of the backfield in Birmingham.
