J'Marion Burnette, 4-star RB, has offers from Alabama, Auburn football and 2,000-yard season
ANDALUSIA – There's another star Alabama high school football running back emerging near the southern border of the state.
Months after class of 2022 Geneva County four-star running back Emmanuel Henderson signed to Alabama football, Andalusia sophomore J'Marion Burnette picked up an offer from the Crimson Tide, his "dream" program.
He posted an offer from Auburn a day later. Burnette, 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, rushed for 2,070 yards and 25 touchdowns and had 2,245 all-purpose yards in 2021.
Andalusia entered last season with three players who were going to play running back, but after a few weeks it was clear the backfield's was Burnette. He led the Bulldogs to the AHSAA 5A semifinals, where they lost to eventual state champion Pike Road.
"I put in the work every day," Burnette said. "I couldn't take days off. I'm not the dude (before my sophomore season), so just had to make a way."
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Burnette, the No. 5 running back in the nation according the 247Sports Composite, uses his size – bigger than most linebackers and some defensive linemen – to break tackles and run through them. He has speed to run away from defenders, too.
Other Power Five schools to offer Burnette this spring are Auburn, Tennessee, Michigan Oregon, Georgia Tech, Arkansas, Florida State and Louisville. The latest is Texas A&M.
Andalusia coach Trent Taylor believes a team must run the ball to be successful. The Bulldogs throw just enough to keep opponents honest.
Taylor's belief, coupled with an offensive line that started four underclassmen who are a season older, allows Burnette to threaten 2,000 yards again – and possibly a third time as a senior.
Burnette had a 70-plus yard touchdown against Pike Road on an outside zone run in their regular season matchup. Andalusia is moving down to 4A in deep Region 2.
"That's why we're pretty excited," Taylor said. "I tell the kids all the time there's a whole lot more to winning than talent, especially in a team sport."
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Taylor, in his 35th season as a head coach in Alabama, hasn't coached a running back with the size, speed and numbers Burnette had as a sophomore.
He called the No. 138 recruit in the nation the type of generational player a coach hopes to have once during a career. Burnette has two more years to keep Taylor's dream a reality.
Florida State running backs coach David Johnson, who coached Leonard Fournette in high school, understood Taylor's excitement on a visit to Andalusia during spring practice.
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"He was comparing the two as far as the size and some of the same abilities and things of that nature," Taylor said. "That's pretty high praise for high school kid, but that's coming from a guy who had seen both. He spent a high school career with Leonard but only a day with J'Marion, but just looking a the physical attributes, he said they were very very similar."
Jerell Rushin is a recruiting reporter for the Tuscaloosa News and the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at jrushin@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @JerellRushin_.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: J'Marion Burnette, Andalusia 4-star RB, Alabama, Auburn football offer
