Alabama Football: The five greatest threats to a 2017 championship season
By Ronald Evans
Jalen Hurts must be a better passer in 2017
Jalen Hurts had a sensational 2016 freshman season. Winning the SEC Offensive Player of the Year Award was deserved.
The only problem was that it did not end well for Jalen and the rest of the Alabama football world. The lack of a consistent downfield passing attack was evident against Washington and Clemson.
In fairness to Jalen, the 2016 Alabama football team was just yards short of being a repeat national champion. In the Clemson game, the Tigers’ wideouts made several tough catches while Tide wideouts had several drops.
Many fans look to an unfocused Lane Kiffin as the primary source of Alabama’s season-ending stumble. In the championship game, the Tide’s third-down conversion percentage was terrible.
As reported by cbssports.com, Alabama football had a third-down conversion rate of 46.1 percent before the playoffs. Against Washington, that rate dropped to 28.6 percent. It plummeted against Clemson to 13.3 percent.
Converting only two of 15 third-down opportunities led to the Tide having to defend Clemson for 99 plays.
Brain Daboll was brought in to re-tool the Tide offense. A roster deep in offensive skill gives Daboll many options. A few weeks ago we speculated what kind of offensive style to expect in 2017.
The Daboll offense will not be unveiled until the FSU game. But it is safe to expect it will strive for more success in downfield passing. Most experts expect the 2017 Alabama football defense to take at least a small step back from 2016.
If that is correct, the 2017 offense must be better than the 2016 version. And for the 2017 offense to improve, Jalen Hurts must improve as a passing quarterback. He has to make quicker and more often correct reads and he has to throw the ball better.
If he does not make a marked improvement, Alabama could struggle against top defenses. No fan should presume that Tua Tagovailoa would provide immediate improvement if Jalen struggles.
Tua has tremendous potential and in the future, he can be expected to lead Alabama football to championships. But he is a true freshman, and with only one exception true freshman quarterbacks do not lead teams to championships.
If Alabama fans did not already know that, we learned it in 2016.
Next: 10 Best QB's in Alabama football History
It is important to remember when discussing potential obstacles, no team is so strong to be invulnerable. Even with a Saban-obsessed plan for everything, the variables of the game are beyond anyone’s control. Luck plays a powerful role in winning championships.