Alabama Football: Post-Spring Depth Chart, including summer enrollees
By Ronald Evans
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
The Offensive Line
The big story going into spring practice was the Alabama football secondary would be a ‘work in progress’ in 2018. The same can be said of the 2018 offensive line. Having to replace Brad Bozeman was always going to be a tall order. When Matt Womack’s injury sidelined him for spring, the line became very unsettled.
Many players have had turns working with the first unit in practice. Those experiments will continue in the fall but after the first fall scrimmage, Nick Saban will want a starting unit to assert itself.
A-Day reviews of the offensive line were mixed. Clearly, pass protection was an issue. The Alabama football defensive front will make a lot of offensive lines look bad in 2018. The Tide’s first real fall test may not come before November unless Jimbo Fisher manages some miraculous development at TAMU. The Crimson Tide first unit offensive line did pretty well in run blocking during A-Day. They will be better in the fall.
Center
Starter: Ross Piersbacher
Backup: Brandon Kennedy
Piersbacher is a smart player who handles his assignments without being a physically dominating player. Kennedy is a redshirt junior, who missed most of his sophomore season with a broken leg. Chris Owens could also move into a backup center role. The much-rumored move of Jonah Williams to center seems to be dead.
Guard
Starters: Lester Cotton and Jedrick Wills
Backups: Josh Casher and Deonte Brown
Lester Cotton will probably settle in at left guard. Jedrick Wills can play tackle but has worked at guard most of the spring. Wills and Cotton are tough, physical players and combined can make the guard position stronger for 2018.
Tackle
Starters: Jonah Williams and Matt Womack or Alex Leatherwood
Backup: Scott Lashley
If picking a short-list of the most physical Alabama football offensive linemen, Alex Leatherwood, Jedrick Wills, Lester Cotton and Jonah Williams would make the list. Fan often say, add a center with those four players and Nick Saban could field his five best on the offensive line. Matt Womack confounds that approach by hard work and attention to detail. Alabama football will be in good shape at tackle in 2018 with either Womack or Leatherwood at right tackle.