Alabama Football: Wednesday will define who does and does not play in Iron Bowl

Alabama football is a three-plus touchdown favorite in the Iron Bowl. Wednesday practices define who is healthy enough to play on Saturday.

Four, maybe five key Alabama football players will either not play in the Iron Bowl or will play less than fully healthy. Given the assessed disparity between the two teams, Alabama football should be able to sustain any eventual depletion.

There are, however, ‘what-ifs’ that present a different scenario. Let’s review and consider the probability of each occurring and should they transpire, how much each could impact the game.

One injury not included is the knee of Tua. His brace-less performance against The Citadel strongly indicated the knee is sound. Jalen Hurts ankle is another matter. Should Tua incur a new injury causing an early exit Saturday, Jalen is not at 100 percent. Jalen does appear to be rapidly improving.

Tua goes out, Jalen against the Auburn defense

A healthy Jalen had a tough time with the Auburn defense last season. His individual stats were not terrible but the team stats of 3-for-11 on third down and 1-of-4 on fourth down were woeful. Alabama football has more offensive schemes than last season. But Jalen at QB would normally include him making RPO runs. His ankle may not be ready for that task.

Probability this occurs: Unlikely – Result if it does occur: Depends on when and the score, but potentially not good for the Crimson Tide. Worst case: a game changer.

Deonte Brown and Alex Leatherwood cannot play

Practice reports on Monday and Tuesday were the two guards were limited (Brown) and very limited (Leatherwood.) Without a sudden improvement at Wednesday’s practice, Brown and Leatherwood are doubtful for Saturday. At Nick Saban’s post-practice, media review Wednesday, he may report more optimism. But, players who cannot do full work at Wednesday practices, rarely play on Saturday. The backups are Lester Cotton and Josh Casher. Matt Womack might be another option.

Probability this occurs: Likely – Result if it does occur: The Crimson Tide running game will not be as effective. Worst Case: The running game struggles and pass protection also suffers.

Damien Harris cannot play

Damien Harris has a mild concussion. The Alabama football medical team will decide if he can play. They will be very cautious.

Probability this occurs: Likely – Result if it does occur: The Crimson Tide is so deep at running back, the impact would be minimal. The backup running backs are very capable. Harris is the best at picking up blitzes. Worst Case: Short of two more Tide running backs going down in the game, there is no worst case.

UPDATE: During the Wednesday midday SEC Teleconference, Nick Saban said Damien has passed the concussion protocol.

Deionte Thompson not fully healthy

Thompson was injured against The Citadel. He has practiced with no apparent limitation this week.

Probability this occurs: Not likely – Result if it does occur: If Thompson is slowed by injury, Auburn will attempt to exploit the weakness  – Worst Case: Deionte’s speed is significantly diminished.

What happens if all the worst cases happen? The abundance of healthy Crimson Tide talent prevails.

Some Alabama football fans believe Saturday will not be an Iron Bowl. They argue Iron Bowls ended in 1998 when the game left Birmingham.