Alabama Football: Most important remaining position competitions

Alabama Football in 2021 is going to be very good – championship quality good. Getting to that point may take two, three, even four games. Against Mercer and Southern Mississippi, even a sub-par Crimson Tide will win with ease.

Miami and Florida are legitimate challenges. The Alabama Crimson Tide will be favored in both. According to WynnBet, the Tide is a 19-point favorite against the Canes. The spread should be smaller for the Florida game, but it too will be in the teens.

Whether those odds are spot on, or way off, could well be the result of how four or five Crimson Tide positions perform. Most of the unknown for the Crimson Tide is on offense. To what extent will the inexperienced Bryce Young have growing pains? There is no question about his talent, but to maximize that talent, the young man will need time to ‘feel’ and ‘see’ the game. That could happen at some point in the Miami game or searching for his groove could still be going on in Gainesville.

Looking back, the early 2021 season would have been better served by Bryce getting more snaps last season. Young played in nine games as a freshman, but none of the appearances provided a challenging test. A Crimson Tide career of throwing 22 passes and nine rushing attempts is not enough tutoring to immediately produce at a championship level. Young is likely to become a great player and he may do it quickly, but expectations for him might be too high, too soon.