Alabama Football: Offensive tackle Chris Owens proving naysayers wrong

Alabama Football, starting right tackle Chris Owens arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2016. In the 247Sports Composite that year, he was rated as the 10th best, 4-Star guard and the No. 187 player overall. Interestingly, the guard rated one spot above Owens, was Deonte Brown. The former Crimson Tide starter, Brown is now a backup for the Carolina Panthers.

Owens saw no game action for the Crimson Tide in 2016. He played in just three games in 2017. In 2018, Owens’ only participation was on special teams and as a backup offensive lineman. In the 2019 season, Owens played in 11 games and was a part-time starter in four games. Four Alabama Football seasons and four starts is not a normal path for Crimson Tide impact players.

In the 2020 and again in the 2021 season, Chris Owens has become an impact player. His impact has not been headline-grabbing and much of his success has come from his practice field and locker room presence. As the elder in the Crimson Tide roster, Owens is a team leader. Teammates listen to him and perhaps more importantly coaches trust him.

Alabama football fans have long held more negative opinions of Chris Owens’ playing abilities. Throughout the Crimson Tide offseason, fan message boards were filled with claims Chris Owens should not be the Tide’s starting center. All that followed a 2020 season when Owens got three starts at center, including coming in for an injured Landon Dickerson in the SEC Championship game and starting the two College Football Playoff games. Owens was and is no Landon Dickerson, but even without being a similar physical force, Owens played well in 2020.

Alabama Football fans wanted a freshman at right tackle

In the 2021 preseason, chatter began that Darrian Dalcourt might start at center. While Owens and Kendall Randolph competed to be the starting right tackle, message board posters were sure neither could do the job. Both were deemed to not be physical enough and lacking the quickness needed to counter edge rushers.

The Alabama football staff thought otherwise. Chris Owens has started every game at right tackle. The primary reason why is because his coaches trust him to execute his assignments and perform consistently. Owens has done better than okay.

With his years of experience in the program, his physical and mental maturity and continued development under Doug Marrone, Owens has done his job effectively. In the Florida game, he had a trio of Gators to battle. Florida Defensive Coordinator, Todd Grantham mostly lined up Zachary Carter against Evan Neal. Carter is an outstanding player and Owens faced him some in the game. Carter finished the game with a half-tackle for a loss and zero sacks. Owens had the also difficult task of taking on Florida outside linebackers, Brenton Cox and Khris Bogle. Both are the kind of edge rushers described on Tide message boards as too much for Owens. In the Florida game, Cox got an early deflection of a Bryce Young pass. Cox added a single sack later, but it was not against Owens. Bogle, though a more than capable speed rusher, was no problem for Owens.

Much credit should go to Owens for his game preparation. It is not easy to prepare for blocking three physically talented defenders, each having their own style wrinkles. Credit to Doug Marrone as well, who doesn’t ask too much from Owens, often adding a tight end in a formation.

The entire offensive line will have a challenge Saturday night against an Aggies’ defensive front that can be disruptive.

Player stats in this post are from sports-reference.com

Chris Owens has NFL plans in his future. His ability to play anywhere on the offensive line will aid in being drafted next spring.