Alabama Football: Looking ahead to 2022 Outside Linebacker group

With the evolution of the modern spread offense, one of the most important positions on the other side of the ball has become the edge rusher, which is a blanket term for a player that can function as a 4-3 defensive end or a 3-4 outside linebacker (for Alabama football and Nick Saban’s 3-4, it’s typically more of an outside linebacker).

Having quality, athletic players at this position allows teams to “set the edge,” containing outside runs and jet sweeps as well as scrambling quarterbacks. It also allows defenses to collapse the pocket from the outside and pressure passers. I would argue that edge rusher is the most pivotal position in trying to mitigate a high-powered spread offense.

Alabama football currently has perhaps the best and deepest group in the country at this position, and they should be even better next year.

Will Anderson Jr., of course, is the headliner. Anderson has been, for my money, the most impactful player in all of college football, even garnering some late season Heisman consideration.

Equally disruptive against the pass and the run, Anderson has accumulated an NCAA-leading 12.5 sacks through 10 games and could potentially break the NCAA single-season record for tackles for loss…and he’s not even draft eligible this year. Anderson could be back in the fold next season as the returning winner of every major individual defensive award, and I have no reason to believe he won’t continue to play at an extremely high level.

Could Allen return to Alabama Football?

Christopher Allen came into the season as the incumbent starter opposite Anderson. Allen was a 4-star recruit and an underrated member of the legendary recruiting class of 2017 for Alabama football. While he doesn’t quite have the freakish athleticism and explosiveness off the ball of his counterpart, Allen is an extremely disciplined and fundamentally sound player. He had an SEC-leading 13 tackles for loss and 6.0 sacks as a junior last season, and with Anderson, made up one half of the best edge tandem in college football.

Unfortunately, Allen suffered a season-ending injury only 10 snaps into his senior year, and his absence has hurt the Tide defense at times. However, because he was hurt in the first game, this season will not count against Allen’s eligibility and theoretically, he could return next season.

Saban has Alabama Football loaded up with young talent

In Allen’s absence, sophomore Drew Sanders has stepped up and become a key cog in the Alabama defense. Like Anderson, Sanders was a 5-star in the 2020 class and was also rated the No. 1 athlete in the country. He played primarily special teams last season but was forced into the starting lineup this year due to Allen’s injury. It took Sanders a couple of games to get acclimated, but he has gradually become one of the better players on the Alabama defense.

Just as he was beginning to get his legs underneath him, Sanders too suffered an injury during the Ole Miss game. Though he has begun to see snaps again in recent weeks, and even recorded his first career sack against New Mexico State, Sanders has not started a game in over a month.

True freshman Dallas Turner, who was third on the depth chart in the preseason, has now assumed a starting role and is beginning to show star potential. A 5-star and the No. 1 edge player in the 2021 class, Turner also got off to a bit of a slow start. He has picked up steam, however, and for the season he has 18 tackles (including 4 for a loss) and 3 sacks, all of which have come in the past 2 games. He recorded his first career sack against LSU, and got a huge sack on the Tigers final drive when they had no remaining timeouts, helping to preserve the win.

Sophomore Chris Braswell joined Anderson and Sanders as a 2020 5-star, and was ranked the No. 2 weak side defensive end in the class, only behind Anderson. Though he has been surpassed on the depth chart by Dallas Turner, Braswell has still seen significant playing time this season with all of the injuries to the position. On the season he has 11 tackles (one for a loss) and a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown.

The Crimson Tide could potentially return Anderson, Allen, Sanders, Turner, and Braswell for the 2022 season, and also welcome in 2022 5-star and No.1 edge rusher Jeremiah Alexander. This would create a 6-man rotation that includes 5 former 5-stars and 4 players who were No.1 in the nation at their position. It doesn’t need to be stated how incredibly deep this group would be.

Due to the extensive injuries to this position group, and the fact that the injured players could be re-inserted into the lineup, Alabama could have players with starting experience as reserves at both edge spots.

Alabama football fans have seen this before, as true freshmen, Christian Harris and Shane Lee replaced injured starters Dylan Moses and Joshua McMillon at inside linebacker during the 2019 season. In 2020, all 4 players returned with starting experience.

While the 2020 inside linebacker unit did not turn out to be as elite as much of the fan base expected, I firmly believe that Alabama football could have an unprecedented level of talent on the edge in 2022.