Spring football is never conclusive. Fifteen Alabama football offseason practices provided clues for the fall, but the fuzzy parts of an April Crimson Tide picture will not come into focus until August scrimmages and September games.
What can be gleaned after spring work are the trends, both up and down, of numerous Alabama Crimson Tide players. As it should be, far more are trending up than down.
As we discussed immediately after the A-Day game, the Crimson Tide’s spring awards provide insight. The players the Alabama football staff honors with the awards are not necessarily the Tide’s best players. They mostly are, but others are chosen for consistency of work effort, attitude and dependability.
One of those this season is Kendall Randolph. No Crimson Tide fan, after watching Randolph in the A-Day game, believes he will start at left tackle in the fall. Maybe he will prove all of us wrong. Even if he doesn’t, Kendall Randolph will be a key player for the 2022 Crimson Tide, settling back in as the Tide’s primary blocking tight end.
A few first and second unit roles could change in fall camp. As always injuries can become a factor, but the Crimson Tide is expected to go into August with Emil Ekiyor, Darrian Dalcourt, DeMarcco Hellams and Keanu Koht fully recovered. There is optimism Jase McClellan and Roydell Williams will not be far behind.
Impressive springs by Tide freshman quarterback, Ty Simpson and freshman defensive lineman, Jaheim Oatis should not go unnoticed. They did well and both are potentially future Crimson Tide stars. Their progress is expected to continue but neither are two-deep guys yet.
The depth charts that follow predict how the Tide will begin fall camp.