Alabama Football: Youth vs Experience in the Front Seven

On the defensive line, a trio of seniors project to start in nose guard DJ Dale and defensive ends Justin Eboigbe and Byron Young.

Juniors Tim Smith and Jamil Burroughs figure to factor into the rotation, and could eventually seize starting jobs. While they aren’t exactly young anymore, they possess far less career game experience than Dale, Eboigbe and Young.

Tim Smith showed flashes of explosiveness as a true freshman but was less effective in a larger role in 2021. While he still performed his job well at nose tackle, he showed less of a tendency to penetrate into the backfield, force turnovers, and generally make big plays and wreak havoc. These were the traits that set him apart from DJ Dale in 2020. Alabama football fans would love to see Smith return to form this season.

Jamil Burroughs also arrived in the 2020 class. Burroughs was slightly less decorated as a recruit, and made a far smaller splash in his first two seasons on campus. He has, for the most part, only seen the field in the latter portion of lopsided contests. However, Burroughs had an excellent offseason, receiving praise from teammates all the way to Coach Saban himself.

Freshman Jaheim Oatis has also been a steady riser on the interior defensive line. His weight loss journey has been well documented, and we will soon see how Oatis’ progress will translate to the field.

Other young players that we may see on the interior defensive line include redshirt sophomore Jah-Marien Latham and redshirt freshmen Damon Payne and Monkell Goodwine.