Alabama Football Top 10 Players of 2023: no. 1

With the Alabama Football A-Day Game kicking off tomorrow, we honor who we believe will be the best player on the 2023 team. Barring injury, junior offensive tackle JC Latham looks like a shoe-in to be Bama’s next first round draft pick at the position.

Latham has been an elite prospect since his high school days at IMG Academy. He was ranked as a 5-star recruit in the 2021 class and the no. 3 overall player in the cycle. Latham was also considered the top offensive lineman in the nation and the best overall player in the state of Florida.

He was unable to crack the starting lineup in his true freshman season, but was a major contributor along the offensive line. In 2021, JC Latham appeared in 14 games for the Crimson Tide, seeing extended playing time in Bama’s commanding Cotton Bowl win over Cincinnati.

Latham entered his sophomore year in 2022 as the starter at right tackle, and never relinquished the role. He was very consistent in his performance, and shored up a right tackle position that had been unstable for Alabama Football the previous season.

The sophomore was one of the primary factors that contributed to the Bama offensive line being much improved last season, and he looks to make a leap as a player and a leader heading into 2023.

It remains to be seen whether he will stay at right tackle or bump over to the blind side. Regardless, JC Latham will easily be one of the Tide’s best players this fall, and he should lead an offensive line that wants to return to dominance.

In fact, Latham left nothing unsaid earlier this spring when he spoke about the mentality and level of physicality that he wants the 2023 line to possess. Since then, several other members of the Alabama offensive line have expressed the desire to restore the program’s ability to run the ball at will, including center Seth McLaughlin and guard Tyler Booker.

This shift in culture and mindset should reverberate to the rest of the Alabama Football team, and it all starts with JC Latham.