While Alabama Football sorts out persistent question marks about its quarterback room early in the 2023 season, expect the Crimson Tide to lean on its strengths.
In an ideal situation, Alabama will rely on a dominant defense and a dynamic running game while redshirt sophomore quarterback Jalen Milroe gets acclimated to running the offense.
What are the strongest position groups on the Alabama Football offense?
This has been a fairly easy question to answer for much of the offseason: it’s Bama’s massive offensive line and its loaded running back room.
The offensive line features potential first round draft pick JC Latham at tackle. It also returns a pair of incumbents on the interior in senior center Seth McLaughlin and sophomore guard Tyler Booker.
Redshirt sophomore guard TJ Ferguson and true freshman tackle Kadyn Proctor are aiming to grab the remaining starting spots, with grad student Darrian Dalcourt and redshirt freshman tackle Elijah Pritchett still in the hunt.
The offensive line is still sorting out a couple questions, but the starting five could be incredibly imposing, particularly in the run game. The only glaring issue with this position group could be depth.
Bama lost five offensive linemen to the transfer portal this offseason, including one starter and four veterans that had spent years developing in the system. As a result, true freshmen will make up a large chunk of Alabama’s offensive line depth this fall.
Still, if it stays healthy, this can be one of the top offensive lines in college football.
Alabama Football is even more loaded at running back, returning two seniors in Jase McClellan and Roydell Williams. McClellan and Williams have been contributors in the Crimson Tide backfield for several seasons now, combining to amass over 2,000 career yards from scrimmage with 23 touchdowns.
Bama also returns sophomore Jam Miller, who showed talent in limited snaps as a true freshman in 2022. He led the RB room with just under 7.0 yards per carry and scored two touchdowns, and continued to impress in fall camp this year.
Lastly, Alabama brings in a pair of 5-star recruits at the running back position. Justice Haynes was an early enrollee and stole the show on A-Day, racking up three touchdowns. Haynes may be the most versatile weapon in a very well-rounded room, and should contribute immediately. Richard Young was a summer enrollee that is getting up to speed, but will likely have his biggest impact in the long term.
With all of these talented backs, a hungry offensive line, and arguably the most electric quarterback in the nation, Bama could be extremely difficult to stop on the ground this season.