Everything the Alabama Crimson Tide wants is right in front of them. They just need to block better... Much has already been made about the Alabama offensive line. Rather than toss another issue onto its pile of problems, how about a solution? If there is one player who could fix Alabama's bottleneck, it might be redshirt sophomore William Sanders. His upside at guard could be paramount for Alabama.
In Matt Melton's latest for Roll Tide Wire, he mentioned Sanders as one of five underrated players for the Crimson Tide. While others could certainly be impactful, Sanders has the potential to help rectify a long-struggling unit. He played in all 15 games last year for the Crimson Tide, primarily as a reserve. However, Sanders missed all of spring practice with a lower-back injury. He is slated to start this fall.
Ourlads has him slotted in at starting left guard next to Cal Poly transfer center Racin Delgatty and redshirt freshman Jackson Lloyd at left tackle. With offensive line coach Adrian Klemm's work cut out for him, he and the rest of Kalen DeBoer's staff better hope Sanders is healthy enough to make a major impact. If he hits as a starter along the offensive interior, that could really open up the offense.
Being able to run behind Sanders and lean on him in pass protection can elevate Alabama's ceiling.
William Sanders may be the most important player up front for Alabama
While the threat of either Keelon Russell or Austin Mack tucking it and running it themselves would be to Alabama's benefit, the ground game has to start with well-designed hand-offs. This is how DeBoer, Ryan Grubb, and the rest of the offensive staff can dictate tempo and pace throughout every contest. Throwing the football may be their bread and butter, but it is not how you close out games in the SEC.
To be fair, other players outside of Sanders have to step up on offense. They will need to take advantage of most opponents being at a talent discrepancy whenever they face the Crimson Tide. This is how talented players on good teams can gain confidence to become great ones. For Alabama to achieve all it can, it needs a high-upside player in the middle of everything along this offensive line.
While earmarking Sanders as a panacea may not be the right call, he did make a name for himself during limited action a season ago. With Alabama's reworked offensive line being in such a state of flux, the cream has to rise to the top, fast... Missing all of spring practice is a major cause for concern. However, Alabama may be left with no choice in the matter and may need to lean on Sanders soon.
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Overall, Alabama does have a fairly navigable schedule, one that should allow its good players to come along and blossom into being great ones. DeBoer and his staff are excellent at what they do. However, this is looking to be more like the type of season where his kind of guys better outperform Alabama's type of guys. Otherwise, people in and around Tuscaloosa are going to be furious over this.
At this time, DeBoer, Grubb, and Klemm better hope Sanders is ready to run out of the tunnel Week 1.
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