The offensive line was a popular topic of conversation on Wednesday after Alabama's first practice of fall camp. Kalen DeBoer spent a good chunk of his post-practice media availability discussing it, more so than even the QB competition.
That should tell you all you need to know about how pivotal that unit coming together is viewed for the Crimson Tide this season. There are other issues to iron out over the next month before Alabama takes the field for the season opener against East Carolina, but none loom as large as the offensive line.
Alabama may already have four spots spoken for up front after a productive spring under new offensive line coach Adrian Klemm, who earned high praise from DeBoer on Wednesday. LT Jackson Lloyd, LG Will Sanders, C Racin Delgatty, and RG Michael Carroll feel pretty secure. Mal Waldrep and Ethan Fields may push Sanders at guard, but the other three appear to be written in ink, barring injury.
The competition at RT is likely to come down to a pair of transfers: Mississippi State's Jayvin James and Texas' Nick Brooks. According to DeBoer, both guys had tremendous summers as they look to push for the starting job, but there's still plenty of work to be done.
“It’s still just about being consistent," DeBoer said. "I think they’ve come a long ways in that area. The spring, you could see what the potential was, what they’re capable of. I think each of them came into June or end of May when we returned; there was definitely them coming back now knowing what it feels like, what the expectations are, and I think both of them had great summers. They had great summers, both of those two guys. I’m interested to see the film today specifically to hone in on guys like that to see what they did, see how they executed.
Kalen DeBoer offers praise to both Jayvin James and Nick Brooks after fall camp day one
James has a significant edge in experience over Brooks. He was Mississippi State's starting LT last season, and he's started 21 games in his college career across stints with State and Akron.
But Brooks has a lot of talent, and he got on the field early for Texas last season. He started three games at guard for the Longhorns due to injury and was solid overall. He's dropped some weight this summer and will make a serious push to wrestle the job away from James, who exited the spring as the presumptive favorite.
Of course, there are other options for DeBoer and Klemm to consider when figuring out the best five. If neither James nor Brooks is among the best five, there's always the option of kicking Carroll back out to tackle, where he played his freshman season for the Crimson Tide. That could open the door for Waldrep or Fields to potentially start at RG.
But the staff likes Carroll at guard, particularly with the physicality that he can bring to the running game. That's why James and Brooks will be afforded every opportunity in fall camp to step up and take the job.
The good news is that there are options, unlike last season when it felt like Alabama was kind of stuck with the group they had for various reasons.
Add us as a preferred source on Google