Alabama’s roster is always going to have NFL talent, but this year, Kalen DeBoer’s Crimson Tide may only have one first-round prospect, and he has to be better for the team to turn the season around after its 0-1 start.
A former five-star recruit, Kadyn Proctor is now a three-year starter at left tackle for Alabama, and with a hulking 6-foot-7, 360-pound frame, he’s a tantalizing prospect for NFL front offices who will almost certainly be an early pick next spring in Pittsburgh. However, the junior didn’t play like it against Florida State on Saturday.
Kadyn Proctor struggled in Week 1 matchup with Florida State
First-time starting quarterback Ty Simpson was under pressure often in his debut, and more than once, Proctor was responsible. Simpson didn’t trust his eyes against the Florida State defense. For a player who is an average athlete, a 3.38-second time to throw was unacceptable, and an indecisive QB is always going to invite pressure.
Still, according to PFF, Simpson was only responsible for 12.5 percent of the pressures he faced on Saturday, 45th among the 72 quarterbacks in the country with at least five pressured dropbacks so far this season. Proctor was credited with allowing six pressures, the most in a single game in his career.
Frustratingly, Simpson played well when he was kept clean, completing 69 percent of his throws for 186 yards and two touchdowns. On those dropbacks, he got the ball out quickly, with a time to throw of 2.82 seconds, and that impressive completion percentage was negatively impacted by three drops.
Though he’s a redshirt junior, Simpson is inexperienced, so he needs a clean pocket to operate from, or the bad habits that were on display against the Seminoles will stick, and DeBeor and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb will be forced to make the switch to five-star freshman Keelon Russell.
To make matters worse, the Crimson Tide could not run the football. It didn’t help that starting running back Jam Miller was out with a dislocated collarbone, and Alabama’s gaggle of backups was largely unimpressive, but the offensive line didn’t help.
Alabama was thoroughly outplayed in the trenches, including on runs to the left side behind their massive left tackle, which resulted in just 11 yards on three attempts. The Alabama running backs actually accounted for 12 yards after contact on left tackle runs against FSU, which means they were being met behind the line of scrimmage when running the ball Proctor’s way, which should be a strength of the offense.
There was plenty that went wrong in Week 1, and Proctor is not No. 1 on the list, but as the top NFL prospect on the roster, more was expected from him as a junior, and unless he plays like a first-rounder, Alabama’s offensive struggles will persist.