It's not easy to get a read on East Carolina ahead of Alabama's season opener on Saturday. Blake Harrell's team won nine games last year, but went through significant roster turnover. There's a ton of new faces in the Pirates' two-deep.
The general consensus around the ECU program is that the defensive line is the team's greatest strength. That's obviously a concern for Alabama fans. The Crimson Tide's new-look offensive line features four new starters and will take some time to fully gel this season before hitting their stride. East Carolina isn't the soft beginning you'd want for a unit short on experience.
The Pirates have an experienced group up front with two fourth-year players - Rion Roseborough and Julien Davis, and two fifth-year players - Jasiyah Robinson and Preston Carr in the starting group.
Roseborough and Carr are both north of 300 pounds. This isn't your typical undersized team from the Group-of-Six.
This is a talented group that will provide an immediate test for the Alabama offensive line.
Alabama's offensive line will have its hands full against East Carolina
The easiest path to this game being closer than it should be is Alabama's offensive line struggling. Struggling to get a push in the run game and then struggling to keep Keelon Russell upright in his first career start.
It's also the first career start for two Tide offensive linemen: LT Jackson Lloyd and LG Will Sanders. It's the first start at the Power Four level for C Racin Delgatty, though he held up well against Utah during his time at Cal Poly.
Michael Carroll should be one of the better right guards in the country, so that spot isn't concerning. The RT spot has yet to fully flesh out. Mississippi State transfer Jayvin James has gotten more reps, but is evidently not quite in game shape. That could lead Texas transfer Nick Brooks to slot in on the right side instead.
Alabama doesn't lack talent up front, and Adrian Klemm has received a lot of praise from Kalen DeBoer and others for his teaching ability. But talk is cheap. The proof will be in the results on Saturday. ECU isn't a pushover. This is going to be a legitimate test for the offensive line in Week 1.
Fixing the running game has been a focal point for Alabama this offseason. They are going to try to run the ball against ECU. If the Pirates can mitigate those efforts early, it'll be interesting to see if Ryan Grubb falls back into bad habits and begins abandoning the run game early to focus on the aerial attack. That would allow ECU to pin their ears back against a new QB, and also signal the same weakness from last season for the Crimson Tide's upcoming opponents.
Fans expecting this to be a cakewalk might be disappointed. Alabama has a major edge in talent, but this is an experienced ECU roster that won't be intimidated by the Bryant-Denny Stadium environment.
East Carolina's projected starters average 4.27 yards of college experience, which is even more than last season's Indiana roster (3.95), per 247's Mike Rodak. Alabama has one of the youngest rosters in the country, and they'll be staring down a whole lot of experience on Saturday.
Alabama should win, barring a comedy of errors. But a four-touchdown spread might prove to be too much in the end.
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