The headline-grabbing news on Monday was Ryan Grubb saying Alabama was "close" to naming a starting quarterback and intended to do so by this time next week. But it wasn't the most important information coming out of fall camp for the Crimson Tide.
The biggest question mark for Alabama is on the offensive line. Improvement up front, even with four new starters, is necessary for the Crimson Tide to come anywhere close to its ceiling offensively.
Reports from last Thursday's scrimmage were mixed, with some noting the offensive line struggled at times, though competing against Alabama's defensive line this season is no small task, as opponents are about to be quick to find out.
But on Monday, there was a real positivity about the progress of Alabama's offensive line from three different sources.
Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, starting center Racin Delgatty, and Joe Moore Award voter/former NFL offensive lineman Aaron Taylor all had positive messages about the offensive line to start the third week of fall camp.
Alabama's offensive line appears to be making real progress in fall camp
Grubb noted after practice on Monday that he was "encouraged" by the offensive line's performance in the last few days after an uneven scrimmage.
“We’re able to expand some of the things that we didn’t do in the scrimmage and really took advantage of all those,” Grubb said. “And when they’re able to put everything together with the ones, I thought they gelled really, really well today and ran the ball really well. Probably the best we have all camp, honestly. Especially today. It was hot. A couple long drives, starting on the 20, went all the way down the field. So it was really, really good to see. Super encouraged after today.”
Grubb also noted that Alabama is close to finalizing its starting five up front. Three positions are spoken for: Jackson Lloyd at LT, Racin Delgatty at C, and Michael Carroll at RG. Competition remains at LG between Mal Waldrep and William Sanders and at RT between Jayvin James and Nick Brooks.
Delgatty also spoke after practice on Monday and echoed the encouragement.
“We’ve been glueing,” Delgatty said. “It was so slow, but we’re starting to really connect.”
And the most positive update from Monday came when former NFL offensive lineman and Joe Moore Award voter Aaron Taylor shared a video on Twitter praising Adrian Klemm and the improvements made by the Crimson Tide. Taylor visited an Alabama practice recently and observed for two hours, walking away certain that Alabama was going to be able to run the ball more effectively this season.
"Alabama will be able to run the football this year, full stop," Taylor said. "That’s the headline. The improvements year over year for what I saw in this unit after just watching them live for 2 hours with my own eyes is night and day. When they got to the second level, they didn’t just go up and try to settle into the linebacker. They were running through those boys. When it came to one-on-ones, they dominated that drill all across the board through the 2-deep offensive line, using their hands, punching, trusting their technique, and starting the fight.”
Taylor's praise comes back to Klemm, who is providing proper coaching to this unit and preparing them to play the right way. That doesn't mean there won't be growing pains, especially early in the season. There will be. But there's genuine optimism that this unit is going to get progressively better throughout the season.
The offensive line is the biggest swing position for this season for Alabama. More so than QB, getting high-level play from the line could be the difference between a team that is a legitimate national title contender and one that misses the playoff altogether.
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