Is there a window to control the line of scrimmage? I think so....
Alabama's new-look offensive line still has 'a long way to go'
247sports.com
Alabama’s offensive line has looked a lot different this spring than it did in the 2020 season.
First things first, the Crimson Tide has to replace three experienced seniors with left tackle Alex Leatherwood, left guard Deonte Brown and center Landon ****erson moving on to the next chapters in their football careers. That leaves two returning starters in right guard Emil Ekiyor and right tackle Evan Neal -- and add Chris Owens to that category, too, after he started three games a year ago, including both of Alabama’s College Football Playoff matchups.
But Neal has lined up at his third position (left tackle) in three years, and Ekiyor is out with an injury, making for a relatively inexperienced unit through the first nine practices this spring.
“I think we’ve got a long way to go,”
said head coach Nick Saban after UA’s first scrimmage on Friday. “We’ve got a lot of young guys. I think they’ve got a lot of ability. I think their heads are swimming, probably, a little bit right now with all the different things that they have to learn on offense, but you’re also seeing probably a lot more things than you’re used to seeing out of the defense, so that creates a lot of multiples for a young guy.
“So we just want to get those guys to where they have confidence in what they need to do to be able to go out there and execute and do their job on a consistent basis. We’re not there yet and we’re making progress, and I think that every one of those guys will see what they need to improve on and we’ll go to work on it on Monday.”
It’s obvious this offensive line is far from a finished product. After all, one of its returning starters isn’t able to participate in spring drills, while another lineman that would be competing for a guard spot, Pierce Quick, is also sidelined this spring. It’s likely the competition, and mixing and matching of linemen, will continue throughout the summer and into fall camp.
As Neal said earlier this spring, Saban and new offensive line coach Doug Marrone are trying to find the five best linemen to put on the field. Although a couple of options are currently on the shelf, the first-team offensive line has been consistent throughout the first half of the spring with Neal at left tackle, Tommy Brown at left guard, Owens at center, Javion Cohen at right guard and a combination of both Damieon George and Kendall Randolph at right tackle.
Neal, Owens and Randolph -- who has been the Tide’s sixth lineman the last two seasons -- all have first-team experience, and Brown, while serving as a backup, is now a redshirt junior.
Cohen and George are both entering their second years at Alabama but are going through their first spring seasons after the pandemic canceled spring practices in 2020. Up to this point, they have worked with the first unit, but as Saban mentioned, it’s still a work in progress.
“Javion’s been doing good,” Owens said. “All of our young guys have been doing good. We’ve been moving people around every day. That’s part of what spring is -- just trying to figure out who can play, who can take the meetings and bring them to the field. He’s been doing well, and everyone else has been trying to keep him along with us. I feel like the more we go on in the spring, we just build more chemistry, and ultimately that will just help us in the long run.”
Neal added, “I’ve seen a lot of progress from Damieon. Our O-line unit is still a work in progress, we still have a lot of work to do. As far as Damieon himself, he’s a hard worker and I'm excited for him. He’s a great guy, he’s a great guy to be around, I feel like he’s a good player. I feel like we’ve still got work that needs to be done and that’s what the spring is all about.”
UA’s first group has a mixture of experienced and inexperienced players, but the second unit is much more of the latter. After Monday’s ninth practice of the spring, the second-team offensive line consisted of, from left to right, Tommy Brockermeyer, Amari Kight, Darrian Dalcourt, Seth McLaughlin and JC Latham. The two tackles are true freshmen but were ranked among the top five recruits in the country during the 2021 cycle, per the 247Sports Composite.
Saban has shown throughout his 15-year tenure that he isn’t afraid to start a true freshman on his offensive line. Just two years ago, Neal started every game of his first season at left guard. Could the same be true for either Brockermeyer or Latham this season? It’s possible. Whether it’s one of the newcomers or a returning player that hasn’t seen much game action, the Tide will rely on several new starters, but there’s still plenty of football until the opener.
“One of the things I try to do is just tell everyone to be patient,” Owens said. “We’re not gonna be where we’re supposed to be right now because it’s only the middle of the springtime, especially on offense. We (lost) a lot of guys at receiver, tight end, new O-line, new quarterback -- like everything’s new for us. And we’re going against a really good defense every day.
“For us, it’s just about being patient, trusting the process and knowing that things are going to come along eventually. But we just can’t rush them, so we have to take everything day by day.”