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ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE
Roll tide, literally. The Crimson Tide have rolled into the SEC championship six out of the past nine seasons while winning all six appearances. Nevertheless, it has been a decade since Alabama has won back-to-back National Championships. Nick Saban leads the defending champions for his 15th year as the Crimson Tide head coach. However, he will have to get some new coordinators and players up to speed. The potent Bama offense from a year ago only returns 3 starters and is returning 8 on a defense that looks to improve.
The Crimson tide lost their quarterback, workhorse running back, top two receivers, starting tight end, 3 offensive linemen and four offensive assistant coaches. Former Penn State and Houston Texans head coach, Bill O’Brien takes over as offensive coordinator with a task to fill 8 positions on the offensive side of the ball. The former five-star quarterback, Bryce Young, is expected to take the reins on offense with returning starter, John Metchie III, most likely being his go-to target after a year where he almost hit 1,000 yards receiving. Metchie III is definitely a breakout candidate this season and does it really matter who is starting at running back each year? It seems the running back position is easily filled each season and same goes for this year with senior Brian Robinson Jr. ready to take over as the featured back. He averaged 5.3 yards per rush in a supporting roll last season. Bama will be looking to replace 3 offensive linemen and it shouldn’t be very hard to do as they have sixth-year senior Chris Owens returning as one of the new linemen and recruited the top 2 tackles and the #2 guard in the 2021 class.
Pete Golding will be back as defensive coordinator for his third year and will have 8 returning starters to work with. The Crimson Tide leaned on the offense last season but they most likely won’t be able to do that this year as the defense will look to take a step forward. It is scary to think that the Tide has five returning defense linemen who all contributed in prominent roles last season and linebacker could be Alabama’s best position. They will be led by LB Christian Harris who broke out last season with 79 tackles and 4.5 sacks in 2020. Additionally, rising star LB Will Anderson Jr. returns after starting as a true freshman and was second on the team with seven sacks a year ago. LB Christopher Allen is worth mentioning after sacking the opposing quarterback five times last season and LB Henry To’o To’o transfers in from Tennessee. After losing their top cornerback to the NFL draft, the secondary could be the deepest position on the team. There are too many to mention but should be led by sophomore Malachi Moore and junior safety Jordan Battle. Moore led the team with three interceptions and had 44 tackles while Battle was third on the team in tackles (66) and took a pick to the house in their blowout win versus Kentucky.
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