Alabama Football: 5 position battles to watch this spring
4. Offensive Line shuffling
Alabama must replace three starters on the offensive line for 2019. Center Ross Pierschbacher and left guard Lester Cotton both graduated, and must be replaced. Cotton started 11 games last season, but was benched down the stretch of the season for sophomore Deonte Brown, who held the role until an injury and subsequent suspension inserted Cotton back into the lineup.
Brown would be the obvious choice to step into the left guard role, but he’s facing a four-game suspension for an NCAA violation, so someone else will have to fill that void for at least part of the season.
The biggest hole, however, was left at left tackle with Jonah Williams electing to forego his senior season to enter the draft. Williams was a three-year starter and rock-solid at tackle for the Crimson Tide. He was an All-American and Outland Trophy finalist as a junior, and he leaves a big void on the left side of Alabama’s offensive line.
The logical replacement for Williams was a starter on last season’s offensive line already: right guard Alex Leatherwood, who should shift back to his natural position of tackle. Leatherwood was Williams’ backup at the position as a true freshman in 2017, and stepped into the role during the national championship against Georgia, acquitting himself nicely against a fierce Bulldogs pass rush with Williams sidelined in the second half.
That would seemingly leave the interior of the offensive line in its entirety up for grabs this spring. When Brown’s suspension is up, he figures to wrestle his spot back; one need to only look at the film for the difference in the run game when Brown was in the starting rotation last year to see how good of a player he is.
The most likely players to push for those sports are senior Matt Womack, junior Chris Owens, and redshirt freshman Emik Ekiyor Jr. Womack is a former starter at right tackle who missed most of last season with a foot injury. He isn’t likely to usurp Jedrick Wills for the right tackle job, but he could slide inside to guard and become a starter in 2019.
Owens and Ekiyor figure to be in competition for the vacated center spot, with the loser shifting over to fight for a spot at guard, at least for the games that Brown will miss. There’s plenty of other talented players, including junior Scott Lashley who will push for a spot, but those guys seem to be the most likely candidates.
Don’t sleep on any of the talented incoming freshmen, either, with five-star Evan Neal seeming like the most likely candidate to earn an early starting role. If he is as good as advertised, he could swipe away the starting left tackle job and keep Leatherwood at guard.