Alabama Football: 5 things to watch during 2019 A-Day game

3. Where’s the WILL?

The race for Alabama’s starting WILL linebacker spot is wide open. Last year’s starter, junior Dylan Moses, has moved over the MIKE role to replace Mack Wilson as the signal caller of the defense. Moses is supremely gifted and an athletic freak; he should do just fine with the increased responsibility that comes with playing MIKE.

At WILL, however, there’s a lot of concern. The Crimson Tide had very little depth at inside linebacker last fall, with Wilson and Moses taking almost every meaningful snap throughout the season. That means there’s a lot of inexperienced players waiting in the wings who will have to be trusted with a lot more responsibility.

A lot of different guys have been tried out, but so far, the order going through drills behind Moses has been this:

Joshua McMillon, Markail Benton, Shane Lee, Jaylen Moody, and Ale Kaho.

McMillon has the most experience as a fifth-year senior, but he’s seen little action outside of mop-up duty and special teams work. He’s a former blue-chip recruit, but there’s a reason he has struggled to get on the field during his three non-redshirt seasons in Tuscaloosa.

Benton is a redshirt sophomore, and like McMillon is a former blue-chip recruit. He spent last season as a key special teams player and a reserve, but didn’t see many meaningful snaps on defense.

Perhaps the most intriguing player of the group is true freshman Shane Lee. The Baltimore, Maryland native was the Tide’s highest rated linebacker in this recruiting class, and has already taken some reps with the 1s on defense as the WILL linebacker. It’ll be intriguing to see him in action for the first time on Saturday.

Sophomore Jaylen Moody was too talented to redshirt last year, even though he didn’t see a ton of defensive snaps. He was a key special teams player, and is pushing for a spot in the rotation this year.

Sophomore Ale Kaho is the most highly regarded former recruit. Kaho joined Alabama late in the summer of 2018 and immediately jumped up the depth chart to Moses’s backup at WILL. That’s an indictment on the Crimson Tide’s lack of depth, but also a testament to his talent. He was widely expected to be the favorite to win the job, but he’s at the back of the line for a reason. He missed the first two practices of spring due to some personal issues, and he appears to be in the doghouse because of it. There’s plenty of time for him to work his way back into Saban’s good graces, but he faces an uphill climb between now and August.

Alabama was softer in the middle in 2018 than any season in recent memory. If the team wants to climb back up the mountaintop and not be booted off of it again by Clemson or someone else, fixing that issue is one of the top priorities. It’ll be interesting to see how much, if any, progress has been made on Saturday.