Nick Saban evaluates offensive line play during scrimmage

Based on Nick Saban’s recent comments, Alabama has a lot of work to do along the offensive line to get where they need to be.

At a recent press conference recapping progress so far in fall camp, head Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban was asked about a position group that’s facing some question marks: the offensive line. Alabama lost three 2022 starters in Tyler Steen, Emil Ekiyor and Javion Cohen plus several of their backups. They return just two starters and 41 total starts to the line and are quite inexperienced and much shallower than they have been recently.

When asked about the offensive line, Coach Saban said the group has opened up some big holes in practice, but he’s still plenty worried about the overall level of play at the moment.

“You know, we had a couple explosive runs,” Saban said of the O-line, but he wasn’t ready to commend the team for those plays yet. “But you know, when you’re playing against each other, was the explosive run because of great execution or was it because of terrible execution on the other side?” he asked. “So until you watch the film, it’s kind of hard to evaluate.”

Coach Saban went on to emphasize that the Tide simply need more depth on the offensive line, just more guys stepping up and playing consistently up front.

“I just think we need to get more guys in the offensive line to be able to play winning football and we need to add depth to the group. You know, we got maybe six or seven guys that I think can play. But we need a lot more than that to get through the season.”

Last year the Tide did have depth throughout the offensive line, and didn’t just have seven guys they could rely on, but more like 10 or 11, which is a huge difference once you get into SEC play and start having a few guys banged up.

Right now, a guy like JC Latham anchors the unit as a stone wall at right tackle. Darrian Dalcourt is also a guy on the inside with some experience in the form of five starts a year ago, although he struggled to stay healthy in 2022. Seth McLaughlin actually split time with Dalcourt and was available when he wasn’t. Now, both could return to start this season on the interior.

So, there are some experienced pieces returning, but overall, Alabama’s OL still hasn’t reached the level of established and experienced depth that Nick Saban would like to see.