Nick Saban previews the Alabama offensive line, wants more depth

Nick Saban‘s teams have typically been known for their ability to pound it right at you, oblivious to any defenders that stand in the way. But that requires a lot from the Alabama offensive line.

As the Crimson Tide retool prior to the 2023 season, there’s a lot of work to be done up front.

“I like the players that we have in the offensive line,” Saban said when asked about the group this week. “I think we have some bigger, more physical players. I think they obviously don’t have as much experience, but I like the attitude, I like their temperament, I like their toughness. I think the No. 1 thing is we’ve got to create some depth at that position.”

Alabama does have some veterans it can lean on from an experience standpoint, just not a ton of them.

That’s a spot that the Crimson Tide could look to add to in the transfer portal following spring practice, potentially.

“We probably lost more players than we gained even though the players that we gained we’re excited about how they can contribute and what their future might be,” Saban said. “Probably need to add a little depth at that position.”

Alabama offensive line looking for instant impact players

One thing that Saban stressed when discussing taking players out of the transfer portal is his desire that they be instant impact players.

There’s no real point in taking transfers just to take them, particularly if they’re not ready to play right away. That time coaching and attention to those players could instead go toward developing young high school players.

“What we’ve tried to do when it comes to the portal is look at guys that we think can make an immediate impact on our team,” Saban said. “We have always tried to build our team with good recruiting of good, young players who sort of fit the culture of what we want to do. … I think most of the players that we’ve taken from the portal, and I think there’s been six prior to this year. Five of those guys all made significant impacts on the team. One guy got injured and probably didn’t have the opportunity to do it or he probably would’ve made an impact, as well.

“We’re going to continue that same philosophy of how we bring guys in to the team. We still have to manage the roster, we still have to manage numbers. I think you’ve always got to take that into consideration when you’re dealing with the portal, as well.”