A look at the best players Alabama will face next season

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The season is more than three months away, but it’s never too early to start breaking down Alabama’s 2018 schedule. We’ve already discussed potential stumbling blocks as well as reasons the Crimson Tide will make a record fifth straight appearance in the College Football Playoff. Now it’s time to look at some of the players Alabama will face as it hopes to claim an 18th national title.

Here is a list of the toughest individual from each team Alabama will play this season.

A year ago this would have been an obvious answer. However, with former Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson in the NFL, the star appeal for Alabama’s season-opener against Louisville took a hit. While the Cardinals will need to find a new playmaker on offense, they return one of their top defenders in sophomore Dorian Etheridge.

The former three-star linebacker led Louisville with 83 tackles and had three stops for a loss during his freshman season last year. If the Cardinals are to have any chance of pulling an upset over Alabama, he’ll need to lead the way on defense while Louisville’s offense figures out life without Jackson at quarterback.

Alabama shouldn’t have much trouble in its home-opener against Arkansas State, but Justice Hansen is the type of quarterback that could frustrate a young Crimson Tide secondary early in the season.

Last year, Hansen completed 62.6 percent of his passes for 3,967 yards and 37 touchdowns with 16 interceptions while also adding 423 yards and seven more scores on the ground. The 6-foot-4, 207-pound quarterback returns for his redshirt senior season and will have plenty of tall targets to aim at in Justin McInnis (6-foot-6), Kendrick Edwards (6-foot-5), Dahu Green (6-foot-5), Omar Bayless (6-foot-3) and Jonathan Adams Jr. (6-foot-3).

Ole Miss might be in a state of chaos, but A.J. Brown is sticking around to be a part of it. The star wideout announced his decision to remain in Oxford, Miss., despite Ole Miss receiving a two-year bowl ban by the NCAA.

Last year Brown led the Rebels with 75 receptions for 1,252 yards and 11 touchdowns. He had 100 or more yards in six of his 12 games but was shut down by Alabama, which limited him to one reception for six yards. It will be interesting to see how Brown does without quarterback Shea Patterson, who transferred to Michigan this offseason. Regardless, the 6-foot-1, 225-pound receiver could cause trouble for Alabama if it's not careful.

Texas A&M will return a talented front seven. The most dangerous member of that unit might be junior linebacker Tyrel Dodson who returns after leading the Aggies with 105 tackles while also tallying 11 stops for a loss and 5.5 sacks last season.

Despite his solid stats, Dodson was snubbed from All-SEC honors. The game against Alabama could serve as a statement game for both him as well as Texas A&M.

First-year Louisiana-Lafayette head coach Billy Napier will look to make a statement in his return to Tuscaloosa, Ala. While the former Crimson Tide receivers coach will have a tough time pulling off the upset over his former boss, he’ll have a few playmakers to work with.

Running back Trey Ragas returns after leading the Ragin’ Cajun with 813 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on the ground during his freshman season. The five-foot-11, 227-pound back averaged 5.73 yards per carry and had five games with 80 or more yards on the ground.

This could go to one of Arkansas’ young playmakers on offense like quarterback Cole Kelley or running back Devwah Whaley. However, given the way those two performed in their last game against Alabama we’re looking over to the defensive side of the ball.

One of the bright spots for Arkansas in its 41-9 loss to Alabama was the play of linebacker De’Jon Harris who tallied a game-high 12 tackles as well as a sack and two tackles for a loss. The All-SEC linebacker finished second in the conference with 115 tackles and also led Arkansas with 8.5 tackles for a loss as well as 3.5 sacks.

Alabama will hope its young secondary is more established by the time it hosts Missouri on Oct. 13. The Tigers feature the best quarterback in the SEC in Drew Lock, who many predict to be a top-10 pick in next year’s NFL Draft.

Lock completed 57.8 percent of his passes for 3,964 yards and led the NCAA with 44 touchdown passes. The former four-star quarterback threw three or more touchdowns in nine of 13 games last season but struggled with turning the ball over, tallying 13 interceptions. If he wants to pull the upset over Alabama, he’ll need to show better decision making. A good performance will also go a long way to solidifying his draft stock.

Jeremy Pruitt will be the second former Alabama assistant to get a shot at his old team when Tennessee hosts the Crimson Tide for the “Third Saturday in October.” The former Alabama defensive coordinator’s best weapon comes on the defensive side of the ball as he returns junior linebacker Daniel Bituli.

Alabama is familiar with Bituli as he intercepted quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and returned the ball 97 yards for a touchdown during the Volunteers 45-7 loss to the Crimson Tide. Bituli led Tennessee with 90 tackles and also had three tackles for a loss. He might be seeing more of Tagovailoa this season and will look to force the young quarterback into a few more mistakes.

LSU looks to have found its next elite defensive back as Andreaz “Greedy” Williams emerged as one of the top defenders in the conference. As his nickname implies, the 6-foot-2 cornerback hauled in a conference-best six interceptions en route to earning All-SEC honors his redshirt freshman season.

Williams had a solid game in his first meeting against Alabama, breaking up two passes as the Tigers held Jalen Hurts to 11 of 24 passing for 183 yards and a touchdown. He will likely face an improved passing attack when the Crimson Tide heads down to Baton, Rouge, La., this season.

Nick Fitzgerald proved to be a nightmare for Alabama’s defense last season as the Mississippi State quarterback nearly led the Bulldogs to an upset on a wild night in Starkville, Miss. The dual-threat quarterback completed 13 of 24 passes for 158 yards and ran for 66 yards and a touchdown on the ground. However, a late comeback spurred on by his Alabama counterpart saw the Crimson Tide survive with a 31-24 victory.

Heading into his senior year this season, Fitzgerald will look to improve more as a passer in order to take his game to the next level. While he finished with 984 yards and a team-high 14 touchdowns on the ground, he completed just 55.6 percent of his passes for 1,782 yards and 15 touchdowns with 11 interceptions. If he can build on that, he’ll present an even tougher matchup for Alabama’s defense this time around.

Let’s be honest, The Citadel is going to be hard-pressed to put up much of a fight when it heads to Bryant-Denny Stadium for Alabama’s annual end-of-the-year snoozer. However, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban will be the first to remind everyone what happens when his team sleeps on lesser opponents. That being said, The Citadel will still try to catch Alabama off guard if possible.

The Bulldogs’ best big-play threat comes in senior running back Grant Drakeford, who tallied a team-high 9.6 yards per carry while racking up 613 yards on the ground last season. If Drakeford rips off a few big runs against Alabama we might be hearing more from Saban and his "tin horn."

Alabama experienced first-hand how dangerous Jarrett Stidham can be behind center. Last year, the Auburn quarterback dismantled the Crimson Tide’s defense, completing 21 of 28 passes for 237 yards while rushing for 51 more yards and a score on the ground. The barrage of quick screens and slants almost derailed Alabama’s season and handed the Crimson Tide its only defeat.

Stidham returns this season with all of his leading receivers. However, he’ll be without SEC Offensive Player of the Year, Kerryon Johnson, who ran for 104 yards and a touchdown against Alabama. How Stidham does against Alabama’s defense could very well determine if Auburn is able to win two straight over the Crimson Tide for the first time since 2007.

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