Addressing Alabama fans' biggest concerns moving forward

The sky isn’t falling, but it sure feels that way for a good portion of Alabama’s fanbase. The Crimson Tide (9-1, 5-1 in the SEC) is ranked No. 2 in the nation and controls its own fate in pursuit of both a conference and national title. So why is there a persistent cloud of dread looming over the program?

To help find out, we asked our Talk of Champions message board for their biggest concerns about Alabama moving forward. Today, we’ll break down those issues and determine how worried Tide fans should be about them moving forward.

This seems to be a valid concern at this point in the season. After putting together one of the best units in program history last year, Alabama’s offensive line has fallen a bit flat.

For comparison, last season’s starting unit featured four players — Landon Dickerson, Evan Neal, Alex Leatherwood and Emil Ekiyor Jr. — who all received a 75.0 offensive grade or higher from Pro Football Focus. This year, Neal is Alabama’s highest-graded starting offensive lineman with an 82.7 mark. The next best is Darrian Dalcourt at 64.7. Technically Damieon George has a 70.1 grade, but he’s only made one start.

Chris Owens struggled the most, earning a 58.0 offensive grade as well as a 45.9 pass-blocking mark. Over 396 pass-blocking snaps, the sixth-year senior has allowed a team-high 29 pressures, 14 more than Javion Cohen and Ekiyor, who are tied for second on the list.

Therein lies the other problem. Many projected Ekiyor to take his game to another level this season, but he has instead regressed after a promising first year as a starter. Cohen, who was promoted to the starting unit this season, has made progress throughout the year but is coming off an injury and has still been inconsistent at times.

With Cohen and Dalcourt returning to the starting unit it will be interesting to see how Alabama lines up moving forward. Given Owens’ struggles, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see George replace him at right tackle while Cohen and Dalcourt reclaim their roles at left guard and center respectively.

Worry meter: 8/10

This isn’t exactly how this question has been phrased by most Alabama fans, but we’re keeping this article PG.

Offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien has faced plenty of criticism since Alabama’s loss against Texas A&M where his decision to pass the ball near the goal line wasn’t popular among the fan base. To be fair, the Tide scored 38 points during its loss to the Aggies. It then went on to score 49 points against Mississippi State and 52 points against Tennessee. However, that progress was soon erased by a 20-14 win over a beat-up LSU defense in which Alabama recorded just 6 yards on the ground.

So does O’Brien deserve the backlash? Perhaps a little, but not to the extent it’s been dished upon him this season.

Despite Alabama’s inconsistencies, it still ranks third in the nation in scoring offense (44.6 points per game) and 10th in total offense (484.7 yards per game). The Tide also leads the nation with a 56.64% conversion rate on third down. O’Brien’s been able to put up those numbers despite replacing three starting offensive linemen, a Doak Walker Award-winning running back, a Davey O’Brien-winning quarterback, and two first-round receivers, including the Heisman Trophy winner.

All that said, O’Brien still probably needs to produce more consistent results from the pieces he does have. Bryce Young has been spectacular in his first season as the starting quarterback. However, if Alabama can’t find a way to improve on its pedestrian 4.33 yards per carry, defenses will be able to key in on the Heisman frontrunner moving forward.

If O’Brien can’t improve his ground game, it’s hard to see how Alabama will move the ball consistently against a Georgia defense that limits opponents to 78.8 rushing yards per game. However, even with its struggles, Alabama will be the best offense the Bulldogs have seen this season.

Things aren’t as good as they could be, but it’s time to pump the brakes a bit on the O’Brien criticism.

Worry meter: 5/10

Alabama’s coordinator on the other side of the ball has been under fire for quite some time now. Tide fans have been unsettled with Pete Golding since his defense was slashed apart for 45 or more points in losses to LSU and Auburn during the 2019 season.

Things have been better since then. Alabama led the SEC in scoring defense last season en route to an undefeated campaign. This year, the Tide ranks No. 12 nationally in scoring defense (18.2 points a game) and No. 5 in total defense (290.3 yards allowed per game) — both improvements over last year’s unit.

Still, that hasn’t been enough to satisfy his harshest critics.

The biggest complaint about Golding’s unit has been its breakdowns in coverage. Alabama gave up four passing plays of 25 or more yards during its loss to Texas A&M and three more during its win over Tennessee last month.

It’s been better this month as the Tide allowed two such plays through the air against LSU and none during last weekend’s game against New Mexico State. When asked Tuesday, Alabama cornerback Jalyn-Armour Davis said the unit has complete trust in its defensive scheme, stating that the key to success has been players’ attention to detail.

“We understand that we had a couple of good games, we had a couple of good plays,” Armour-Davis said. “But it’s about stacking because everything that’s been done is now in the past. It’s about what we do going forward. So we’re going to continue to trust the coaches, trust our technique, trust each other, continue to stack days to be able to go out and perform at a high level.”

It could be argued that Golding shouldn’t have as many breakdowns on defense considering the talent he has at his disposal. However, it’s hard to criticize a top-five unit too much.

Worry meter: 4/10

There are two ways to view Alabama’s injury crisis at the running back position. On one hand, the Tide is extremely unlucky to experience three injuries to the same position. On the other, if there was one area where Alabama could afford to lose multiple players, it was in the backfield.

Through 10 games, the Tide is down to just two scholarship running backs as sophomores Jase McClellan (knee) and Roydell Williams (knee) are both out for the season while five-star freshman Camar Wheaton has been unable to play due to a meniscus injury he suffered in the offseason. That leaves Alabama with starter Brian Robinson Jr. and Trey Sanders, who is coming off of back-to-back season-ending injuries the past two years. Outside of that, the Tide has converted freshman receiver Christian Leary and sophomore linebacker Demouy Kennedy into makeshift options.

Earlier this week, Nick Saban said he will not change his team’s offensive approach despite his lack of depth in the backfield. That likely means an extended workload for Robinson and Sanders moving forward.

“I’m ready for whatever it is I need to do to help this team and be effective to this offense,” Robinson said Tuesday. “So if it’s 20 carries, 30 carries, I’m ready for whatever.”

Alabama is still fortunate to have two high-level backs, but if anything happens to either Robinson or Sanders, the unit figures to be in serious trouble.

Worry meter: 9/10

Will Anderson Jr. is arguably the top defensive player in the nation, while fellow five-star outside linebacker Dallas Turner has come into his own in recent weeks. However, Alabama fans are still concerned about the Tide’s defensive front.

Unlike Alabama’s recent title-winning defenses, this year’s unit doesn’t have household names on the defensive line. Last year’s line featured Christian Barmore, who led the team in sacks. Defensive end Raekwon Davis led the defense with 8.5 sacks in 2017, while Johnathan Allen tallied a team-high 12 sacks in 2015.

Still, this year’s defensive line is a bit underrated.

Alabama’s biggest unheralded hero this season has been Phidarian Mathis, who ranks second on the team with 5.5 sacks and third on the team with 6.5 tackles for a loss. Byron Young is also quietly having a solid year while Justin Eboigbe and LaBryan Ray have played well in recent weeks.

Alabama is tied for sixth in the nation with 34 sacks and is fourth in run defense, allowing opponents just 83.5 yards per game on the ground. Take a deep breath, Tide fans, your defensive line is just fine.

Worry meter: 2/10

This is hard for anyone outside of the locker room to tell. Reporters aren’t even allowed into practice anymore. Getting a gauge of how the Tide goes about business on a regular basis is virtually impossible.

However, there have been signs that this year’s team doesn’t have the same drive as previous title-winning teams. Saban hinted at that during his weekly radio show last week, stating the team has yet to find its identity.

“We’d like to say we’d like to dominate the competition, and that’s not something we’ve done on a consistent basis,” Saban said. “So that’s still an identity of toughness and discipline that you need, I think, to have a championship team. We’ve had championship teams before. We know what they’re like. We know what kind of identity you have to have internally on those teams when it comes to these intangible things, and that’s something that we still have to prove that we can do on a consistent basis. We’ve done all those things at times. We just have not done them on a consistent basis.”

When asked Tuesday, Anderson said Alabama “most definitely” has a championship mindset, stating that players have increased their focus over the past few weeks.

“We have to go out there and do championship things and all come together and all be on the same page,” Anderson said. “Everybody’s mindset and mentality has been the same. I think we’ve come to a common goal, like, OK, we want to be a championship team. You have to do what champions do.”

Still, while Anderson’s drive is undeniable, it’s questionable whether or not that approach has fully sunken into all of the Tide’s players.

Worry meter: 7/10

This was an interesting topic brought up by a couple of members. It’s not hard to see where this concern is coming from as Alabama’s inability to run the ball as well as its lack of star power in the trenches have caused some to worry whether or not the Tide has lost its power.

While it’s true this strength and conditioning staff focuses more on speed and explosion than the previous one, I don’t necessarily think that comes at a cost to Alabama’s muscle. Look, this is the same training staff that has helped produce Anderson and Neal. It’s also seen Robinson make serious strides the past two seasons.

If Alabama is lacking power this season, it has more to do with key departures on the offensive line and the change in today’s game than it does an approach to training.

Worry meter: 2/10