Bryce Young, Darrian Dalcourt passing early chemistry test for Alabama
Moments after Mac Jones was selected by the New England Patriots with the 15th pick in this year’s NFL Draft, the quarterback received a virtual message from his former Alabama teammate, Landon Dickerson.
The center’s two-minute congratulatory speech was heartwarming as he expressed his excitement for his friend and former quarterback while recalling some of their favorite moments on and off the football field.
“It’s been a pleasure to be a teammate of yours and a friend,” Dickerson said in the message. “We’ve got stories to tell for years to come, whether it’s COVID workouts, snapping on the band field, you know, workouts in the home gym, having dinner. You know a lot of these. Honestly, I’m just excited to see where your future takes you. And I’m sure we’ve got plenty of stories to tell, but we’ll have many more to make in the years to come.”
The chemistry between center and quarterback is often overlooked. The two positions are directly involved with one another on every snap and must build familiarity in everything from hard counts to snap placement.
Jones and Dickerson had that in spades last season as their connection helped lead Alabama to a national title. With the duo now in the NFL, the Tide is looking to build a new pair of battery mates on offense this year.
So far this season, that has consisted of a pair of first-year starters as sophomore Bryce Young has taken snaps from junior Darrian Dalcourt. Unlike, Jones and Dickerson, the duo hasn’t had months to fine-tune their partnership as a series of injuries this offseason made for constant shifting across Alabama’s offensive line.
At one point, it appeared as though Chris Owens would take over the reins at center. The sixth-year senior filled in for an injured Dickerson during both of Alabama’s playoff games last season and is listed as a co-starter with Dalcourt at center. However, the Tide elected to kick Owens out to right tackle while slotting Dalcourt into the middle of its line instead.
Earlier this month, Young described Dalcourt and Owens as “my guys,” stating he was close with each of them both on and off the field. While it’s going to take some time to build the chemistry that Jones and Dickerson shared, Young believes he and Dalcourt are well on their way.
“It takes a lot of reps on the field,” Young said Monday. “With whatever rotation we had up front, there was never really any issue chemistry-wise. I’m tremendously lucky to have as good of an O-line as I do but also one that works really well together, communicates well together. I don’t think people understand how rare that is.
“For me to be able to have that up front, that really made the transition of, whether we were rotating or shuffling really any positions, it made it really seamless for me. They do a great job of communicating. Us a unit, we make sure that we’re always on the same page. There was really never any real issues with the communication.”
While communication seems to be flowing fine, performance still needs some perfecting. After earning offensive player of the week honors against Miami, Dalcourt committed an ineligible man downfield penalty that wiped out a 16-yard touchdown pass from Young to Agiye Hall in the third quarter against Mercer. Meanwhile, Owens, who earned a team-high 68.6 pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus against Miami, allowed a third-down sack that resulted in Alabama’s opening three-and-out on offense to start the game last weekend.
Still, for the most part, both players have performed solidly through two starts, giving Alabama reason for optimism moving forward.
“I think both guys have played well,” Saban said Monday. “I think both guys would probably tell you that there’s things that they can do better, and I think both are probably focused on trying to get those things corrected so they can play better.”
Those corrections will be key this weekend as No. 1 Alabama (2-0) travels to No. 11 Florida (2-0) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT. So will the chemistry between Young and Dalcourt as the duo will need to communicate in front of 88,548 screaming fans in the first true road start of their careers.
“We know the environment we’re gonna go into, and we know the challenges ahead of us,” Young said. “Us all an offense and us as a team, being on the same page is gonna be really big for us. We’re gonna make sure we’re communicating well, make sure that through the week that we’re getting the reps we need to get so we’re prepared for Saturday. That’s something that’s gonna come and develop and something we’re really gonna be emphasizing this week.”
