TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Help is on the way for Alabama at the offensive tackle position. Earlier this week, Kadyn Proctor announced he will be returning to the Crimson Tide after transferring back home to Iowa in January.
The five-star offensive tackle figures to fill one of the openings on either side of Alabama’s offensive line, but he won’t be able to make his move back to the Tide official until the transfer portal reopens on April 15. Until then, Alabama will have to spend spring camp working with what it has at the position. And right now, that isn’t much.
“Offensive line-wise, even if you just look at our scholarship numbers, we are short there,” said first-year Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer following his team’s first full-pad practice of spring camp Thursday. “And so you need so many to get through a season. Those guys are getting a lot of reps, they’re getting a lot of work. They’re all getting better. I’m really proud of the way they’re just grinding and getting after it every day. But scholarship numbers for the offensive line in general are still just below where we’d like to be going into the fall”
Alabama currently has 13 scholarship offensive linemen, not counting Proctor’s pending arrival. Of that group, only four have been working at the tackle position this spring.
Five-star redshirt sophomore Elijah Pritchett has been a mainstay at left tackle with the first-team offense over the first five practices. Meanwhile, redshirt freshmen Wilkin Formby and Miles McVay have split first-team reps at the right tackle spot. Texas A&M transfer Naquil Betrand has worked as the second-team left tackle, but the redshirt freshman is still raw at the position and will likely need some time to develop.
None of those four have a college start to their name. Pritchett is the most experienced with a combined 108 offensive snaps over his two seasons at the college level. McVay took part in 28 offensive snaps while Formby saw the field for 14 during their respective debut seasons. Betrand did not record a snap in his lone season with the Aggies.
While Proctor won’t rejoin the team until after spring camp, the sophomore figures to retain his starting spot at left tackle. The five-star talent signed with Alabama as the top-rated tackle in last year’s class and started all 14 games last season, becoming the first true freshman to start at left tackle for Alabama since Cam Robinson in 2014. That being said, his debut season featured quite a few growing pains.
According to Pro Football Focus, Proctor tied for the most allowed sacks among all Division I offensive linemen with 12. He also gave up the 12th most pressures with 36.
According to sources, Proctor is said to have dropped a significant amount of weight this offseason after standing in at 6-foot-7, 360 pounds last fall. That should help him maintain his stamina better throughout games while also allowing him to keep up with the SEC’s speedy edge rushers.
Despite his early struggles, Proctor showed improvement throughout last season. He put in his best performance of the season during Alabama’s win over Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, earning a 78.4 offensive grade from Pro Football Focus.
“He was a young pup when he first got in,” said former Crimson Tide lineman J.C. Latham following Alabama’s Pro Day on Wednesday. “And just from summer to fall camp and moving forward, just the ability to adjust on the fly and keep going. You look at the last game and compare it to the first game, and you’ll see improvement right there.”
Even if Proctor locks up the left tackle role, there will be plenty of competition for the remaining starting spot on the right side. That battle should continue to play out this spring as Alabama has 10 practices, including three scrimmages remaining in camp.
After taking the day off Friday, Alabama will return to the field Saturday for its sixth workout of the spring.
