The departures from Alabama’s talent-laden offense last year are daunting.

Reloading is nothing new for the Crimson Tide, and after reeling in the highest-rated recruiting class of all time, no one outside of Tuscaloosa, Ala. is going to show much sympathy. However, this year’s offensive overhaul might be the toughest challenge Nick Saban and his staff have faced to date.

To recap, this offseason Alabama loses:

— the Heisman Trophy winner

— the Davey O’Brien winner

— the Doak Walker Award winner

— the Outland Trophy winner

— the Rimington Award winner

— its most dynamic playmaker

That’s not all, either. Alabama also replaced all but one of its offensive assistants, including its offensive coordinator, Steve Sarkisian, who earned last season’s Broyles Award.

So how does Saban plan on retooling one of the greatest offenses in college football history?

“I just think we really have to focus on, how do we improve and develop the players that we have,” Saban said during his Wednesday Zoom call with reporters. “I mean, we went through a similar process last year on defense where we had eight new starters — four new guys out of five in the secondary.”

To make matters more difficult, Alabama is dealing with a slew of injuries at the moment. During his opening press conference of camp last week, Saban revealed a list of players who will be limited this spring, including running back Trey Sanders, wide receiver John Metchie III, defensive back Malachi Moore, defensive lineman Phidarian Mathis and offensive linemen Pierce Quick and Emil Ekiyor Jr. Saban added to that list Wednesday when discussing his tight ends unit, stating that Major Tennison is also limited with an injury while early enrollee Robbie Ouzts pulled his hamstring.

Fortunately for Alabama, it has plenty of reinforcements and ample time to get them acclimated to new roles this spring.

"We really feel like we have a good group of running backs. This is going to be great for them to get a lot of experience," Saban said. "It’s going to be great for the young guys to get a lot of experience at receiver. So we’re just going to try to develop these guys one day at a time.

"We have three quarterbacks in the program. Bryce [Young] is probably a little ahead of everybody else because he got a lot of reps last year. Even though he didn’t get to play that much, he got a lot of reps in practice, a lot of good carryover for him. I think he’s very confident and he’s done a really good job of preparing so far. The other two guys, they’re working and making improvements.

"So we’re just really focused on improvement, not really the outcome. Certainly, what do we have to do with all these players to get the outcome we want. And it’s going to be a work in progress, no doubt. But that’s why we’re practicing."

Wednesday, Saban didn’t seem at all worried about the work he has ahead of him. During his opening statement, the head coach pointed out how excited he was to bring in 15 new freshmen as early enrollees. Nine members of that group come on the offensive side including quarterback Jalen Milroe, receivers Ja’Corey Brooks, Agiye Hall and Christian Leary, tight ends Ouzts and Caden Clark and offensive linemen J.C. Latham, Terrence Ferguson and Tommy and James Brockermeyer.

“These guys being here everyday has been a real asset in terms of them being able to gain knowledge and experience of what they do and how they are supposed to do it,” Saban said. “It’s really good."

The above group features several players who figure to compete for early playing time this season. Brooks, Hall and Leary are all vying for the two openings left behind by Smith and Waddle. Meanwhile, Alabama is looking to fill three starting spots from last year’s offensive line. With one of the two returning starters in Ekiyor shelved for the spring, that should leave plenty of opportunities for the incoming group to earn valuable first-team reps.

While Alabama is fully capable of replacing its stars with returning talent, Saban hasn’t shied away from doling out starting roles to deserving freshmen. Oftentimes, that begins with a productive spring. However, Saban cautioned Wednesday that such evaluations take time.

“I think you see potential in guys you start to see after six, seven, eight practices, maybe after the first scrimmage,” Saban said. “If these guys continue to improve and progress, they're going to be able to help us in some regard. You may even be able to see that a guy's got a chance to be a potential starter at some position. But it's not that they're a starter at that point, you just see they have the ability if they progress to be able to do that.

“We play a ton of freshmen around here in the past, and some of them develop throughout the course of the year and play more in the second half than the first half, but if they can help us win and they can make a contribution to the team, we play them. … But I think it's way too early to really tell about how that's going to progress at this point."

Along with the incoming freshmen, Alabama’s offense will also get a shot in the arm in the form of running back Keilan Robinson, who returns to the team after opting out last season. The speedster flashed his playmaking ability plenty of times during his freshman season in 2019 when he led all Tide backs with 6.51 yards per carry. Robinson also provided reason for optimism earlier this offseason when he posted several pictures of himself showing off an added bulk to his 5-foot-9 frame.

“He’s doing great,” Saban said. “He’s got great speed. He’s gotten bigger and stronger. He’s really playing fast. He’s playing really good on special teams. He’s a potential kickoff returner for us. He was before when he was a freshman. So that’s certainly a role. And he’s made great progress as a running back. He’s got pretty good carryover knowledge and experience-wise from the year before. I’m really pleased with what he’s been doing.”

Wednesday served as Alabama’s third of 15 spring practices which will conclude with the annual A-Day game on April 17. There’s plenty of development to be done until then and even more until the Tide opens its season against Miami on Sept. 4.

However, in the early stages of one of the biggest rebuilding jobs he’s faced at Alabama, Saban has reason to believe everything will shape up just fine

“I’m pleased that we have made the progress that we have,” Saban said. “We are certainly not satisfied with where we are. We have a long way to go but we are looking forward to it."