These 5 things could doom Alabama next season

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Alabama will enter the season as the favorite to win the national championship. However, it won't be an easy path for the Crimson Tide. Alabama lost several key players last season and faces a lack of depth in certain areas. The Tide must also work to establish more balance in its offense and correct a kicking game that struggled throughout spring camp.

Here are five things that would doom Alabama in its pursuit of a 17th national championship game next season.

If spring camp is any indication, this doesn't appear likely to happen. Alabama showed great improvement in the passing game, racking up a combined 661 yards through the air during the A-Day scrimmage. Starting quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 16 of 25 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. Meanwhile, Tua Tagovailoa proved to be a capable backup, completing 17 of 29 passes for 313 yards and three touchdowns with an interception.

While that looks promising, Alabama fans won't rest easy until the see improvement in an actual game. Hurts struggled down the stretch last season, passing for fewer than 150 yards in the Tide's final three games. That included completing 13 of 31 (42 percent) of his passes against Clemson in the national championship game, allowing the Tigers offense to stay on the field and wear down the Tide's defense. Alabama will need to see an improvement from the Channelview, Texas native in his sophomore year if it wants to compete for a title.

Minkah Fitzpatrick helped the Tide overcome a devastating injury last season, filling in at safety after Eddie Jackson suffered a season-ending broken leg against Texas A&M. Fitzpatrick showed off his versatility right away, intercepting a pass to help seal a 10-0 win at LSU two weeks later. He would later go on to earn first team All-American honors after leading the team with six interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns.

Fitzpatrick was originally going to switch to cornerback to fill in for Marlon Humphrey who left for the NFL Draft. However, the 6-foot-1, 203-pound defensive back was shifted back to safety after it was determined that Trevon Diggs fit better at cornerback.

The move appears to set Alabama up nicely next season, as Diggs and Fitzpatrick both had a strong spring. However, if the Tide was to lose Fitzpatrick for any extended period of time, things could fall apart fast. Alabama doesn’t currently have a natural replacement for Fitzpatrick’s skills and would most likely have to turn to senior Hootie Jones as his replacement. While Jones has proved capable as the sixth defensive back in the dime package, his coverage skills don’t measure up to Fitzpatrick’s.

Speaking of potential crippling injuries, another player Alabama cannot afford to lose is offensive lineman Jonah Williams. Following a stellar debut season that saw him earn Freshman All-American honors, Williams will make the switch from right tackle to left tackle to replace departing left tackle Cam Robinson this year.

Robinson started every game at left tackle over his three-year Alabama career before leaving early to the NFL this season. Williams, who played left tackle during high school, devoted himself to relearning the position during camp, even switch to his left hand for everyday tasks.

“I tried to eat and write with my left hand, get a little ambidextrous,” Williams said during camp. “It was smooth for me. It wasn't a big shock.”

While there’s little doubt Williams will carry over his success to the left side, losing the 6-foot-5, 301-pound offensive lineman would be disastrous for the Tide. Alabama is still trying to figure out the right side of its line, rotating Lester Cotton, Matt Womack and Deonte Brown between the right guard and right tackle positions. Losing Williams would open up a completely different can of worms and might be too much for the Tide to handle moving forward.

Alabama fans don’t need to be reminded of the Tide’s troubles in the kicking game in recent years. Last season Adam Griffith made 21 of 28 field goal attempts (75 percent) but proved inconsistent on longer kicks, going 3 of 7 on tries of 40 yards or more.

Now that Griffith has graduated, Alabama will look to find his replacement, something that proved difficult so far this year. While blueshirt freshman Joseph Bulovas was not on campus during spring camp, the Tide turned to walk-on kicker Andy Pappanastos and punter JK Scott to handle kicking duties.

The duo did little to alleviate worries during the A-Day game. Scott hit 3 of 4 attempts and made a 30-yard kick to win the game for the Crimson team as time expired. However, he failed to connect on a 45-yard attempt, his only try of more than 40 yards, late in the fourth quarter which would have given the White team a lead. Pappanastos had a far worse day, missing both his attempts from 31 yards and 38 yards out respectively.

The hope seems to be that Bulovas, the No. 1 kicker in the 2017 class, can come in and win the job. However, that might be a big task for a freshman. If Bulovas is unable to live up to the hype, it should cause more headaches for the Tide.

Alabama has yet to lose a season opener under head coach Nick Saban. In fact, the last time the Tide lost its first game of the season was all the way back in 2001 in a 20-17 loss to UCLA. However, this year’s test is the toughest Alabama has faced in quite some time, as the Tide will square up against Florida State in what should be a matchup of two top-5 teams.

While Alabama would still have an entire season to atone for a loss to the Seminoles, it would put the Tide in a very tough spot out the gate. Alabama has won 17 straight SEC games dating back to a 43-37 loss to Ole Miss in 2015. Despite the Tide’s dominance over conference opponents, that streak will have to come to an end sooner or later. Alabama ran the gauntlet of a punishing SEC schedule last season, doing that two years in a row would be a lot to ask.

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