The Alabama Crimson Tide were so close to winning the national championship for the second straight season, but the Clemson Tigers stunned them with a touchdown in the final seconds. Next year’s roster will undergo a significant amount of turnover, but just how much will it affect the larger picture? Here are the issues which rise to the surface for the program which is still the best and most consistent on a long-term basis in college football.
How will Jalen Hurts perform?
The reality of Jalen Hurts this past season is that he was a freshman. He played like a freshman most of the season. He was not a great thrower. He struggled at times with turnovers. In the title game, though, he didn’t make huge mistakes and he ran in a go-ahead touchdown with just over two minutes left that almost won the national title. Alabama’s defense, which had been so reliable all season long, fell short for one of the few times in a 15-game schedule. Hurts is a great runner. When he breaks containment and gets into open space, he makes people miss and is strong enough to bounce off of contact if the defender doesn’t take the precise angle on a tackle. He should be an even better runner next season, but the big key in 2017 will be the kinds of reads, decisions and throws he makes. If he becomes an above-average pocket passer, Alabama will be extremely difficult to stop on offense because it will have the ability to run and pass equally well. This past season, Alabama liked to run more than it passed. If Hurts throws at a high level, opposing defenses will be on a pendulum, trying to figure out when Alabama will run the ball or use play action.
Is Steve Sarkisian the right offensive coordinator?
There were a lot of similarities between the way Steve Sarkisian called the national championship game against Clemson and the way in which Lane Kiffin called the College Football Playoff semifinal game against the Washington Huskies. Alabama’s offense struggled for much of the first half in both games. The difference was that Alabama’s offense performed a lot better in the fourth quarter against Clemson. Sarkisian found a trick play which fueled a touchdown drive, and he was able to use screen passes in ways which got the Clemson defense off balance.
All in all, Sarkisian probably won’t be a dramatic upgrade from Kiffin, but if he’s any kind of upgrade at all, it will be worth it for Alabama. Kiffin won a national title and reached a playoff semifinal. If Sarkisian improves on those results, Alabama should win the 2017 national championship.
How to replace defensive stars?
When Alabama watches much of its defense go off to the NFL Draft, it will be easy to worry that the Tide – who gave up 35 points to Clemson – will be in for a lot of trouble. However, that reaction would be shortsighted. The thing to realize about Alabama’s roster – offense or defense – is that it is incredibly deep, deeper than any other program in college football. A lot of five-star players on this past year’s team played on special teams. That’s how they became integrated into the team and received gameday experience. Next year, a lot of those players will take the field on defense. It’s not something no one should worry about. Some players from this past 2016 defense were special, such as Jonathan Allen and Tim Williams. However, a lot of quality generally moves through the roster year by year. Chances are, this defense will be very good once again.
Will they get challenged in the SEC?
While the SEC is supposed to be the toughest conference in all of college football, the Tide haven’t really faced much resistance over the last few seasons. LSU has fallen off, Arkansas isn’t that good, Auburn has had a couple of moments here and there but overall has been weak, Texas A&M proved to be a phony last year and Tennessee is already “ready to breakout”. Ole Miss is breaking in a new quarterback, Mississippi State is rebuilding while Georgia is a team that is still quite raw. It doesn’t look like anyone is good enough to challenge Alabama at this point, although it is early.
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