When Chris Allen went down with an injury, Nick Saban had to turn to youth at the fourth linebacker position. Sophomore Drew Sanders stepped in and was performing nicely.
Now, another replacement is going to be needed as Sanders is going to be missing some time thanks to an injury.
“He has a hand injury,” Saban said. “It required surgery. It was a little, maybe, worse than we thought. So he’s gonna be game-to-game for a few weeks, so we’ll just have to see how it goes.”
Sanders was able to play against Ole Miss, recording five tackles and two quarterback hurries. He was spotted with a cast on Saturday, mainly around his right thumb.
Now, Alabama will be moving onto the third-string SAM. True freshman and former five-star Dallas Turner or redshirt freshman and former five-star Chris Braswell are expected to take over.
“They don’t have a lot of experience,” Saban said. “That’s two starters at the same position that we’ve lost. But Dallas Turner is a good young player, and he’s probably gonna get more opportunity, as well as Chris Braswell, at that position, and those guys have played some. But they’re obviously gonna get more opportunity now.”
Between Turner and Braswell, the two have combined for 12 tackles this season. They’ll be thrown into the ring at College Station, needing to perform in a big way for Alabama.
It’s easy to say “just throw the next five-star guy out there,” and on paper, this is true. But playing an underclassman who has little experience, even in practice, is a different ball game.
Both players will have to adapt quickly against Texas A&M’s offensive before Sanders is back in the lineup in a few weeks.
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