Roll Tide Wire takes a look into projecting the Alabama Crimson Tide’s defensive depth chart for the 2021 college football season.
We continue to work our way through the college football offseason, but spring practice is just around the corner. Alabama’s annual A-Day Game is tentatively set for April 17, so practices should start in a few weeks.
We wanted to go ahead and dive into a pre-spring depth chart for the Crimson Tide. First, it was the offensive side of the football, but now we shift focus towards the defense. It wasn’t as effective of a unit as the offense, but it returns a large majority of its starters.
Enjoy!
*Note: True freshmen are listed at the bottom of their respective position groups. Once we start to get an idea of where they could land on the depth chart in Year 1, we will make adjustments.
The No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide rolled over the LSU Tigers on Saturday, 55-17, to move to 9-0 on the season. The win featured another Heisman-caliber performance from quarterback Mac Jones, who completed 20 of 28 passes for 385 yards and four …
The No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide rolled over the LSU Tigers on Saturday, 55-17, to move to 9-0 on the season.
The win featured another Heisman-caliber performance from quarterback Mac Jones, who completed 20 of 28 passes for 385 yards and four touchdowns. Jones has nine touchdown passes in the last two weeks in wins over Auburn and LSU.
Wide receiver DeVonta Smith had another outstanding performance, hauling in eight passes for 231 yards and three touchdowns. Smith had one of the best catches you’ll see all year.
Freshman OLB Will Anderson Jr. is the next man up on Alabama football’s player snapshot, which highlights each scholarship player.
As we continue through the offseason, Roll Tide Wire has decided to bring fans a quick snapshot of each scholarship player listed on Alabama’s 2020 football roster.
Each day, we’ll release two player profiles giving fans a glimpse into the players who will be available this upcoming season. Whether that’s size, classification, hometowns or recruiting rankings coming out of high school, we’ve got you covered.
Also included in each article is a quick recap letting you know what to expect from that player for the upcoming 2020 season and beyond.
Next up on the list is freshman outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr. out of Hampton (Ga.).
Will Anderson Jr., Outside Linebacker
Nov 30, 2019; Auburn, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban prepares to take the field for the game against the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Analysis: It’s almost a forgone conclusion at this point that Will Anderson Jr. is going to contribute to Alabama’s pass rush in 2020. The edge player out of Georgia is one of the best pure pass-rushing prospects in the country, and the Tide have a glaring hole at outside linebacker.
Will he start right out of the gate? More than likely not, as he’ll have to compete with several other impressive freshmen on top of players such as King Mwikuta, Kevin Harris II and Jarez Parks. But expect contributions early and often in passing situations.
Anderson still has some work to do getting stronger at the point of attack if he wants to be a complete, every-down edge player, but with his known willingness to learn and grow, there’s no reason to believe he won’t be able to do just that.
