On Saturday, [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] and the Alabama football wrapped up their final scrimmage of fall camp, and later this week, once classes begin on campus in Tuscaloosa, the Tide will enter into game week mode and begin to prepare for their Sept. 2 season opener against Middle Tennessee State.
With the struggles that have come at that position group over the past couple of seasons, it’s obvious why so many folks are fascinated with the offensive line, most notably the left side. Following Saturday’s scrimmage, Coach Saban confirmed that some changes had been made to help accommodate the youth and inexperience on the left side of the offensive line.
“I think it’s made a lot of improvement,” Saban said of the left side of the offensive line. “Basically, we moved some guys around to try and get a balance of experience a little bit more. (Booker) played left guard last year. He was playing right guard, but we moved him back to left guard. I think that’s helped the left tackles who are less experienced, somebody that’s got more experience, more confidence, can make calls, can help them with their communication.
“That doesn’t mean it’s the way it’s going to be, but that’s one thing that has helped, to some degree, on that side of the line.”
It’s beginning to look like true freshman Kadyn Proctor has locked down the left tackle position, but Terrence Ferguson, who is also an inexperienced player who has worked exclusively at left guard and center, was on the verge of winning the left guard spot over veteran Darrian Dalcourt. With the move of Booker from right to left, Dalcourt now has emerged as a possible starter at right guard since he does have game experience there.
I believe it is safe to say we could see musical offensive linemen, especially early on in this season while to coaches discover which five make up the best starting unit.
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