Alabama’s biggest offensive issue in the SEC Championship may finally come to an end in the College Football Playoff
Alabama looks to be getting healthy at the perfect time.
Make no mistake, the Alabama Crimson Tide have struggled to run the ball for most of the season. Saturady’s game in Atlanta was the climax of those issues, however, as the Tide recorded -3 yards on the ground against the Georgia Bulldogs.
As bad as things we’re on the ground, the weeks leading up to the game against Georgia didn’t show anything of the sort. In fact, the last three games of the regular season and even the Oklahoma game showed some improvement in the rushing attack. But that was due in large part to Alabama having its starting TE and tailback available, something the team didn’t have on Saturday. Well, that could be changing in the College Football Playoff.
Kalen DeBoer is optimistic about the return of Jam Miller, Josh Cuevas, LT Overton
“I know Jam [Miller] I feel is probably the farthest along, if I really kind of put that kind of in order, feel that he’s got a really strong chance of being not just available, but ready to go at [another] level. He can compete and do some big things, good things for us,” DeBoer said via the Alabama Crimson Tide YouTube channel.
“Josh [Cuevas], he’s on his way. Kind of just got to keep evaluating with him. I’m holding on to some pretty good hope, but you know, we’ll see. You know, he hasn’t seen our training staff yet today, but every day here now, the next four or five days, they all matter. You know, they all matter for all these guys.
“And then we’ll continue to evaluate just where LT [Overton] is at with some of their illnesses and stuff like that that they’re going through. So I’m optimistic on a lot of these guys. I think the other part is just so many guys that in the last two to three weeks of even go back to the Oklahoma game, a number of our guys got dinged up and, you know, just grinding through it.”
Josh Cuevas unlocks another element of Alabama’s offense
Everyone knows how valuable Jam Miller is to the Alabama offense. I don’t think, however, that many realize what Cuevas brings both in the pass game and as a run blocker. Alabama’s ability to run to the perimeter was greatly hampered against the Bulldogs with Cuevas out. You saw a similar thing happen against Auburn when Miller left the game.
His one cut and go style meshes perfectly with a wide zone scheme where you guessed it, you need TEs who can block.
With over a week until things kick off, we will keep you updated on where Alabama stands on every front.
Alabama Crimson Tide News
Kalen Deboer throws a subtle jab at Notre Dame when asked what Alabama would have done if it missed the College Football Playoff
It’s safe to say that Alabama and Kalen DeBoer would be taking a different approach if the shoe was on the other foot.
