Alabama’s offensive line remains in good shape for Florida State despite a returning starter not being available
Alabama will be without a key member of its offensive line against Florida State, but the projected starters still have plenty of experience to lean on.
The Alabama Crimson Tide will be on the road for Week 1, and they’ll also be without one of their most experienced offensive linemen in Jaeden Roberts. On Monday, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer was asked if any players — other than running back Jam Miller, of course — was expected to miss Saturday’s game against Florida State.
His response? Just the fifth-year senior at right guard.
“I would say Jaeden Roberts is still in question, just with what he’s going through in the protocol and the process there,” DeBoer told reporters on Monday. “He’s progressing, he’s progressing, so we’ll kind of see here.”
Roberts has played a lot of football over the last two years. Over the past two seasons, he’s seen 1,072 snaps and 21 starts, all at right guard, which makes him one of Alabama’s most experienced offensive linemen. Not only that, but he’s been in the program since the 2021 season, so he’s been viewed as a leader.
Fortunately for the Crimson Tide, there’s another experienced option available who has played quite a bit and even got a couple of starts in Tuscaloosa. With Roberts dealing with lingering injury issues a year ago, former Michigan State transfer Geno VanDeMark got plenty of run on Alabama’s offensive line. He played 409 snaps with two starts in 2024, giving him 908 snaps and 10 starts for his career.
DeBoer was very complimentary of the veteran blocker on Monday.
“Geno was here a year ago, was battling, and we threw him out there in a couple series a game, and he would do a great job,” DeBoer said. “I’ve referred to him as Swiss Army knife guy. He can go out there and do a lot of things, so he’s really valuable to us. And really a lot of confidence, not just by me, but I know everyone out there offensively believes in him, and he’s doing a nice job.
“Really feel like he’s hasn’t skipped a beat at all. He was in there competing for that spot in the first place all along the way. There’s an energy that Geno, as you get to know him, that you really appreciate, and I think he adds that to our offensive line in his own way.”
Going into fall camp, everyone assumed Roberts would be Alabama’s starting right guard with VanDeMark and Texas A&M transfer Kam Dewberry battling to replace Tyler Booker on the left side. Instead, we quickly learned that the competition was moreso between Roberts and VanDeMark at right guard, so this development shouldn’t be overly concerning.
The good news? Alabama still has four projected starters upfront who started games for the team in 2024. Kadyn Proctor is a two-year starter at left tackle, center Parker Brailsford is a multi-year starter under DeBoer and Ryan Grubb and Wilkin Formby started two games while playing 291 snaps a season ago. Throw those guys in with VanDeMark’s experience, as well as Dewberry having 1,105 snaps and eight starts so far in his SEC career, and it’s still a solid group.
