Alabama will continue to rely on young talent to help on special teams
Alabama had youth across the board last year. A lot of freshman contributed, whether that be on offense, defense or special teams. That’s expected to continue at certain spots on offense and defense, and special teams will continue to rely heavily on the newcomers — or that’s how Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer sees […]
Alabama had youth across the board last year. A lot of freshman contributed, whether that be on offense, defense or special teams. That’s expected to continue at certain spots on offense and defense, and special teams will continue to rely heavily on the newcomers — or that’s how Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer sees it.
“Last year I think we were at the top, I know we were at the top of the conference with the number of freshmen that were out there on those units,” DeBoer told reporters earlier this week. “I would expect that, hopefully it’s not at the same rep count at the end of the year, but I would say that we have a lot of confidence in those guys.
“I think we have some really, really strong, athletic kids that can go out there and make plays, even as freshmen. That’s not just offense and defense, but in special teams as you’re asking. They’ve been taking all the reps as part of our circuits and work, drill work that we’re trying to do to lay the foundation and now we get into scheme and we start laying out our depth chart and our starting point.”
Special teams is a great way for young guys to get involved and contribute, but it should never be considered an afterthought. Sometimes, starters are needed to ensure you’re getting impactful play, but Alabama hasn’t needed to be overly reliant on that with so many first and second-year guys ready to make an impact.
“There certainly are a lot of young guys, whether they’re freshmen or redshirt freshmen or true sophomores,” DeBoer said. “There’s a lot of guys that’ll be out there, but they should be able to go out there and do the job. We believe, though, that you still will put your best players on the field, but there’s got to be a mix, there’s got to be a balance and a lot of those guys can go out there and make plays, just like they did a year ago.”
Last season, true freshmen such as Zay Mincey, Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. and Jaylen Mbakwe were key players on special teams. You also had others such as then second-year linebacker Justin Okoronkwo, who led Alabama in special teams snaps with 192. This year, I’d expect the three freshmen linebackers, Luke Metz, Duke Johnson and Abduall Sanders, to all contribute with young defensive backs such as Ivan Taylor also chipping in.
Alabama is set to face off against Florida State in the season opener on Aug. 30. The game will be held in Tallahassee with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. CT (3:30 ET), and it’ll air on ABC. The Crimson Tide are currently 13.5-point favorites.
