Alabama's Linebacker Groups a Tale of Perfect Opposites From a Year Ago

Alabama's linebackers went from being young in the middle and established on the outside to the exact opposite this spring

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It’s quite a contrast.

When the University of Alabama football team opens spring practice on Friday, the position group that will simultaneously see the most and least change is at linebacker.

It’s an interesting dynamic, or flip-flop, that will be at work between the interior and outside position groups. They'll be at polar opposites in terms of experience from 2019.

Last season, the Crimson Tide ended up playing two true freshmen, at middle and weakside linebacker, after starters Dylan Moses and Joshua McMillon both suffered torn ACL knee injuries.

An addition to Shane Lee and Christian Harris taking over and showing flashes of their potential, Alabama had four freshmen in the defensive front seven, which took a huge toll on the Crimson Tide.

“Even though those guys did the best they could, it wasn’t quite the standard of what we would like to be able to play with on a consistent basis,” Nick Saban said.

Now the opposite is true.

With Moses and McMillon retuning, Alabama essentially has four starters for the two interior spots.

Meanwhile, it doesn’t have any at strongside or Jack, the hybrid linebacker/end position that had been manned by Anfernee Jennings, who had been a starter since 2017. He and Terrell Lewis were fixtures, although the latter was more situational last season due to his position and hyperextending a knee at South Carolina.

Lewis still finished fifth among SEC defenders with 11.5 tackles for loss, and ninth in sacks.

As for who might replace them, your guess is as good an anyone’s. Having played in all 13 games last season, redshirt junior Chris Allen is the closest thing to an incumbent. Then there’s, in alphabetical order, redshirt senior Ben Davis, redshirt freshman Kevin Harris II, sophomore King Mwiikuta and redshirt sophomore Jarez Parks trying to lock down playing time.

Adding to their sense of urgency and high level of competition is the absolutely stellar 2020 recruiting class at the position, with all but one already on campus as early enrollees. Will Anderson, Chris Braswell and Drew Sanders were all considered consensus top-25 players in the nation. They’ll also will be joined by Quandarrius Robinson over the summer.

All know coming in that they’ll have a chance to get on the field this season, but it might be a little tougher for Demouy Kennedy and Jackson Bratton in the interior — although they arrive with impressive resumes as well.

“We really like that group of guys,” Saban said of his new linebackers on signing day. “They're all very talented. They're all good pass rushers.

“They're all long. So you know losing two guys that we're going to lose this year, losing other guys that we recruited who are no longer in the program created a great need at that position and we're really pleased with the players that we have at that position.”

This is the second story in the Spring Takes series, highlighting the top five things to keep an eye on during the practices leading up to 2020 A-Day

• Alabama’s Spring Begins Up Front on Both Sides of the Ball