Alabama Football: Tide's Biggest Challenge in 2016 Spring Practice

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — To use defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson’s words, the first couple of days of spring practice have been a little “weird” for the University of Alabama football team.

In addition to many of the leaders from last season’s national champions no longer being on the team—as guys like Reggie Ragland, Jarran Reed and A’Shawn Robinson are now focused on next month’s NFL draft—coaches are trying some other players at new positions like Ross Pierschbacher at center.

“Every now and again, I am supposed to be in the three technique, and he’s the guard, so I'll end up at nose guard on accident,” Tomlinson explained as Pierschbacher was the offense’s starting left guard as a redshirt freshman last season.

“He’s been doing pretty good. I’ll wait the rest of the spring and see how that goes.”

While a lot of teams have to use the spring to try and find starters and then get them up to speed as much as possible, things are a little different in Tuscaloosa this time of year.

It’s not that Alabama doesn’t need to find starters—it does—but a lot of the players being considered had already earned playing time, so there’s already a familiarity of what’s expected.

That’s why there’s not a strong sense of urgency to find Derrick Henry’s replacement at running back because Damien Harris and Bo Scarbrough are both going to get their carries. At spots like free safety and the defensive line, there are numerous options.

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"On the defensive front I’d say me, Jonathan Allen and Da'Shawn Hand," Tomlinson said about whom the leaders will be on the still-deep line.

Obviously, finding the next starting quarterback is a top priority, but Crimson Tide fans have learned over the past decade that there’s a good chance it won’t be decided for a while.

The last three quarterback competitions, won by AJ McCarron, Blake Sims and Jake Coker, weren’t decided until after the start of the regular season. Coming in, little appeared to separate Blake Barnett, Cooper Bateman and David Cornwell, and all three will get their chances.

The coaches face a tougher challenge in forming the team around the quarterback position and finding roles for all the players who are too good to be on the sidelines.

Have you seen Alabama’s roster lately?

After six straight recruiting classes have finished atop the 247Sports composite rankings, Nick Saban has compiled a ridiculous amount of talent. As previously noted, he’ll have 19 players who were once considered 5-star prospects when they signed on this year’s team.

One of them is outside linebacker Rashaan Evans, who as a sophomore in 2015, played in all but one game and was credited with 10 tackles, four sacks and three hurries. Most of his playing time came as a pass-rusher and on special teams.

So far, Evans has spent the spring learning inside linebacker.

“We recruited him because he had great fast-twitch ability to rush on the edge, and he did a good job of that last year,” Saban said. “We still have every plan to use him at that, but we were looking at where can he develop as an every-down position player the best.

“I've been impressed with what he has been able to do so far. He is naturally instinctive at it, so it's just going to be a matter of him learning the position and him being a linebacker; I don't think that's something that will be overly difficult for him to do."

Evans ability to play both inside and outside linebacker would give Alabama immediate depth, not to mention, provide coaches the kind of versatility they enjoyed with Dillon Lee, who could line up anywhere.

Thus, even though Lee, Ragland and Denzel Devall have all departed, the corps still has Evans, Reuben Foster, Shaun Dion Hamilton, Tim Williams, Ryan Anderson, Christian Miller and Keith Holcombe; this roster exists even before prize additions Ben Davis and Lydell Wilson arrive on campus this summer.

That’s a monster group on paper.

Though, figuring out how all the pieces fit will be a challenge for the offensive line as well. Granted, a starter at right tackle has to be found, and there are numerous contenders for that job. More pressing is determining who will be Ryan Kelly’s replacement.

“We obviously lost a great player at that position, and it's going to be critical for us to be able to develop somebody who can play it in the fall,” Saban said.

Alabama asked Barrett Jones to switch from left tackle to center for his final season in 2012, which demonstrates just how important it views the position. Kelly was a three-year starter and won the program’s second Rimington Award for best center (Jones was the first), while predecessors Antoine Caldwell and William Vlachos were finalists.

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Bradley Bozeman and J.C. Hassenauer are also options while Pierschbacher, who was named to the Sporting News’ All-Freshman Team, has the physical makeup and arm length to play any position on the line. Yet, if he works out at center, Alabama could build not only this line around him, but the next two as well.

"I think that experience is always a valuable commodity for any player, but you look at certain types of players in terms of 'what are their assets?' Quickness, moving feet, balance and body control are really assets of being a good center. Playing with power is somewhere in there,” Saban said.

“We have several guys on our team that we said 'We're going to look at these guys at center,' and we want to know if we have other people besides JC. Some of the guys who have played center here could play in the fall because that will give us the best opportunity to put our best five offensive linemen on the field, whether they're playing tackle, guard or center. We feel like Ross has those attributes as a player, so he was a natural to take a look at that position."

If Pierschbacher is still there in a week, then we’ll pretty much have our answer regarding his immediate future. Either way, look for the experimenting to continue throughout the spring. The goal isn’t just to fill the 22 starting spots, but also, to have players handling roles that play to their strengths and help the team fulfill its potential.

Saban excels at that as the 2015 season again demonstrated. This time last year, Alabama needed nine new offensive starters, and everyone in the secondary except cornerback Cyrus Jones was in a new spot.

Obviously, things worked out pretty well for the Crimson Tide.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Christopher Walsh is a lead SEC college football writer. Follow Christopher on Twitter, @WritingWalsh.