SEC Football Q&A: How Will Alabama Adjust to Life Without Trent Richardson?

Every Thursday on The SEC Blog, we will feature questions from the Bleacher Report inbox, Twitter and email. Do you have a question for next week's Q&A? Send it to SEC lead blogger Barrett Sallee via the B/R inbox, on Twitter @BarrettSallee or at [e-mail].

From Kevin Paul (@KevinJPaul) on Twitter: How does Alabama's offense adjust to the loss of Trent Richardson to the draft?

The easy answer is just to turn around and hand it to Eddie Lacy, but that's not necessarily the right answer.

Lacy has just 325 career rushing yards in SEC games, and 562 of his 674 yards last year came after Alabama had already built a lead of eight or more points. The bottom line is that we don't know if he can carry the load as an every-down running back in the SEC, and only on-field results will change that.

Richardson was much more seasoned as a running back when he took over for Mark Ingram. Richardson had 1,451 yards during his first two seasons playing alongside Ingram, including 754 versus SEC opponents. 

Lacy may be able to handle the load, but it's far from a sure thing. Considering the way that freshman T.J. Yeldon played in the spring game, and the fact that Jalston Fowler and Dee Hart are still on the roster, I expect Alabama to feature more of a running back-by-committee than it has in years past.

Plus, quarterback A.J. McCarron can air it out if he needs to. He was largely viewed as a caretaker up until his offensive MVP performance in the BCS National Championship Game, but he eclipsed the 200 yard mark six times in 2011. That's not too shabby.

From Logan Kersey (@LoganKersey) on Twitter: Is there a breakout defensive player in the SEC West flying under the radar?

He's under-the-radar because the two SEC newcomers are relatively unknown in SEC circles, but one guy to keep an eye on is Texas A&M defensive end Damontre Moore. He led the Big 12 last season with 17.5 tackles for loss and finished second in sacks with 8.5.

Those stats are a little inflated due to the fact that the Big 12 is a pass-happy conference, so Moore will have some work to do to match those in the SEC. Still, even coming close to those numbers would be a major accomplishment.

The Aggies are switching to a 4-3 system under new defensive coordinator Mark Snyder, which means Moore is dropping down to defensive end. He should make a name for himself at that spot in the SEC. 

From Jesse Wachtel (@Hokieh1) on Twitter: With this season's conference realignment winding down, what do you look to happen next offseason? Virginia Tech to the SEC? Pretty please?

I absolutely think that the SEC will eventually end up with Virginia Tech and NC State at some point, but it won't be next year.

If the SEC expands to 16, it will coincide with the creation of the new SEC cable network. The SEC is in the middle of renegotiating its media rights deal, and any further expansion will also likely take place during the "look-in" period of the new contract, whenever that may be.

So, long story short, Virginia Tech is absolutely a target due to its ability to bring the SEC Network to providers in the state of Virginia, but I doubt it happens next year or even in 2014.

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