Alabama Football: Can Offensive Line Live Up to Preseason Hype?

When is the last time that Alabama’s offensive line had this much experience and talent?  I can honestly say that I do not remember.  I am not old enough to remember the lines of the '60s and '70s—if that tells you how long it might have been.

Numerous preseason things have happened involving our offensive line, and I think some of them are worth looking at.

Let’s start with Phil Steele’s preseason all-SEC lineup. Phil lists BIG Andre Smith as first team all-SEC at the Offensive Tackle spot.  He also lists Antoine Caldwell as a second team all-SEC pick at the center spot.

An article that was posted here on bleacherreport.com by David Williams, entitled “Preseason Top 25 Polls” says, “Alabama may boast one of the best offensive lines in all of college football.”

Back in May, Andre Smith was named to the Playboy Preseason All-American list.

In the 2009 Mock Draft on ESPN, Andre Smith was listed as the number six pick in the draft (the first Alabama first round draft pick in years).

But aMAZEnfan put it better than most.

"So, let's review: Sr-Antoine Caldwell is by far the most experienced we have relative to the number of games he has played at the position. The next player with the most experience is Sr-Marlon Davis.

Next is Jr-Andre Smith, followed by Jr-Mike Johnson, then Jr-Evan Cardwell. So that leaves us with Jr-Drew Davis, Soph-David Ross, Soph-Taylor Pharr, Soph-William Vlachos, and Fr-Patrick Crump as the guys with the least game time experience.

For this reason, I believe that the true freshmen, Tyler Love, Barrett Jones, and John Michael Boswell will have a tough time starting immediately, unless they absolutely 'WOW' the coaching staff, but that appears to be unlikely at this time—unless you are talking about the mysterious Right Tackle!"

The bottom line is that this year’s offensive line is being talked about and set up to meet expectations—or fail miserably.  But to me, if we still haven’t learned to pick up the blitz, it's just not going to matter. 

Auburn and LSU have learned that in recent years we have been unable to pick up the blitz or make plays during a blitz from the corners or safeties.  If new Offensive Coordinator Jim McElwain can figure out how to do that, and can get the offensive line to live up to expectations, this could be a hell of a year for our offensive line.