Alabama Linemen Battle It out For Starting Positions

Offensive line is my favorite position in football.

I played the position in pee wee football and questioned my mother as to why I should keep taking the pounding while the quarterback gets to be the hero.  She didn't have an answer. 

I arrived at the football banquet and though I started every game, they forgot to make me a place setting.  All the other guys had these cool little footballs with their names in glitter. I had nothing.

Later in high school I was happily battling for playing time at outside linebacker.  My coach comes to me the summer before my senior year and says.  Hey,  we are moving you to guard.

I protested,  "But Coach,  I'm 175 lbs."  He said,  "Don't worry, we are going to put big shoulder pads on you, you'll look bigger that way." 

"Oh, and by the way", coach said,  "You might want to hit the weights this summer."

I won't bore you with the details of my senior adventure at the guard position but I will say that I respect the men who man the offensive line more than any other position.

Alabama returns three well established starters this year on the line:

Senior James Carpenter is 6' 5”, 300 lbs with good footwork.  He is likely to remain entrenched at the left tackle spot.  He played part of the '09 season battling injuries.    Carpenter had a solid year but not an outstanding one.  If he returns healthy he has a chance to build on that to be a truly great tackle this year. 

Sophomore Guard Barrett Jones received freshman honors in his first year after redshirting in 2008.  Jones overtook Brian Motley mid fall camp for the starting position.   At 6' 4”, 289 lbs he could stand to add some bulk.  He is smart and showed good mobility blocking downfield.   He struggled early but firmed up several games into the season.  He needs to continue building himself with the conditioning program to gain a little size and strength.

Center William Vlachos is undersized at 6' 2” (if that), and 294 pounds.   Vlachos personifies the saying “Its not the size of the dog in the fight but the fight in the dog.”  Vlachos like Jones struggled early but by mid season was rock solid and had a dominant performance in the SEC championship game.   Vlachos is one of the strongest players on the team and has a well documented nasty streak.  Something I dearly love in offensive lineman. 

It really hasn't been mentioned that in addition to his blocking he simply didn't make mistakes snapping the ball.  He performed standard, shotgun, and Pistol snaps like a 20-year NFL veteran. 

I began the 2009 season calling Vloachos the weak link,  I ended the year calling him the lynch pin.  I hope I'm wrong like that more often.

Alabama has one guard and one tackle spot up for grabs.  There are many lineman on campus, some of which are true or redshirt freshmen.  Rather than review them all I'm going to talk about the more experienced  players from which the new starters are likely to come.

I don't expect any of the three starters to lose their jobs but its always a possibility.  Its also possible some could be moved.  Many expect Jones to move the left guard spot, but it's also possible Carpenter could slide down and a new left tackle could be inserted. 

Senior Brian Motley spent almost the entire '09 offseason as the starter only to lose it just weeks before the opening game.  At 6' 3”, 291 lbs he is not terribly big but he's very athletic having also played center and nose guard.  Motley has one more spring and summer to battle for the elusive starting job he has coveted since arriving at Alabama.

Sophomore Chance Warmack came in as a true freshman and locked onto the second string guard spot ahead of older players.  Warmack who compacts 301 lbs of muscle into his 6' 3” frame looks to be a strong contender for the starting spot.  Warmack is brutishly strong and will be hard to keep out of the lineup.

John Michael Boswell, 6' 5”, 306 lbs, from just up the road in Northport Alabama came in and played quite a bit as a true freshman.  Boswell played both tackle and guard at times and did so ahead of the more highly regarded freshman linemen in his class.  

Boswell was the favorite to win a starting spot in 2009 but it just didn't happen. Boswell will attempt to bounce back as a junior and reclaim the playing time he lost.

Alfred McCullough, a junior converted defensive lineman, is also undersized at 6' 2”, 305 lbs but at the end of 2009 was the top man off the bench at either tackle spot.  What McCullough lacks in size he makes up for with quick feet and long arms.  

It's almost inconceivable that Alabama could start a tackle that small in the SEC but Nick Saban will absolutely play the best player, he doesn't care how it looks on paper.

DJ Fluker is a redshirt freshman and a fan favorite.  Fluker came out of Foley with a five-star rating by Rivals but failed to display the footwork to avoid a redshirt season.    

Fluker only played one year at offensive line in high school so he had much technique to learn.  Though he was never a threat to start, last year's stories of his pancake run blocking in fall camp have grown to mythical proportions.

Fluker is massive at 6' 6”, 340lbs and that's after losing weight.   It may take Fluker another year in the system to get his footwork down but I have no doubt we will see him on the field in some situations, especially on the goal line.   

Sophomore Tyler Love was also a five star recruit.  Love who is 6' 5”, and 300 lbs has been steadily improving since arriving at Alabama and was possibly right behind McCullough on the non-existent depth chart.  Since arriving he has struggled some to put on muscle and weight but appears to be moving in the right direction.  Love will definitely get a shot at the tackle spot, but he could also be looked at for a guard position.

Alabama has a bunch of younger players at both the guard and tackle positions.  It's certainly possible that one of them could pull the upset and gain the starting spot.  Its also possible they could claw their way into the two deep which puts them one injury away from the field.

Alabama was very lucky in 2009 and finished in Pasadena with the same line they started in Atlanta.  That will not always be the case.

Alabama suffered badly in 2008 when suspensions and injuries put backups on the field in the Sugar Bowl.  Today Alabama has vastly more depth and competition on the line.  

No review of the line is complete without mentioning offensive line coach Joe Pendry.  Pendry is one of the most experienced coaches in the college game today.  Many questioned his hiring but Pendry was one of Saban's first hires, though initially it was not known if he would be the offensive coordinator or the line coach.

Coach Pendry has college coaching experience from West Virginia, Kansas State, Pitt, and Michigan State. 

From there Pendry became an assistant with the wildly successful Philadelphia Stars of the USFL and served as the Pittsburgh Maulers head coach before the league folded.   He went on to coach 19 years in the NFL seeing his teams go to the playoffs 11 times.

Coach Pendry has coached quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, offensive lineman, and was the offensive coordinator for three NFL teams. 

After years of struggling on the offensive line Joe Pendry has not only brought stability to the position but has been able to guide his players to weekly improvement as the season progresses.  The domination they displayed in the SEC championship game was possibly the best performance of a Tide line in 20 years or more.

Its also worth mentioning that the Tide lineman cleared the path for Alabama's first Heisman trophy winner.  The trophy belongs to them as much as it does Ingram. 

Additionally thanks to the strength and conditioning staff this line gets stronger as the game goes on. 

I don't know who the the new starters will be but I do know they will be as well prepared as any new starter in the SEC.  Alabama has managed to keep its staff intact through three seasons and is going on a fourth.  

Look for next season to resemble the last, with the Tide lineman clearing the path for others to receive glory.