Alabama’s defensive front took a slight hit to start the month of June, but it appears to be nothing too severe that head coach Nick Saban and company can’t bounce back from. After redshirting last season, freshman linebacker Shawn Jennings left the program back on June 1. The three-star from Dadeville, Ala., is talented; however. Alabama is currently littered with studs at linebacker.
Defensive lineman O.J. Smith, a native of Bossier City, La., announced Wednesday via Twitter that he’s been granted his release from Alabama. Following his redshirt year in 2014, Smith collected two tackles in the next two seasons. Listed at 6-foot-2 and 305 pounds, he would have made a valuable rotation player on the Crimson Tide’s defensive line. In reflecting on Alabama’s 2015 national championship squad, what made that group special was its 16-17 man rotation on the line. Reports on where Jennings and Smith will play next have yet to begin surfacing.
Yours truly of Touchdown Alabama Magazine was live Wednesday on Mark Rogers TV, discussing the situation involving Smith and Jennings departing from Tuscaloosa. You can catch us every Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. (CT) on Google Hangouts/YouTube for all things Alabama football.
Stephen M. Smith is a managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @Smsmith_TDALMag.
