Alabama football has two positions national media, local media, and fans see as question marks: offensive line and defensive line.
Eric Wolford, the Crimson Tide’s new offensive line coach, looks to have his unit in order.
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Tide fans want to see Freddie Roach, Alabama’s defensive line coach, produce monsters within his group. Some are not high on Alabama’s defensive front because it has not been consistently dominant in the last few seasons. However, the executive director for the Reese’s Senior Bowl sees the Crimson Tide’s underrated bunch as the main reason for the defense being the best in college football for the fall. Jim Nagy, an 18-year NFL scout, loves Byron Young, DJ Dale, and Justin Eboigbe on the defensive line.
OLBs Will Anderson and Dallas Turner will get most of attention but underrated front of Byron Young, D.J. Dale, & Justin Eboigbe is big reason why @AlabamaFTBL defense will be best in CFB this fall. @seniorbowl has “arrow-up” grades on all 3 senior DL.#TheDraftStartsInMOBILE™️ pic.twitter.com/UcW4AkIIy0
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) July 10, 2022
He said the Senior Bowl has an “arrow-up” grade on all three. The trio came together in 2019, but Young has been the most productive of the group. He has a chance to start in the fall as a defensive end and grow his draft stock. Dale has experience as a nose tackle, but he has also been hampered by injuries. The Birmingham native is healthy, but he has to provide consistent success. Eboigbe, a native Georgian, has not seen many opportunities but has the potential to create a marquee campaign.
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Christian Barmore and Phidarian Mathis were late bloomers for the Tide as pass rushers.
Barmore earned some playing time in 2019, but he exploded in 2020 and helped the Tide win a national championship. Mathis brought potential, but he came to life in 2021 with 12 tackles for loss and nine sacks. Alabama needs one or two linemen to take over games this fall so Will Anderson, Dallas Turner, Chris Braswell, Henry To’oto’o, and Jaylen Moody can have fun.
Nagy likes Alabama’s front line, but we shall see how it performs.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
