Alabama football kicked off fall camp Thursday, Aug. 4.
Fans of the Crimson Tide are excited for this edition of athletes taking the field, as Nick Saban and the program look to reclaim the crown of national champions. With the start of college football quickly approaching, the staff writers for Touchdown Alabama Magazine will provide in-depth previews of the top 30 players on Alabama’s roster.
Coming in at No. 28 in the rankings is redshirt-sophomore offensive lineman Seth McLaughlin.
Seth McLaughlin
-Classification: Redshirt-sophomore
-Position: Offensive lineman
-Hometown: Buford, Georgia
-Height: 6-4
-Weight: 295 pounds
-Strengths: Tenacity, strong punch, mobility
-Weaknesses: Over-aggression sometimes leads to imbalance, experience
SUMMARY:
Although his playing time was brief, offensive lineman Seth McLaughlin stepped up in some of the biggest moments of the season for Alabama.
Joining the Crimson Tide in 2020, McLaughlin didn’t see game action until late in his redshirt-freshman campaign when he was called upon to make his first career start during the SEC Championship Game against Georgia. Rather than allowing his inexperience to get the best of him, the Georgia native shined helping solidify a Crimson Tide offensive line in disarray.
During that game and for the remainder of the College Football Playoffs, where he started every game, McLaughlin showed the traits that made Nick Saban look to recruit him in the first place. His physical nature of play sets the exact tone the offense has been known for especially in the run game where he has great mobility in the trenches.
Standing at 6-foot-4 provides McLaughlin with a length advantage which aided him in pass protection. In his three starts last season, McLaughlin did not allow a single sack despite Alabama’s shacky pass protection throughout the regular season.
Lack of experience is still something to consider with McLaughlin even though he’s performed on the biggest stages in college football. But the continuity he was able to provide while being thrown into the fire of a do-or-die game makes him one of the Crimson Tide’s most intriguing players on an offensive line looking to have a bounce-back 2022 season.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
