Nick Saban details progress of offensive, defensive lines after second Alabama scrimmage

After Alabama wrapped up a second scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday, head coach Nick Saban assessed the play of both his offensive and defensive lines. As usual, Saban was demanding plenty on both sides of the ball in the trenches.

On the offensive line, the left tackle position is up for grabs. As such, Alabama has mixed and matched on the offensive line, moving sophomore guard Tyler Booker — who has played at both guard spots — to the left side to aide some younger tackles.

“Basically, we’ve moved some guys around to try to get — to balance the experience a little bit more,” Saban said. “Book played left guard last year. He was playing right guard. Move him back to left guard. So I think that’s helped the left tackles who are less experienced. Somebody who’s got more experience, more confidence, can make calls, can help them with their communication. And that doesn’t mean that’s the way it’s gonna be. But that’s one thing that I think has helped to some degree on that side of the line.”

Currently, the left tackle battle for Alabama is shaping up as a two-man race between redshirt freshman Elijah Pritchett and true freshman Kadyn Proctor.

With right tackle JC Latham carrying plenty of experience, Saban has some confidence dropping in a less-experienced guard on the right side next to him if it can help the left tackles to have Booker on their hip.

Overall, he’s pleased with where the offensive line is going, saying the group has improved. He was more critical of the defensive line group.

“I’m never satisfied with how the defense plays. We gave up some plays today, especially early in the scrimmage. So we gotta the play run a little bit better, we gotta be a little stronger at the line. We gotta strike out of ours, controls blockers, get off blocks better, fit the runs better. So, we’ve got a lot of things that we can improve on,” Saban said.

There’s a duo of experienced defensive linemen that Saban is confident in — Jaheim Oatis and Justin Eboigbe — and he’s been impressed by redshirt sophomore Tim Keenan so far in camp, but he’s looking for more depth from the group.

He’s hoping for some players to step up and be contributors he can count on heading into the year.

“We just need more guys to play with more consistency and can’t make mistakes in pass rush lanes, can’t make mistakes when we’re running stunts and games and pressures. And that’s one thing that we need to continue to work on cleaning up,” Saban said.