re: Bama Football Tidings

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Another day, another question mark emerges for Alabama at linebacker.

The news broke Monday that sophomore linebacker Eyabi Anoma, a former five-star recruit, plans to depart the program via the NCAA transfer portal. It’s not entirely clear where Anoma might be headed (perhaps home to Maryland), but what we do know is that it seems almost certain that if he reaches his enormous potential, he’ll do so somewhere other than Tuscaloosa.

And make no mistake, this one hurts. Anoma was being counted on in a major way not only this fall, but in 2020, when Alabama is set to lose as many as four starting linebackers.

Anoma... another blow at a position that has seen repeated attrition since the end of the 2018 season, when rising senior Mack Wilson unexpectedly jumped to the NFL draft. Linebacker has been a position of great strength at Alabama under Nick Saban, but it’s possible it could be a liability in 2019.

Still, two of the four positions are in excellent hands. Junior Dylan Moses holds down one inside position, and is projected as an All-American this season and a likely first-round NFL draft pick next spring.

Senior Anfernee Jennings is steady on the outside, if less spectacular than Moses. Jennings’ 13 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks are the most of any returning player for the Crimson Tide.

But beyond those two, things get dicey. Junior Terrell Lewis on the outside is a potential star and dominating pass-rusher when healthy, but he’s played a grand total of four games the last two years due to multiple injuries.

Sophomore Chris Allen is also coming off an injury, a torn ACL that cost him all of last season. We won’t know for sure what he’ll be able to contribute until we see him on the field next month.

Sophomore Ale Kaho contributed on special teams last year and looked like a solid bet to take over the inside linebacker spot next to Moses during the spring. But he missed the first two practices while (in Nick Saban’s words) “dealing with some issues,” so it’s difficult to depend on him as well.

The other linebackers on the roster are largely unproven, and that includes fifth-year senior Joshua McMillon. If you don’t know much about Markial Benton, Jaylen Moody, Jarez Parks and true freshmen Christian Harris, Shane Lee, Kevin Harris and King Mwikuta, you’re not alone.

Alabama would be helped tremendously if the light would suddenly come on for junior Ben Davis, a former five-star recruit whose father starred for the Tide in the 1980s. People forget that Davis was more highly regarded than Mack Wilson coming out of high school, but he’s shown an inability to get on the field even on special teams, which leads one to wonder what his path to playing time might be.

One cause for optimism is the return of Sal Sunseri to help coach the Alabama linebackers. The veteran assistant was first on the Crimson Tide staff from 2009-11, tutoring all-time program greats such as Rolando McClain, C.J. Mosley and Dont’a Hightower.

And let’s not forget this sort of thing has happened before, not just at Alabama, but at this very position. The Crimson Tide suffered a huge rash of injuries at linebacker in 2017, losing Jennings, Lewis, Moses, Hamilton, Wilson, Christian Miller and Rashaan Evans at various points during the season.

Alabama won the national championship that year. I’m sure Crimson Tide supporters would rather not find out if they can overcome a similar situation this fall, but they just might have to.

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