Alabama Football Recruiting Class 2022 Distribution: Line of attack

The 2021 season is now behind us, and Alabama has been quite busy completing its list for 2022, with numerous top talent that will continue to dominate college football for the next 4 years. With the national signing date behind us and spring football around the corner, let’s look at all the new players joining Tide.

In previous years, I’ve focused a lot on this series of articles on SPARQ data and sports testing, but it started to fall in popularity in 2019 and Covid killed it completely in 2020, and the same continues in this category. So we go back to the old school assessment method where we just look at the tape.

All of my rankings referenced are from 247Composite, as are player sizes.

Anyway, when Nick Saban took 5 offensive players in the 2021 class, he moved a little out of that group and only took three new players, even though two are in the top 50 five-star tackles. Let’s see:

Tyler Booker

Another product of the IMG Academy, Booker continues the tradition that the school’s top offensive linemen come to Alabama (Evan Neal, JC Latham). He was originally a defensive takla during the first part of his career before moving into the attack in his last two seasons at IMG. He has received a lot of praise and reviews for his mentality and leadership from the coaches there.

He’s listed as a striker at 247, but he’s the guard for ESPN and Rivals, and ESPN gives him a 5-star ranking as the second best guard in the country. 6’5 ”325, he’s easily sized to be able to play in either position.

Booker has signed up early and will be training with the team this spring.

Play style

Booker shows a natural balance and flexibility in the blocks, and he does a good job of keeping his legs active and under his focus even as he turns his upper body. He’s a guy who never ends up on the ground unless there’s a defender under it.

This, combined with his massive body, makes him a monster finishing blocks when he’s engaged and makes a significant difference in a short run.

Despite the fact that he has only played OL for a few seasons now, he also shows great awareness of picking up stunts and delayed blits.

As far as he needs to work, he tends to lock in and grab instead of “hitting” the defending lineman’s chest. Hand placement is a learned skill and requires some coaching, but he has a regular risk of holding calls. Speed ​​in his back pedal can also be a problem at the university level.

Scheme Fit

Booker is the perfect swing for the RT / G combination that Nick Saban has so often favored over the years. He can do just as well in a force or zone lockout system, no matter who ends up being an offensive coach in Alabama.

Prediction

I fully expect Booker to be at least in the race to replace Chris Owens with the right tackle, and we’ll probably hear a rumble about him this spring. I really don’t expect his future and winning job as a real freshman, but I think he’s doing the 2nd string and is a swing substitute in the guard and tackle.

Dayne Shor

Shor is an interesting recruitment case. He received an offer from the camp in Alabama after a huge second year, and he moved to the IMG Academy to continue his football career. Unfortunately, his season ended with a pre-season injury, and he ended up moving back home to his older season … Just because he wasn’t eligible to play because of the transfer rules.

He’s ideal in size and height to attack the NFL, and he’s apparently been distinctive in every camp he’s been to … But all this comes as a warning that he hasn’t played a football season since his second year.

Shor has already registered for Alabama.

Play style

It’s easy to see why so many college football teams offered this guy a scholarship when he showed up at their camps. He has a unique blend of long arms, long legs, fast legs and strength that allows him to develop into a first-round NFL Takla. He’s a natural passport blocker on the edge of the left tackle and is comfortable retreating with speed accelerators, but is also usually patient enough to grab an interior counter-movement.

In the running game, he shoots off the line faster than all his teammates and uses his go-go gadget arms to knock the defenders back and out of the way. Despite his height, he usually manages to descend down and use his fast and active legs to defend short yards.

Scheme Fit

I’ve heard some people think that Shor might be the center, but I think he’s too tall and not stiff enough to withstand indoors. Shor is a fireplace, and it can be the kind of left Takla that you can leave off the island. I expect him to be primarily left to Takla Nick Saban.

Prediction

Man, Shor is, frankly, one of the most fascinating prospects Alabama has drawn in the last few years. His low ranking is definitely deserved, as he hasn’t played in two years, and the teams he played against as a second student weren’t quite top competitions. On the other hand, people are often not that size … And very few of them are polished passport control devices at the age of 15.

I think Shori gets a big shock when she gets used to the speed of college, and we probably won’t see her in her first or second year. If He keeps it, though, but I think he could become a late bloom with a meteoric rise as an elite passport blocking the left tackle.

Elijah Pritchett

Of the 247 rankings, the 5-star potential Pritchett made waves as a parent as he added £ 20 to his body to become a prototype jacket with 6’6 “305 very long arms. He has spent several years playing left tackle in a talented area around Columbus, GA.

Of the three, Pritchett will be the only one to enroll in the summer, so he’s one step behind his other two classmates in 2022.

Play style

Pritchett is impressive, explosive, violent and simply nasty on the football field. He’s a sturdy character in the left tackle, and he thrives when it’s important to see how far he can throw his defender into the air in any game. And then tell the defender about it.

Pritchett is a powerful run-in blocker who explodes in the starting pass with the intention of blowing a hole in the defense right in front of him, and no high school-level defender can do much about it. If you get him to block him as a lead-pulling guy, a bad mate or defensive back will end up as a visible whip on up to 480p of shaky recordings in someone’s auditorium.

Scheme Fit

Pritchett is built like a tackle, but almost plays more like an interior designer. I’m concerned about his long-term ability as a downhill blocker against speed, but overall, I think he’s the kind of player who can play in any line. Put him wherever he meets the need and let him intimidate your opponent into submission.

Prediction

It is difficult for a freshman to break the depth chart on the line of attack, especially if he has not signed up early. I think it will take a couple of years for Pritchett, but he ends up being a multi-year beginner in various roles and ends up as a leader and tone adjuster by the end of his career.