Win a championship. Reload. Contend for another title.

Alabama has been on this cycle pretty much since Nick Saban took over in Tuscaloosa in 2007. Coming off its 2015 championship season, the Crimson Tide will lose a lot of key contributors to the NFL Draft/graduation, but despite those departures, Alabama is favored to repeat in 2016, more than likely because it has numerous players ready to step up and assert themselves.

Here’s a look at several who are poised for breakout seasons:

1. QB Blake Barnett

Under Saban, a trend has developed regarding replacing starting QBs, and it usually has involved the backup from the previous season taking over as the starter the following year. It began in 2009, when Greg McElroy took over for John Parker Wilson. It continued in 2011 when AJ McCarron replaced McElroy and then repeated itself three years later when Blake Sims followed McCarron. Meanwhile, Jacob Coker, Sims’ backup in 2014, parlayed his patience into a national championship.

Coker’s backup in 2015 was Cooper Bateman, who started against Ole Miss in Bama’s only loss of the season. If the Saban QB pattern were to continue, then Bateman would presumably be the starter in 2016, but that may be a bit presumptive.

It’s time for Alabama to find out exactly what it has in Barnett, the 6-5, 200-pound rising sophomore and former five-star prospect. Barnett has an opportunity to show that he can be more than just a second- or third-string QB.

2. RBs Bo Scarbrough/Damien Harris

Speaking of opportunity, these two running backs – and former five-star high school prospects themselves – should be able to make the most of their chances this spring and beyond. With Hesiman Trophy winner Derrick Henry and his backup Kenyan Drake both wrapping up their college careers, the top two spots in Bama’s backfield are up for grabs.

Harris, a 5-11, 205-pound rising sophomore, got more touches last season – 46 carries for 157 yards and a score – but Scarbrough might have the edge for the No. 1 tailback spot because of his 6-2, 240-pound frame. A rising redshirt sophomore who physically resembles Henry, Scarbrough finished with 104 yards and a TD on 18 carries in 2015.

The better pass catcher of the two could emerge to fill Drake’s role, and that might be Harris, who has four career receptions for 13 yards. But regardless of how this competition shakes out, the Crimson Tide’s ground game could have been in a lot worse shape if it weren’t for this developing duo.

3. LB Reuben Foster

If Henry was the heart and soul of Alabama’s offense in 2015, then linebacker Reggie Ragland was his equivalent on defense. But like Henry, Ragland will be playing football on Sundays in the fall, which allows Foster to step in and be Bama’s leader on ‘D.’ Foster, who had just 23 tackles in 11 games his sophomore year, made major strides in 2015, with 73 stops – including eight for a loss – 3 QB hurries and a sack. The sky’s the limit for this 6-1, 240-pound rising senior whose game can get even better in 2016.

4. C J.C. Hassenauer

No pressure here. The last two centers who were starters for Saban – Barrett Jones and Ryan Kelly – won the Rimington Trophy, which is given annually to the best player in the country at that position. Hassenauer, a 6-2, 295-pound rising junior who saw action in seven games last season, might be the guy who replaces Kelly, but he’ll have to fend off rising redshirt sophomore Josh Casher and others to do it.

5. S Ronnie Harrison

With Alabama losing starting free safety Geno Matias-Smith to graduation, Harrison has a good shot to fill that gap. Playing in both the Tide’s base and dime defense last season, the true freshman had a productive first year, with 17 tackles, 6 pass break-ups, 2 INTs, a blocked kick, a sack, a QB hurry and a forced fumble. With All-SEC performer Eddie Jackson returning for his senior season, Harrison could give Bama the best pair of safeties in the SEC.