Better or worse? Previewing Alabama's offense in 2022
When you have the returning Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback who threw for 4,872 yards and tossed 47 touchdowns, should you be worried? In spite of Bryce Young leading the way, Alabama still will enter the season with preseason anxiety in some areas.
There’s an offensive line that has been retooled with the losses of tackles Evan Neal and Chris Owens. In the backfield, Brian Robinson is gone, but Georgia Tech transfer Jahmyr Gibbs already has alleviated some fears about a possible sub-par running attack.
Throw in a budding wide receiver situation with Jermaine Burton, Ja’Corey Brooks and Kendrick Law, who combined need to account for the graduated number of 3,775 yards. They haven’t all been under the bright lights for a long time.
Does it appear to be enough to get back to the big stage in early January 2023? Let’s take a closer look at whether Alabama’s offense will be better or worse this season than the group that led the SEC in scoring (39.9) last season.
Passing offense: Better
I am not totally sold yet, but I will give it a nod. This really is a tough call because Young’s skill, potential and ceiling are obvious. Whether the Tide throw for 4,500+ yards and 45+ TDs again will truly depend on the offensive line.
In an earlier piece, I predicted Young would have a banner season and become the Tide’s career leader in touchdowns and passing yards. He’ll begin the year with 48 career TD passes, 39 behind all-time leader Tua Tagovailoa.
I believe he can hit those marks in spite of some reworking of the o-line. The keys will be returner Seth McLaughlin at center, Javion Cohen at right guard and Vanderbilt transfer Tyler Steen at left tackle. Steen’s steadiness there will be a huge factor to Young’s passing attack, as he did start 21 games at left tackle at Vandy.
Damieon George Jr. or Emil Ekiyor will get the left guard nod, and JC Latham should be penciled in at right tackle.
Young does have the advantage of having returning OC Bill O’Brien calling the plays. He should help ease the transition to a new core of receivers.
Georgia transfer Burton is the catalyst to this corps. He caught 53 balls for 901 yards with 8 touchdowns last season. He’ll be considered the big-play threat but also is a good blocker and physical player. Burton will be the Tide’s playmaker with his size (6-0, 200) speed, and hands.
Brooks also has size (6-2, 200) and speed. He blossomed late in the year and served as a consistent kick returner all season. Brooks had 6 catches in the title game against Georgia, and his stock continues to rise.
Law will have to work his way up the depth chart, but he has garnered plenty of whispers as a freshman with the same qualities, and it will be hard for him to slip under the radar. Christian Leary and JoJo Earle also should be in the mix, as both had a consistent spring. Tyler Harrell, another transfer, will get ample opportunity, too.
The receiving corps isn’t as proven as last year, and probably not as dynamic, but there are still future pros at Young’s disposal.
Add Gibbs to be a variable outlet out of the backfield, as he caught 36 passes for 470 yards. Redshift senior tight end Cameron Latu is the stabilizing force to help make a smooth transition in the opening weeks.
O’Brien will need to make sure there are enough of Young’s attempts to the corps to help the anticipated lockdown attempts on Burton. He and Young have the chance to make it a special year as long as the line in front of Young can hold off any intruders in the backfield.
Alabama produced 214 first downs via the air last season, and the duo should be able to work together to be in the general vicinity this season.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Jalen Milroe turned some heads at the A-Game, and he should be No.2 behind Young. Milroe should get reps early in the season to unveil what he can do when Young likely departs for the NFL next spring.
Again, this can be a work in progress. But Young and O’Brien have enough weapons here to help the offense dangle the points per game right around the 39.9 mark and passing yardage in the vicinity of 338.20 from last season.
The key here will be Young’s maturity to help foster the relatively young receiving corps. There seems to be too much potential here to believe it can’t be productive.
Rushing: Worse
This is another area of contention that should resolve itself as the Tide move through the season. Although, there could be some significant early returns that can move the needle.
Gibbs rushed for 746 yards with 4 touchdowns and accounted for over 1,800 all-purpose yards last season for Georgia Tech. (He also returned kicks for Tech, quite successfully, too.) His style is different from Robinson’s (1,343 yards from scrimmage with 14 TDs last season). Robinson was the workhorse, and Gibbs will inherit the role.
Gibbs has drawn some rave reviews from the spring, especially as a receiving threat. The Tide rushed for an average of 150 yards per game last season, and this easily could also be a running back by committee format instead of the one-horse back.
Jase McClellan can be the perfect complement to Gibbs. Trey Sanders and Roydell Williams were spotted time last season, and their roles should increase.
A big difference here can be Gibbs running behind the Tide’s line and Georgia Tech’s from last season. O’Brien should be able to highlight him as a lead back, and Gibbs’ production can increase in the latter part of the season.
The running game should be able to do enough, but they won’t duplicate last year’s production.
Kicking game: Better
Will Reichard is back for the field goal duties and he converted 22-of-28 last season after he was a perfect 14-for-14 in 2020.
He was the lone bright spot in an overall inconsistent performance for the Tide’s special teams. They did lose return specialists Jameson Williams and Slade Bolden to the NFL. Special teams coach Drew Svoboda was moved to a support staff job on the staff.
Veteran special teams guru Coleman Hutzler has taken over the reins, and he has a proven track record. Look to the Tide’s unit to improve.
Gibbs averaged 25.6 yards on 23 kickoff returns last season and could fill a void. Nick Saban has shown time and again that a starting playmaker will return kicks. But it will be a matter of his carries in the backfield.
Brooks and Earle could have their chances for returns. With Reichard’s consistency and the potential of the return game, this unit should be better.
Overall: Better
Yes, there are some obvious new pegs for the holes, but again this is a stacked ‘Bama team. The bottom line is about getting a rematch with Georgia in January.
Numbers might not tell the entire story, either. Last year’s team averaged almost 10 points fewer than the 2020 Alabama squad and was the Tide’s first group since the 2017 team to not top 40 a game. Still, nobody would have described the 2021 offense as a weakness.
The 2022 spotlight obviously will be on Young as he has the pieces in place for another star-studded season.
The running game won’t live up to last year’s rushing standards, but it should be serviceable. Gibbs will get his opportunity to reach the 1,000-yard plateau. And he’ll be a bigger threat out of the backfield.
Bottom line: Barring any serious and major injuries, the Tide once again will be one of the highest-scoring offenses in the nation.
How can you preview and offense and determine if it will be better or worse without including a review of the schedule and the defenses you play this year vs last year. You cant IMO. Also werent there two starting WR’s out with injuries after some games? So are you comparing pre-injuries or post-injuries.
Assuming the schedule and defenses are the same then pre-wr injuries I would say it will be significantly worse this season. Post wr injuries I still think its worse but not as much.
worse for bama will be pretty darn good for most teams.
You really didn’t do anything any different than the writer that you criticized… You both stated an opinion.
The writer really doesn’t know much about Alabama based on what is written here.
Other than Steen, Ekiyor is the most experienced OL we have with 2 full seasons as a starter. He is not in any competition with George. The only real competition is going to be at RT where George might push Latham, and at center with McLaughlinand Dalcourt….the guard position is set.
Also…as good as B Rob was, I see improvement in the running game. Gibbs is going to be a threat to take it all the way every time he touches the ball, and Sanders and McLellan will be the workhorses. Maybe no one player gets to B Robs totals from a year ago, but overall I expect rushing numbers to improve as I expect Bama to be in fewer close games than last year, amd will spend much of the 4th quarter running the clock
It’s just an opinion piece though… I don’t agree with all the takes but it doesn’t matter much in the long run.
Yea, but as far as opinions go, his was really misinformed….particularly about the O line
i think its different but it is my opinion. isnt that what we do on here? Express opinions? Most articles are opinions and most posts are opinions as yours was. Are you just posting to criticize mine or is there more.
He was just pointing out, that like the writer you were stating an opinion. That is all anyone can do until they play, just give a wild @$$ guess. That includes me and everyone else.
“You really didn’t do anything any different than the writer that you criticized… You both stated an opinion.”
LOL ain’t that the truth.
“Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social enviroment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions.” -Albert Einstein, Essay to Leo Baeck, 1953. All this will be sorted out in the fall on the playing field. Looking forward to seeing the SEC reassert it’s national dominance in a new era where injuries, NIL, opt-outs and over-rated teams and players are the wild cards yet to be played. Good luck to all of you . . . Except when you play LSU.
Hostile road trips to Texas, Arkansas, Ole Miss, and LSU. They’ll stub their toe in one of them.
It’s very possible they could lose to one of those teams. Also, can’t forget Tennessee and A&M either.
So, it’s not like they have a cakewalk schedule.
TNs biggest biggest benefit against Bama this year is the game comes directly after the A&M game. I think that makes a bigger difference than the game being in Knoxville. There is going to be a lot of hostility going into that one and they might come out pretty beaten up. We might catch them with a limp and even then, they are still significantly better. We can’t beat them so we will just have to outscore them. Just like last year, I expect 45 minutes of competitive football before our lack of depth and quality defensive players catches up to us.
That’s great but the vols travel to LSU the weak prior to Bama..
At best its a wash
BamaTime – That’s right. I overlooked that one in the schedule. You’re right. Wash at best. Bama will come out on top due to depth. October 8th and 15th are going to be the best weeks of football in the SEC. Huge matchups that could shake up the conference.
The schedule sets up nice for Bama with Team placement. The team sitting in the best spot based off schedule to upset Bama is MSU IMO….
MSU at home? Are you serious? @Tennessee and @Ole Miss will be the trickiest games as they both come after tough battles with TAMU and @LSU.
MSU comes after a seven game stretch and right before the bye and are a team thats easily overlooked…
Ole miss is two weeks off a bye and before Austin peay. Kiffin also talks to much for anyone to overlook them.
The vols are a rival and nobody is overlooking them. The vols are also coming off of traveling to LSU the week prior to playing Bama.
Just my opinion on it. You’re welcome to have yours.
I get the other 3, but why is Texas even mentioned? Can we please stop pretending every preseason that they’ll be really good?
Environment, not necessarily the team on the field. It’ll also be hotter than you know what there with the 11 am local time kickoff. And they have fieldturf, which will add to the heat.
I think Texas should be considered a threat. Coach Sark is, somewhat quietly, starting to get the right pieces (plus a few malcontents) in place to actually bring Texas back in the right direction. The other thing is the timing. Playing in the 2nd game of the season means that Alabama’s offensive line likely will be still struggling to gel. No, I don’t think Texas beats Alabama this year.
I can’t name a single team on the schedule that will beat Bama, and yet I don’t expect them to go undefeated. Undefeated seasons from a west division team are rare.
They have good skill players, but the Texas game is a gross mismatch in the trenches
There is nothing hostile about Texas besides maybe the Texas Sun itself. Bama is gonna roll right through Austin like it is a tune up game.
Hmmmm… not sure I see any toe-stubbing in those games. It’s always possible, but with that schedule in THAT order, it doesn’t look like there is a trap game hiding there somewhere.
GatorPhil…Not.
Any improvement from the O-line and the Offense will be better…
Yup. You already upgraded the OLine coaching so it should start paying off 4-5 games into the season.
As long as the O line improves, and I’m betting it will…this offense will average 42-45 points per game easily
Also depends on your WRs.
No….it doesn’t. WR will be just fine as long as our QB isn’t getting sacked 40 times. Burton was Jawjuhs leading WR
last year in an offense that threw it half as much. Harrell averaged 29 yards per catch last year in a run-first offense. Brooks is a physical mismatch for most DBs who has proven he can make clutch receptions. Alabama has brought 8 WRs and 2 ATH who will probably play WR in the last two cycles who were all top 100 overall recruits. WR will be just fine
If the O line can cut sacks in half from last year, Alabama will average 42-45 without any trouble
Reason I said your WRs is because it’s not like you have a wealth of experience. Burton is your veteran with the most experience and receptions. Your WRs kinda let you down in the championship game. They could be fine, but you still have a ton of inexperience that very good veteran DBs will key in on. You have to pray a 2nd dependable WR emerges, potentially a 3rd if Brooks and Burton are locked down.
If you will remember, last year the only experience Bama had coming back was Metchi and Bolden. It turned out nicely.
So what? That means they’re no good because a bunch of true freshmen who scarcely played last year before the Playoff didn’t get it done for once?Not every class is going to be like 2017 and be ready to step in like those kids did. Alot of what happened in the NC outside of Hall dropping a bunch of passes, was due to failure on the O lines part to protect Bryce. Jawjuh did a good job of getting to him and disrupting his timing.
Like I said…..the O line gels, the offense puts up 42-45 PPG
Yeah, Burton led in receiving so long as you don’t count that Brock Bowers guy.
Kirkm1976 you mean we are not supposed to believe the writer with his combining of burtons 2020 and 2021 stats?! “ He caught 53 balls for 901 yards with 8 touchdowns last season.”
I wasn’t aware that Bowers was a WR smart guy.
Swing and a miss kirk. I hope you keep the same bravado after Alabama drops a 50 burger on Jawjuh in December
33-18
And your stat is meaningless…Georgia’s leading receiver played Tight End.
I think the biggest improvement will be at RT. Latham is far more talented than the players he is replacing, but of course needs the experience. No team can be fortunate enough to replace a player like Evan Neal, but Steen has the tools and experience so the drop off will not be severe.
There will be a learning curve for the new WRs; everyone outside of Athens realizes how huge it is to lose 2 NFL 1st day WRs. Addition by subtraction by getting rid of the cancer that transferred to Texas and then again helps the WR room. As for potential land mines in the schedule, Saban does a better job than anyone of not letting the team get too high or low. They are also well aware that EVERY team has them circled on their schedule.
Williams was just as unknown, and just as much a question, last season as Burton, Harrell and Brooks are this season. With the change in the O-line coach I expect the line to be more at the level expected of an O-line at Alabama. The offense may be even better than last year’s school record setter yet have worse stats. Last year Bama’s offense had to score to help their young defense. The defense this year could very well be one of Bama’s best. Bama’s offense will be fine and will do what is necessary to win games.
You should double check your stats before posting your article in the future. Burton did not have 900 yards last year. I expect Harrell to be our top receiver since he had more yards and TD’s with half the catches.
His stats are off….but Burton did in fact lead all Jawjuh WRs in receiving yards last year
No he didn’t. Bowers had about double the yards. Burton had under 500 yards
“(Burton) caught 53 balls for 901 yards with 8 touchdowns last season.”
No, those are Burton’s CAREER statistics for his 2-year stint at Georgia.
This is about the 3rd time an SDS writer has listed Burton’s career stats as his 2021 stats.
Stop copying each other’s columns.
He got alot of things wrong….not just Burtons overall stats. However….Burton did lead all Jawjuh WRs in yards last year
Honest question…. is the “Jawjuh” thing supposed to be mocking?
I’m confused because I’ve always liked it. I once had a dog named Jawja.
Not really…more just a harmless jab at you guys. Something akin to being called “Bammers”.
Surely you have heard old timers saying “Georgia” with that southern drawl….it always comes out phonetically as “Jawjuh”. That’s how my old man and grandfather always pronounced it, so I’ve always spelled it that way when poking Jawjuh fans.
When I mock you guys, it tends to involve references to 4 decades of mediocrity, inferiority complexes etc….amd those are generally reserved for the 2008s, Neegins, Coaches, and the occasional Leghumper.
Truth is, I don’t mind having actual conversations with Jawjuh fans that aren’t just trolling clowns….there just seems to be an overabundance of the latter around here
Yeah, there are a few Jawjuh fans here who are an embarrassment. They degrade the enjoyment of the comments section, which is really the only reason I come here
Yea….sadly every fan base has them. They seem to multiply whenever Team X has success.
Most Jawjuh boys I’ve interacted with personally, I’ve found to be good sports, and well versed in CFB knowledge.
What SDS really needs is a mute function to drown out the trolls, so the rest of us can have more adult conversations instead of hurling insults and smack talk back and forth
You 2 should get a room… Don’t let Gabby Troll Cried Troll fool you though. People can usually hide who they are for the first 90 days. He’s the ring leader of the BooHoo Bama Troll Cried But, But, But crew. 33-18* (should have been 12, but NoMAtterHowManyButsYouUseGabbyTrollCriedTroll was gifted a mercy tds by the officials)
It’s a term of endearment where i was born and raised. Anniston and Jax State pretty close to Atlanta Fulton county stadium. Plus, Jawjah drinking age 18, Alabama 21. Burger Inn, Tallapoosa Jawjah, legendary in the 70’s. Pitcher of draft, $2.00? Hell, yeah!
But that is a meaningless stat since the leading receiver was a Tight End.
It has been 4,907 days since #THEGATORS won a championship in football
And slightly more since you last got laid.
Gibbs is an upgrade over Robinson imo…don’t see the drop off in the running game honestly. The line for Bama wasn’t that dominate last year to begin with so losing some of the guys there won’t be as big of an impact although I do think Neal was a great player. It’s not like there won’t be another great recruit who has waited his turn.
Chris Owens was a 6th-year journeyman that played a number of positions on the OL. None, very long. So BAMA is replacing one player of real value, Evan Neal. It’s not going to take long before folks realize OL is going to be a lot better than last season.