Football is a great team sport.

Fielding a so-called “elite” quarterback is crucial.

But it’s harder for, say, Tom Brady to lug the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl on his outstanding play alone than it was for, say, LeBron James to pull the Miami Heat to NBA titles. And the San Francisco Giants wouldn’t have won last year’s World Series without starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner.

Suffice to say it’s too simplistic to nail down a single aspect that won Alabama an SEC championship in ’14. But the Blake Sims-to-Amari Cooper connection was the No. 1 catalyst. The Tide survived a brutal SEC West and washed over Missouri in Atlanta despite one of the weaker offensive line, secondary and linebacker groups the team has fielded in recent years.

What about 2015?

Without pinning the entire season on one position group, if Alabama secures yet another SEC crown in December, the defensive line will deserve all kinds of credit.

It hardly will matter that the team let go of transfer Jonathan Taylor following the most recent domestic abuse allegation (his accuser since has withdrawn her original statements to law enforcement). Bama still returns seven of nine players on the two-deep at the end of last season, including all three starters.

A’Shawn Robinson (knee/ankle) didn’t play in Saturday’s A-Day game, but he’s a potential first-round NFL draft pick in 2016 as an early entrant. At 6-foot-4 and 312 pounds, he should become one of the best run-stuffing defensive tackles in the entire country this fall.

But he started slowly last season as a true sophomore, and despite a menacing finish, was Alabama’s third-best defensive linemen looking at the season in its entirety. The best player, Jonathan Allen, was a first-team All-SEC selection as a sophomore.

Although Alabama plays a base 3-4 scheme compared to Arkansas’ 4-3, the projection of Allen in ’15 reminds me a lot of Trey Flowers in ’14 for the Razorbacks. Allen is a good, not great pass rusher, making 5.5 sacks last season. But he excels at holding the point of attack against the run. A powerful 6-foot-3 and 272 pounds, Allen’s ability is subtle, but crucial against hulking, strong linemen at places like Arkansas and LSU.

I haven’t yet mentioned Jarran Reed, whom I ranked as the seventh-best returning defensive end in the entire SEC. Reed led all Alabama defensive linemen with 55 tackles in ’14 after transferring from East Mississippi Community College. At 6-foot-4 and 315 pounds, Reed should be another ho-hum NFL draft pick from Alabama’s defense in 2016.

As good as those three players are, the Tide’s strength up front may be its depth.

Da’Shawn Hand couldn’t match Derrick Barnett (Tennessee) or Myles Garrett (Texas A&M) as five-star defensive ends from the 2014 class who at times dominated during their true freshman seasons. But his breakout could come this fall, which would give Alabama some much-needed pass rush.

D.J. Pettway and Dalvin Tomlinson made some nice contributions last season.

Five-star defensive tackle Daron Payne, all of 325 pounds, will arrive in Tuscaloosa this summer.

Josh Frazier or Darren Lake also could play nose tackle if needed.

If Geno Smith can stay out of trouble off the field and Cyrus Jones can stay healthy on it, the team’s secondary has a chance to make incremental progress in pass coverage, something that superior play from the defensive line could expedite.

The Tide’s offense features all sorts of uncertainty beyond running back Derrick Henry, left tackle Cam Robinson and center Ryan Kelly. Alabama probably won’t determine a starting quarterback until just before the season. The starting receivers all are new, and the team is replacing three starters along the offensive line.

Offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin has a strong track record, but that’s more turnover and uncertainty than you’d like on a potential championship team.

Henry should be this year’s No. 1 individual player, but it’s the defensive line that will propel the 2015 Alabama Crimson Tide, for better or worse.

“That defensive line is a beast,” Henry told AL.com earlier this spring.

“You’ve got four or five big guys that dominate every play and give it their all every play, and that’s all you can ask from the defensive line. They do a great job each and every day. They’ve been improving. Like I said, we’re not where we will be at [offensively], but we’re trying to make progress every day. But the defensive line is doing a great job.”