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Alabama’s interior offensive line may have very different look at Arkansas
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The interior of the University of Alabama’s offensive line continued to see changes on Tuesday as senior Arie Kounadjio appeared to again be limited, and not involved in any contact during the observation period.
However, Leon Brown and Alphonse Taylor switched places from Monday, with Brown at left guard and Taylor at right guard.
In between them was Bradley Bozeman, who with Ryan Kelly out with a sprained knee, is preparing to make his first career start.
“I’ve pretty much told him he’s got to be up here every living second of the day,” Shepherd said about Bozeman. “If he’s not up here, he needs to be. I know he’s been up here with Coach (Mario) Cristobal a lot just trying to catch up because he has to. He has to come in there and can’t skip a beat. His little head bob’s gotta be the same as Ryan’s. Just got to have the same calls and same presence as Ryan.”
Kelly, who could be sidelined through Alabama’s bye week at the end of the month, has also been watching film with the redshirt freshman when not doing rehab.
Bozeman began working as the backup center during the spring after Chad Lindsay transferred in hopes of landing a starting job for his final year of eligibility (he’s since given up football. He was going to grayshirt his first semester last fall but was a last-minute addition when a roster spot opened up just before the start of training camp.
Joining them in the film room have been true freshmen Josh Casher and J.C. Hassenauer, who were planning to redshirt but are now just one snap away from being playing. All three centers were doing extra drills Tuesday.
Regardless, having to enter a game in the third quarter on the road like that is about the worst possible situation for a player, never mind it being the center.
“Pretty much it sucks,” Shepherd said. “You haven’t played. You’re not loose. You sat through the whole game, hardly ever gets reps with Blake (Sims). He has to pretty much in a split second learn how to snap a ball to Blake, get focused, get loose.”
Alabama’s offense struggled at first and coaches had to use two time outs to avoid delay-of-game penalties, but the line’s execution wasn’t an issue during the final drive that was derailed by a holding call to tight end O.J. Howard and subsequent interception in the end zone.
In addition to Bozeman, Taylor also entered the game and played the entire fourth quarter at right guard after Brown was called for another false start penalty.
“They’re capable of playing better,” Nick Saban said about the guards, with Shepherd adding that Brown needs to be more “mentally prepared.”
Brown got off to a slow start this season after sustaining an offseason foot injury. Taylor started against Florida Atlantic and has played in every game.
“Everyone plays different; Two different guys,” Shepherd said. “You’ve just kind of gotta get used to it. It was weird at first, during camp and stuff, but I kind of got accustomed to knowing how each guy plays, so it doesn’t really bother me anymore.”
Also at Alabama’s practice, reserve left tackle Grant Hill is still out with an illness and Tyren Jones (finger tendon) was back with the running backs, but wore a black, no-contact jersey.
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
