Yes, the Alabama Crimson Tide still sit atop the rankings in NCAA football. They barely survived the Clemson Tigers in the national championship game, and they lost a good bit of talent to the NFL draft, but they have reloaded and have buckets of talent. There will be a new quarterback, though, and there are three big road games on the schedule — at Tennessee, Ole Miss and LSU. Let’s take a look at the Crimson Tide’s college football betting preview.
Closer Look at the Alabama Crimson Tide 2016 College Football Betting Preview
The Tide have four quarterbacks on scholarship, but Cooper Bateman is the only one who has ever seen college football action. David Cornwell (6’5”, 234 pounds) has the NFL quarterback stature, but Jalen Hurts and Blake Barnett have more mobility (and less consistency). No matter which quarterback Nick Saban chooses, he’ll have Calvin Ridley and ArDarius Stewart ready to catch the ball. Robert Foster is really an unknown quantity, as he showed a ton of speed but blew out his shoulder in Week 3 last year and missed the rest of the season. Gehrig Dieter transferred in from Bowling Green, and tight end O.J. Howard was huge in the national title game. All the Tide needs is someone who can get them the ball accurately — and a line that can give him time. Center Ryan Kelly and tackle Dominick Jackson have left for the NFL, and tackle Cam Robinson may miss some time thanks to an incident away from the field back in May.
Alabama lost the most talent on defense after last season. They do still have Jonathan Allen, Da’Ron Payne, Da’Shawn Hand and Dalvin Tomlinson back to form a core for the new unit. However, this Tide team won’t have quite the defensive depth that they had last year. Reuben Foster is the heir apparent to Reggie Ragland at middle linebacker. Ryan Anderson and Tim Williamson will both be able to pressure the quarterback from the ends. For a team that depended on sacks (52 in 2015), they will have a huge issue. The secondary lost cornerback Cyrus Jones, but Eddie Jackson returns as an All-American safety.
Adam Griffith has blossomed into a solid kicker, making 23 of 32 field goal attempts (after starting the year 0 for 4). He also executed the ideal onside kick in the national title game, surprising Clemson and keeping the ball away from Deshaun Watson. J.K. Scott returns as a punter, averaging 44.2 yards per kick last season. Can Alabama muster the same level of effort after winning a national title? There is the danger of some complacency at the top, as the Tide may be a little happy with their title — rather than being hungry like they were last year. Still, with four titles in the last seven years, Nick Saban knows how to get teams motivated to go all the way year after year. I like the Tide to win the SEC this year, which will definitely put them in the CFP.
