Alabama Crimson Tide’s Alphonse Taylor arrested for DUI
By John Buhler
Alabama Crimson Tide senior offensive lineman Alphonse Taylor was arrested on Sunday in Tuscaloosa on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.
According to Sam Cooper of Yahoo! Sports, Alabama Crimson Tide senior offensive lineman Alphonse Taylor “was arrested in Tuscaloosa for driving under the influence and was subsequently released from custody on $1,000 bond.”
Taylor was a crucial part of Alabama’s dominant offensive line in 2015. He started all 15 games for the Crimson Tide at right guard during their National Championship run. At SEC Media Days in Hoover, Alabama last week, Taylor was named to the All-SEC preseason second team.
Though he had played substantially for the Crimson Tide the last two seasons, it seems that Taylor and head coach Nick Saban have had friction this offseason. Saban demoted Taylor to the second team as a senior because of his inability to keep weight off.
The Alabama head coach did this during 2016 spring practice and said the following about Taylor after the Crimson Tide’s spring game, “He’s going to continue to be on the second team if he doesn’t get his weight down and get in shape.”
Perhaps even more troubling that staying in shape for Taylor, he is now the third Alabama player to have been arrested this summer, joining offensive lineman Cam Robinson and safety Hootie Jones.
Saban received a ton of negative publicity for likely choosing not to discipline Robinson and Jones from their May arrest stemming from weapons and drugs charges. Will Saban let Taylor’s DUI slide like he has with Robinson and Jones’ arrests?
Should Saban end up disciplining any of these three players, it could be to the detriment of Alabama’s chances to three-peat in the SEC. The Crimson Tide were picked to win the SEC Championship for the third year in a row at SEC Media Days.
That being said, Alabama has lost key players on the offensive side of the ball this offseason including center Ryan Kelly, quarterback Jake Coker, and 2015 Heisman Trophy winner running back Derrick Henry. Not to mention former defensive coordinator Kirby Smart left for the Georgia Bulldogs job in Athens and took two key assistants with him in Mel Tucker and Glenn Schumann.
The Crimson Tide are still the favorites to win the SEC in 2016, but these series of arrests to important upperclassmen may end up being cracks in the foundation in Alabama’s plans to three-peat in the SEC this fall.
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