College Football Rankings: Top 25 after spring practice
Alabama Crimson Tide
2016: 14-1,
You’re kidding yourself if you don’t have the Alabama Crimson Tide atop the college football rankings after the spring games and practices. The show that was put on in Tuscaloosa was one of the most entertaining in the country during their spring game, which largely speaks to what lies ahead in 2017 for them. They may have had seven defensive players drafted this past weekend, but they aren’t going to miss a beat.
One of the narratives coming out of the Alabama spring game was if there would be a quarterback controversy between Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa after the freshman stunned everyone with a prolific and exciting showing. However, anyone supporting this must not know that Nick Saban is still at the helm for the Tide. Hurts is the quarterback and looked quite good himself after a slow start. His accuracy — especially on the deep ball — has improved and that was arguably his biggest concern after a strong freshman season.
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While the offense is more loaded than ever with their rushing attack still intact from a year ago and adding Najee Harris, it’s always about defense at Alabama. Despite the talent they lost to the draft, they only re-tooled. There was pressure coming from all angles on both teams and the run defense stifled these elite talents in the backfield with relative ease. It’s cliché to say that schools like Alabama only reload, but that’s the simplest form of what’s happened here. They’ll be dominant again.