Alabama football: 5 reasons Crimson Tide wins 2019 SEC championship

Five reasons why Alabama football will repeat as SEC champions, including Tua Tagovailoa’s march toward winning the Heisman Trophy.

Alabama has won the SEC title in five of the past seven seasons, and with a slew of NFL talent all over the field in 2019. There is no reason to believe that Tua Tagovailoa, Dylan Moses Jr., and the rest of this high-profile Crimson Tide roster won’t make it six of eight.

5. Najee Harris is the next great Bama back

We have heard all of the hype about Tua, the Heisman favorite with Trevor Lawrence. But every Alabama team has always had a solid running back to go with the star quarterback. Derrick Henry, Trent Richardson, Mark Ingram, and now Najee Harris.

Harris is a beast at 6-foot-2 and 227 pounds and man does he have the quickness to go with it. Harris should be especially important to this Alabama offense this season due to the fact that Tagovailoa has had injury problems in his career. There is no Jalen Hurts waiting in the wings to save Bama from Georgia this year.

The Crimson Tide need Harris to carry more of the load on the ground and let Tua’s one of a kind throwing ability do the rest of the work. With what should be an improved offensive line as well, there is no telling the kind of numbers that the junior can put up.

4. Dylan Moses Jr. is the next great Bama linebacker

We have known that Dylan Moses was going to be a monster for a long time. Heck, LSU knew it when Moses visited one of their camps at a six-foot, 200-pound eighth-grader and the Tigers offered him a scholarship on the spot.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, Moses committed to their rival Alabama and has gotten better every year since stepping foot in Tuscaloosa. Playing in all 15 games last season, Moses recorded 86 total tackles for the Tide, including 10 sacks. He is quick and mobile too, making him fantastic both in coverage and at stopping the run.

Moses returns with a rather experienced linebacker group in Alabama as a prime 2020 NFL draft prospect. He along with the rest of the defense will be out for blood in 2019 as they were gashed in the final game of the season by Clemson, in ways that we could have never imagined they would be.

Given that there is no shortage of motivation for the Junior linebacker, he should continue to give offensive coordinators nightmares in 2019.

3. Jerry Jeudy headlines experienced receiver group

Most college football fans can name outstanding former players from Alabama at almost every position and there is definitely no exception at wide receiver. Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley and Amari Cooper are just a few that come to mind and with this group of wide receivers, there is sure to be another to add to that long list.

Junior Jerry Jeudy is the leader of a loaded unit for the Tide. The reigning Biletnikoff Award winner had 68 catches for 1,315 yards and 14 scores last season. Henry Ruggs is in the same class and he also had good production for the Tide catching 46 passes for 741 yards and 11 scores. Throw in the sophomores Jaylen Waddle and DeVonta Smith as well a stud five-star freshman in John Metchie and the Tide will have themselves a passing attack that is near impossible to stop.

2. NFL secondary

If you had to bet on what will be the weakness for an Alabama team heading into the season, saying the secondary is normally a good guess. But this year with a slew of NFL-like talent, that may not be the smartest choice.

One of the most important things for an NFL secondary to have is the combination of both size and speed and this Alabama group has it bunches. Safety Jordan Battle is 6-foot-2, Patrick Surtain and Trevor Diggs are both 6-foot-2. Diggs isn’t a lock to stay healthy, but if he can, he could be in the first round mix for the NFL Draft. This secondary isn’t afraid to get down in the trenches and tackle either. Xavier McKinney was third on the team in tackles at the safety position, and Shyheim Carter made 44 tackles of his own.

The SEC might be loaded with quarterback talent, but it isn’t going to be easy to throw on them in 2019.

1. Tua Tagovailoa

How could anyone not have Tua as a reason for Alabama to win the SEC title again. Yeah, he might have been saved by the now Oklahoma Sooner, Jalen Hurts, in the SEC championship game. But make no mistake, Tua Tagovailoa won’t need saving from anyone this season.

Throwing at a 69 percent completion rate, along with just under 4,000 yards and 43 touchdowns, Tua Tagovailoa is a favorite to win the Heisman trophy this season for good reason. The kicker is that Tua put up these stats in 15 games. But in about half of them, Alabama was so dominant that he was only needed for one half.

With a very slightly improved SEC this season, Tua should get more game time and all that means is that he has the potential to put up record-setting numbers in the passing game this season.

He is a little injury prone as we saw in that SEC championship game last year, but if Nick Saban plays his cards right, and he always does, Najee Harris should carry a lot of the rushing load, leaving Tua to pick away at SEC secondaries behind an NFL talent littered offensive line.