Alabama football 2022 season prediction, preview, awards, 2022 bowl game

Alabama football had a rebuilding year in 2021 according to Nick Saban. So what will the rebuilt Crimson Tide do after losing in the natty last season?

If 2021 was truly a rebuilding year for Alabama football, then most programs in the country would love to be rebuilding every single year. But alas, it didn’t result in a national championship, so maybe that is rebuilding by the standards of the Crimson Tide faithful and Nick Saban.

But now the Crimson Tide enter the 2022 season as top dawg, with the Heisman winner back under center, with the best defensive player in the country, and after adding arguably the two best transfers who were in the portal. Sounds like Bama might be cooking up more than short ribs this fall.

Topping off our FanSided Preseason Top 50 Rankings at No. 1, the Alabama Crimson Tide!

Alabama football 2021 season in review

It looked like another year in which Alabama would have few challengers at the start of things. There was a close call against Florida (a game that looks even stranger in hindsight), but the Crimson Tide largely mowed over competition, including some quality teams like Miami and Ole Miss, to get to a 5-0 start.

But then came the ill-fated trip to College Station in which Jimbo Fisher finally got one over on Saban in a game that still looks weird. In a game where Bama hung 38 points on that Texas A&M defense, you’d think the Crimson Tide would win 98/100 times. But alas, that was not the case, and actually put Alabama under the gun.

Luckily, they had eventual Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young leading the way and didn’t look back. The Tide were perfect thereafter, again with some surprising scares involved (looking at you, Iron Bowl), to make it into the SEC Championship Game out of the SEC West. That’s when they faced the presumed title favorite at the time, Georgia, and made a statement with a dominant performance.

After handling Cincinnati as everyone expected in the College Football Playoff semifinal, setting up a rematch against the Dawgs. We don’t need to belabor that point because, well, when the Tide are down their two best receivers against a team as good as UGA, that was always going to be tough. But alas, a natty appearance and a two-loss season is a campaign that almost any program should be happy with.

Alabama football, however, is not most programs.

Previewing Alabama Crimson Tide offense for 2022 season

Returning starters (6): QB Bryce Young, WR Ja’Corey Brooks, TE Cameron Latu, OL Kendall Randolph, OG Emil Ekiyor Jr., OG Javion Cohen
Newcomers: RB Jahmyr Gibbs (Georgia Tech), WR Jermaine Burton (Georgia), WR Tyler Harrell (Louisville), OT Tyler Steen (Vanderbilt), 5-star QB Ty Simpson, 4-star WR Aaron Anderson, 4-star OT Elijah Pritchett, 4-star RB Emmanuel Henderson
Impact player: Jahmyr Gibbs

There are undeniably some questions on the Alabama offense entering the 2022 season. The offensive line has a number of highly-touted recruits stepping into bigger roles, but replacing veteran stars like Evan Neal will not be easy and there could be growing pains. What’s more, having to replace Jameson Williams and John Metchie at receiver won’t be easy. And let’s not forget that Brian Robinson was a workhorse in the backfield too.

But having Bryce Young can cover up plenty of problems for an offense and, even though they are questions, that doesn’t necessarily make them concerns. The reigning Heisman winner will have plenty of talent still around him at receiver with Ja’Corey Brooks having flashed already and now Jermaine Burton coming over from Georgia to an offense and playing with a quarterback that better suits his skill set.

For as good as Young is, though, adding Jahmyr Gibbs to this offense is going to be a cheat code. Robinson was a reliable back, but he lacked the versatility and overall explosiveness that the Georgia Tech transfer will bring to the table. He’s going to be used in all facets of the game and could produce a monster season as a result, particularly with opposing defense being so honed in on stopping or slowing down Young.

Previewing Alabama Crimson Tide defense for 2022 season

Returning starters (10): EDGE Will Anderson Jr., EDGE Dallas Turner, NT DJ Dale, DE Byron Young, LB Henry To’oTo’o, CB Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB Khyree Jackson, STAR Brian Branch, S Jordan Battle, S Demarcco Helms
Newcomers: CB Eli Ricks (LSU), 5-star EDGE Jeremiah Alexander, 5-star EDGE/LB Jihaad Campbell, 4-star DL Khurtiss Perry
Impact player: Will Anderson Jr.

While the offense will be changed up pretty substantially, that will not be the case for the Crimson Tide defense. They return all but one starter, particularly after DJ Dale, Henry To’oTo’o and Jordan Battle all made the decision to return to Tuscaloosa rather than depart for the NFL.

Even better for the Alabama defense, though, is that they’ve now added perhaps the best transfer who was available in Eli Ricks. This is a unicorn-type cornerback coming over from LSU with the potential to absolutely thrive under the Nick Saban defensive back pathway to the NFL. His presence in the secondary alongside Kool-Aid McKinstry and Jordan Battle as the other potential stars is going to be massive.

But we all know that this defense is going to feed off of what Will Anderson Jr. does coming off the edge. He’s the best pass-rusher in the country who should’ve been a Heisman finalist a year ago — and that was before he was even NFL Draft eligible. With experience and even more talent around him, it’s not unrealistic to think that Anderson could push for a 20-sack season to propel this side of the ball to greatness.

Alabama football players awards watch for 2022 season

To the shock of no one, Alabama is chock full of awards candidates. These three players are the most likely to bring the hardware back to Tuscaloosa, however.

Bryce Young, Heisman/Maxwell/Davey O’Brien

Perhaps the most obvious of the bunch, Bryce Young will try to capture the ever-elusive honor of winning back-to-back Heismans. In doing so, he’s obviously going to contend for the Maxwell and Davey-O’Brien as well, but he should have the skills and firepower around him to make a strong run at keeping the top award in the sport in his grips.

Will Anderson Jr., Maxwell/Nagurski/Bednarki/Lombardi

The defensive talent in college football this season is truly astounding but Anderson is in a tier that only one other player (Jalen Carter at UGA) is a part of. He’s going to have more counting stats than most other defensive players in the sport and should be considered the leading contender for the Nagurski and Bednarik, at minimum.

Jordan Battle, Jim Thorpe/Nagurski/Bednarki/Wuerffel

For as good as Anderson is, Battle is the engine that drives the Alabama defense and his decision to return was surprising but much-welcomed. He’s going to have the stats on the back end of a loaded secondary and, when you then factor in narrative aspects, he’s going to get his hands on some type of hardware.

Alabama football biggest game on 2022 schedule

There’s a case to be made that the Crimson Tide’s road SEC opener at Arkansas is a trap game that should be considered here. Not only are the Hogs a quality, well-coached team but it comes before what I have as the biggest game of the season.

And that, of course, is the rematch with Texas A&M on Oct. 8, this time in Tuscaloosa.

We know what happened last year, but the Aggies are also the only roster on the schedule with the talent to hang with Bama and, thus, present the biggest challenge. With the revenge factor and the quality of the opponent factored in, that’s the game that Saban undoubtedly has circled on his brick-and-mortar calendar.

Alabama football best-case scenario

The gears of the ol’ brain don’t have to turn too hard to figure out this one.

Texas is the first road game of the season and, while there is a reason to be optimistic about the Longhorns, that team has a long ways to go to get on the level of Alabama. Then, it’s really only the Aggies that would be of concern to me otherwise on the schedule if we’re talking the best-case scenario, and I don’t see Texas A&M going 2-0 over the Tide in the last two years. As such, the easy answer is that Alabama going 12-0 and riding smoothly to another SEC Championship Game is the best-case scenario.

Alabama football worst-case scenario

Even in the worst-case scenario, I don’t envision the Crimson Tide losing more than two games. With that said, finding those two games is not hard to do either.

As mentioned with the Arkansas game, that has the makings of a tricky affair. The Hogs will once again have KJ Jefferson at quarterback and, if there’s one thing that has often given Bama some trouble, it’s mobile quarterbacks. When you then factor in the defensive play for the Razorbacks against a somewhat inexperienced Crimson Tide offensive line, that could be troublesome.

Then we circle back to the Texas A&M game. While I worry about the Aggies offense always, the truth of the matter is that they have a defense that is, in theory, capable of slowing down Bryce Young and then doing enough to give themselves a chance to win.

All told, the worst-case scenario is still just 10-2, but that scenario is unique in that it would also almost surely knock Alabama out of the SEC Championship and College Football Playoff equation.

Alabama football 2022 season prediction

Good news for all Roll Tide screamers and allies alike: it’s extremely hard to envision Alabama football losing a game this season.

The turnover on the offense, as mentioned, actually makes me think this team could be even better on that side of the ball with a more balanced group of explosive playmakers and perhaps an even more wholly talented offensive line. More importantly, the defense that was young, talented and raw a season ago might make a leap to historically good in the 2022 season.

It’s boring, but the truth of the matter is that this Alabama team is going 12-0 and playing Georgia, again, for the SEC crown more often than they aren’t, so that’s the easy, comfortable prediction for how things transpire with this program this season.

Alabama football 2022 bowl game prediction

No surprises, but the preseason bowl projections have the Crimson Tide heading to the College Football Playoff. As they start out the season as the No. 1-ranked team in the country and we have them projected to make it through the season unscathed, this team should be heading to the Peach Bowl as the No. 1 seed in the CFP.

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