Alabama football opens camp with more question marks than it's had in 15 years | Goodbread

Six times, Alabama football coach Nick Saban has entered a Crimson Tide season coming off a national championship, more often than he's entered a year when there was a real question about Alabama's starting quarterback. Eight times, he's come off an SEC Championship, more often than he's entered a season without an established star running back, or an experienced middle linebacker in the heart of his defense.

That's the luxury afforded a program that's consistently stayed on the winning side of the thin line between reloading and rebuilding. As Alabama opens fall camp this week for the 17th time under Saban, however, the pending assembly of the 2023 Crimson Tide looks more like labor than luxury. And while it would stretch the truth too far to suggest that Alabama is in rebuild mode in 2023, it's a stretch to call it a reload, as well.

There are more questions at more positions than any Alabama fall camp since 2008, ahead of Saban's second season, when the program transitioned from a 7-6 team with a major impact from Saban's first full recruiting class.

GOODBREAD: Tuberville-Manchin NIL bill is dead on arrival, unless it makes one key change

QB BATTLE: Who will start at quarterback for Alabama football? There’s a better question to ask

It begins at quarterback, of course, where Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson and Tyler Buchner will vie to take over for Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young. It's a critically important competition, as whatever hopes Alabama has of a championship season rely heavily on net-positive play at the game's most impactful position. It will also take some attention off a fairly lengthy list of other positions at which the Crimson Tide is short on proven talent.

To wit:

∎ Will it be Elijah Pritchett or Kadyn Proctor at left tackle? Either way, barring the emergence of a third candidate, it'll be a freshman manning the post. Pritchett is a redshirt freshman who missed most of last season recovering from a pectoral injury, while Proctor arrived in the spring. All three of Alabama's QB candidates throw right-handed, so we're talking about blindside protection regardless of who plays behind center.

∎ The wide receiving corps, as a whole, was plagued last year by dropped passes and inconsistent route running, accounting for 16 of UA's 23 drops on the year. Perhaps more telling, for the first time since 2012, there wasn't a receiver on the roster who struck fear in opposing defenses. Someone − anyone − will need to change that if the Alabama passing game is to flourish with a new passer at the helm.

∎ Alabama brought in one inside linebacker from the transfer portal, adding Trezmen Marshall from Georgia, and another from the junior college ranks (Justin Jefferson of Pearl River (Miss.) C.C.) That speaks of a need that was apparent at times last season, perhaps most notably in the allowance of about 360 rushing yards over two losses. Deontae Lawson is Alabama's only returner with significant experience at inside linebacker, and he wasn't the one who took charge pre-snap from the Mike position − that was Henry To'o To'o.

The 2008 squad that also carried its share of preseason questions? That team covered its bases well in the aforementioned areas: a returning starter at quarterback (John Parker Wilson), an All-American left tackle in Andre Smith, an immediate star in freshman Julio Jones at receiver, and a monster at middle linebacker in Rolando McClain.

And areas of concern for 2023 don't end there.

Is this Dallas Turner's year to shine as Alabama's primary edge rusher? And if it's not, who else can generate heat on opposing quarterbacks? Questions elsewhere include turnover at tight end and defensive back, positions where UA said goodbye to Cam Latu, Jordan Battle and DeMarco Hellams. Apart from personnel, the woeful number of penalty flags that flew against Alabama last year demands some camp attention too, especially on the offensive line, which accounted for 27 of 103 flags in 2022.

Camp gates open Thursday.

Answers begin unfolding in a month, and quarterback is only one of many.

Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23 and the Talkin' Tide podcast. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Goodbread: Alabama football opens camp with more questions than answers