What to expect from Dallas Turner amid injury-plagued LB depth
The linebacker position for Alabama is shrinking thinner as the season progresses. To go along with starting EDGE LB Chris Harris’ injury at the start of the year, his backup Drew Sanders is also unavailable after having surgery on his hand.
This leaves us with no other option than true-freshman Dallas Turner.
Turner came out of high school as a five-star linebacker out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL. He was rated as the No. 9 overall recruit in the class of 2021 and the No. 1 EDGE rusher in the class.
At 6-4 and 245 pounds, his build is plenty sufficient to get off blocks on the edge with power. When needed, he is decent in coverage, but Saban isn’t likely to drop him back too often.
One of his best qualities is in finishing plays. He doesn’t give up on anything and makes solid contact with every hit. Turner is fantastic with form tackles and doesn’t often let a ball-carrier break free.
The only problem with Turner, at this point, is that he doesn’t have any SEC experience. The fact that the Crimson Tide’s opponent this weekend has been relatively inept regarding offensive play definitely makes things easier on him. Yet, he may make some mistakes due to the sheer lack of experience.
Expect the defense to be fairly simplified so he can understand his assignments. Don’t expect his tasks to be significantly complex given his lack of experience.
Overall, his natural skills and developed talent should be good enough to avoid any hinderance of the defense in any meaningful way against an inferior opponent.
Catch the game between Alabama and Texas A&M on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. CT on CBS.
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