Head coach Kalen DeBoer’s first season at Alabama wasn’t the dream first season fans were hoping for, as the Crimson Tide went 9-4 and missed out on the first 12-team College Football Playoff. Here is how the team graded on the offensive side of the ball.
Quarterback: D+
Although many things changed for Alabama between the 2023 and 2024 seasons, one constant was the starter at quarterback: Jalen Milroe. Coming into this year, he looked to build on his impressive 2023 campaign, in which he finished sixth in the Heisman voting.
What followed was a roller coaster of a season. He had a terrific start to the season with 18 total touchdowns en route to a 4-0 start, including a memorable 41-34 victory over Georgia.
But it soon came crashing down for Milroe. He went on a 1-2 stretch in which he threw five interceptions and the Crimson Tide lost to unranked Vanderbilt and then-unranked Tennessee. His play was so drastically different from the beginning of the year that it left fans wondering if he was dealing with an injury.
It looked like Milroe had regained his form near the end of the season when he rushed for four touchdowns in an impressive 42-13 victory over LSU. But then he followed it up with arguably the worst game of his career against Oklahoma, throwing three interceptions and no touchdowns in a ugly 24-3 loss and effectively killing any chance Alabama had at the CFP.
Milroe’s Alabama career ended ugly with three turnovers in the 19-13 ReliaQuest Bowl loss to Michigan. He finished the season throwing for 2,844 yards and 16 passing touchdowns to 11 interceptions and rushed for 726 yards and 20 touchdowns. His inconsistent play is a large part of why the Crimson Tide struggled and found itself without a double-digit win season for the first time since 2007.
Running back: C
Jam Miller and Justice Haynes manned the running back room for Alabama. The duo had an impressive start to the season, combining to rush for 430 yards in the team’s first three games on an impressive 8.9 yards per carry.
But in a trajectory similar to Milroe, the two weren’t as effective as the season went on, rushing for only 3.8 yards per carry in conference play. Whether the ineffectiveness from the duo as the season progressed is a burden on the coaching staff, the play calling or the running backs themselves is debatable.
Miller finished with 668 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on 4.6 yards per carry, while Haynes totaled 448 yards and seven touchdowns on 5.7 yards per carry. The duo left more to be desired, and the ineffectiveness in SEC play put a damper on the offense.
Wide receiver: B+
The wide receiver room was largely a two-headed monster with true freshman Ryan Williams and Washington transfer Germie Bernard leading the way for the Crimson Tide. Early on in the season, it was Williams who was making noise, as he accounted for 544 receiving yards and seven total touchdowns in the Crimson Tide’s first five games.
But when Williams couldn’t replicate that production — he had only 321 receiving yards through the rest of the season — it was Bernard who began to lead the wide receiver room. He had a team-leading 508 receiving yards in SEC play and had at least 60 receiving yards in eight of the last nine games of the season.
“It all starts in practice. He does great things in practice,” Miller said. “He’s a hard worker all throughout the season.”
Bernard finished the year with a team-high 50 catches for 794 yards, while Williams had 48 catches for a team-high 865 yards. But behind Bernard and Williams, there wasn’t much depth, as the third most receiving yards by a wide receiver was Kobe Prentice with just 129 yards. The depth was troubling, but the production by the two leading wide receivers can’t be ignored.
Tight end: B
The group was composed of CJ Dippre, Robbie Ouzts and Washington transfer Josh Cuevas. Dippre was a reliable safety valve this season, catching 21 passes for 256 yards, which was good enough for third-most on the team. Cuevas had a good season as well, catching 16 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown.
Ouzts was regarded as more of a blocker and a “Swiss Army Knife” player, but he had his moments receiving as well, notching 108 yards and two touchdowns, including a 25-yard touchdown catch in his final collegiate game against Michigan. The tight end group wasn’t necessarily the most explosive on the field, but it was reliable this season when called upon.
Offensive line: B+
The group primarily consisted of Kadyn Proctor at left tackle, Tyler Booker and Jaeden Roberts at left and right guard; Washington transfer Parker Brailsford at center; and Elijah Pritchett at right tackle. The unit fared much better this season than last, allowing only 24 sacks compared to 48 in 2023.
“The execution by the group week in and week out is great,” DeBoer said of the unit after the Iron Bowl. “They execute better and better each week.”
A primary part of the success was the improvement of returning starters such as Proctor and Booker, along with the impressive play of Brailsford, continuing his success from last season at Washington. Roberts battled injuries throughout the season and occasionally swapped out with Michigan State transfer Geno VanDeMark, but he had a good season nonetheless.
Right tackle is the position that was most volatile on the Oline. Early in the season, it was a split between Pritchett and Wilkin Formby, but Formby struggled in the game against South Florida, leading to Pritchett taking control of the position the rest of the season. This brought mixed results, as he allowed a team-high 31 pressures this season, far ahead of the second-most pressures allowed at 13 by Proctor.
There were some hiccups along the way for this group, including the four sacks allowed against South Carolina, but the unit’s feat allowing no sacks against Georgia and LSU highlights the impressive improvement the unit made.
