HOOVER — Bradley Bozeman is looking to take a bigger leadership role as he enters his senior season at Alabama.
The 6’5, 311-pound center will play an important role on a team that returns many offensive weapons around him, including quarterback Jalen Hurts.
While the majority of the focus lies on what Hurts can (or can’t) do, Bozeman wants people to know that Alabama’s offense has never been about one player.
“Our offense has come out clicking,” Bozeman said last week at SEC Media Days. “It’s not about just the quarterback, or just the running back, or just the line. It’s about the whole unit. It’s about the whole machine. If one part isn’t running right, the whole thing’s not running. It’s not just one aspect.”
Bozeman will be tasked with becoming the leader of a young offense. He will be the only returning senior on the roster, with offensive lineman Cam Robinson and wide receiver Ardarius Stewart gone to the NFL.
“We have to stay strong in our leadership,” Bozeman said. “Our leadership cannot waver. We have to stay the course.”
The youth on the roster is not going to be used as an excuse by Bozeman or his teammates for the upcoming season. Alabama is not going to give any games away, or take any of it’s opponents lightly.
“There’s a lot of hard competitors on our team, and with Coach Saban, we focus on the process,” Bozeman said. “We push every day and we try to be 1-0 at the end of every week. We try to do things that other people don’t want to do or can’t do. We just push it, break down barriers, and knock down walls.”
Ten Alabama players made the first team, including offensive lineman Jonah Williams and Ross Pierschbacher.
Bozeman was voted onto the second team of the Preseason All-SEC team. Frank Ragnow of the Arkansas Razorbacks edged him out by 20 votes for first team honors.
A total of 16 Alabama players in all made the three preseason teams.
Both Bozeman and Williams were named to the Outland Trophy watch lists, awarded to the best nation’s top interior lineman, on either offense or defense.
Bozeman was also selected to the Rimington Trophy’s preseason watch list, an award for the country’s top offensive center. The Crimson Tide was picked, for the fourth straight year, to win the SEC West and the SEC championship.
Alabama will kick off it’s season on Sept. 2 against the Florida State Seminoles at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
“They have a good defense, a good secondary,” Bozeman said. “We have to come out and be ready to work.”
