Alabama is having to defend its football national championship without quarterback Jake Coker and top tailbacks Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake from last year’s team, but those are not the only pieces of the puzzle missing.
Center Ryan Kelly was a three-year starter for Crimson Tide teams that went 37-5.
“Everybody knows about losing two of the top three running backs drafted, and having to replace them will be very difficult, but I think the center is going to be extremely hard to replace,” third-year offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin said in a news conference earlier this month. “Ryan Kelly was the first guy drafted from our team, which I don’t think a lot of people would have thought a year ago with all the great players we had, and it shows how valuable he was to the guys around him and to both of our quarterbacks the last two years as well.”
Kelly was the 18th overall pick in this year’s NFL draft, getting snatched by the Indianapolis Colts, who needed an anchor for quarterback Andrew Luck. Kelly won last season’s Rimington Trophy as the nation’s top center, but Ross Pierschbacher worked at center throughout the preseason until Saturday, when Bradley Bozeman got a look inside.
Pierschbacher started all 15 games last season at left guard but moved to center at the start of spring practice.