Stanford Steve considers whether Alabama can make CFP run

Plenty of questions surround Alabama after the coaching change. Even Nick Saban offered up his areas of concern for the Crimson Tide at SEC Media Days, saying the secondary could be an issue. Kalen DeBoer has done a nice job with the program until this point but until a ball is snapped, people will still wonder.

ESPN’s Stanford Steve is one of those people, wanting to see what Alabama looks like in the post-Saban era. Although, he still has faith in where they will end up when the 2024 regular season concludes — the College Football Playoff. It may not be the perfect season we are used to seeing in Tuscaloosa but enough to be one of the best 12 teams.

“I’m still a believer in Alabama,” Stanford Steve said Wednesday via Andy Staples On3 . “I would look at more to make the Playoff than bet over 9.5 wins. Because you’re going to get plus money… I still think they have a super high ceiling… My expectation of Alabama hasn’t changed but it’s more of a — I want to see it because of the change in the scheme and the guy in charge.”

One person DeBoer has been able to rely on is Jalen Milroe . The starting quarterback has taken over as a major leader and really, been the face of the program. His off-field presence has been huge for Alabama and Saban moved into retirement.

But Milroe still went through an important offseason, needing to get better in certain areas. Stanford Steve has heard positive things, something you would expect with an offensive-minded coach like DeBoer.

“Everything I hear about Milroe, he’s better with the football,” he said. “That’s taking care of it and accuracy. What were the two things he had to be better at to go to the next level? Taking care of the football and being more accurate.”

On the other side of the ball, defensive line has an opportunity to be a strength. Alabama might not have one singular person who will dominate upfront, potentially a theme across the entire SEC. However, there is certainly depth to work with — a big plus with the season potentially stretching out to 17 games for some teams.

“They have guys there that have played,” Stanford Steve said. “And I’ll take that when I look at a season as a whole and I know I have guys that have been in the trenches before.”

Given a win total of 9.5, anything hitting the over in the SEC is going to put Alabama in the College Football Playoff. So, instead of the win total, Stanford Steve believes in getting plus-money on the CFP, Yes bet on the Crimson Tide.

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