A 14-0 finish and national title has the Crimson Tide clearly perched as the team to beat entering the 2010 season. Early polls already have Alabama carrying a preseason No. 1 ranking into the season opener against San Jose State.
Looking at what has happened and which players return, it's not a far-fetched thought.
The Alabama offense will be loaded again in skill players with the return of Heisman Trophy-winning tailback Mark Ingram, tailback Trent Richardson, quarterback Greg McElroy and wide receivers Darius Hanks, Julio Jones and Marquis Maze. In fact, the only starters leaving on offense are All-American left guard Mike Johnson, right tackle Drew Davis and tight end Colin Peek.
The defense stands to lose as many as nine starters.All-American nose tackle Terrence Cody, and three linebackers, including Rolando McClain, who opted to declare for the NFL draft after winning the Butkus Award during his junior season and also Kareem Jackson.
Don'ta Hightower will be back from season-ending knee surgery to step into McClain's key middle-man role.
"We had a team this year that really probably won because we ran the ball effectively and we played pretty well on defense for the most part, and we're going to lose a lot of players on defense," Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said. "We have some good young players, and it'll be a great opportunity for them. But every team is different, and every team has issues and problems that you have to resolve. Now, we do have a lot of good players returning on offense. Hopefully we can build on that and improve."
Alabama also must replace All-American place-kicker Leigh Tiffin and long time punter P.J. Fitzgerald, likely with true freshmen in each instance.
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