When spring drills began Tuesday, Jedrick Wills was running with the first team at right tackle.

The rising sophomore was slotted there, because the incumbent starter Matt Womack was sidelined with a Jones fracture in his foot.

But don't be surprised if Wills remains a fixture within the top offensive line unit even when Womack is given a clean bill of health.

At the team's first offseason practice, Wills worked alongside Lester Cotton at right guard, Ross Pierschbacher at center, Josh Casher at left guard and Jonah Williams at left tackle.

It was a lineup subject to change, Alabama coach Nick Saban said.

"This probably won't be the first experiment we have in the offensive line in terms of who plays where," Saban asserted.

Back in January, former Crimson Tide center Bradley Bozeman predicted Saban would tinker with the blocking front, noting the versatility of the players at the coach's disposal gave him the latitude to do so.

"All the guys can play different positions," Bozeman said then.

Bozeman theorized that Saban wouldn't rest until he was certain the five most talented linemen were on the field, no matter the arrangement.

And right now Saban has a surplus of quality tackles.

Wills is one of them. So too is Alex Leatherwood, another rising sophomore who excelled when he replaced the injured Williams in the second half of Alabama's victory over Georgia in the national championship game.

"We feel Alex and Jonah both can play left tackle, but I think Alex can play someplace else, and I think Jonah can play someplace else," Saban said. "I think Jedrick Wills may be able to play somewhere else. So the goal is always to get the best five players on the field and we may experiment with somebody else playing center at some point in time as well. I just really like both of those young players (Leatherwood and Wills)."

That's about as strong of an endorsement as Saban will give. And it offered some insight into how this offensive line, which is in the nascent stages of development, could be constructed before the season.

Rainer Sabin is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @RainerSabin