The Alabama Crimson Tide lose a plethora of talented players every year. This is one of the pitfalls of recruiting at an elite level – you generally only have the kid for 3 seasons because inevitably he’s going to turn pro early. However, you can generally offset these losses pretty regularly, assuming you continue to recruit at a consistently high level.

Despite this, there’s always one or two guys coaches worry about whether they can replace, either because they were such a rare talent or because their value to the team was uncommon. One of those guys was NT Da’Ron Payne, who was picked No. 13 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Payne was an absolute rock as the spear point of the Tide’s 3-4 defense. He could play the role of two-gap plugger. He could penetrate the line, collapse the pocket and re-direct rushing lanes. He allowed linebackers behind him to fly to the ball. He required double teams that inevitably freed up someone else. I know Alabama has had big name interior linemen before, but arguably none made an impact to the overall defense like Payne.

Replacing him wouldn’t be like replacing Ronnie Harrison, Anthony Averett or even Rashaan Evans, I think we can safely say. I think we can also safely say, these were remarkably big shoes for his expected replacement, redshirt sophomore Quinnen Williams, to fill. Williams played sparingly as a redshirt freshman backing up Payne, but he would now be thrust into the starting role full time. Coming off the bench fresh for a few plays here and there is an entirely different role than full time starter expected to log serious minutes.

So, heading into 2018, when people would discuss the Alabama defensive line, they would acknowledge they had a bona fide superstar in Raekwon Davis and a potential first-round or second-round pick opposite of him in Isaiah Buggs. Few could deny, however, the uncertainty of what they had at NT in Williams.

There were also concerns about his size, as he’s listed at just 289 pounds. I know 289 pounds sounds utterly enormous to office workers, but normal NTs in a 3-4 defense are 320+ pounds, often times hovering around 340-350. Even Payne, at 310 pounds, was a tad undersized for the position.

Well, Week 1 is in the books, and we can go ahead and put to rest the concerns about the middle of the defensive line. Why? Williams played like a maniac Saturday night, a game in which the Tide cruised 51-14. He played so well, in fact, that he was named SEC Co-Defensive Lineman of the Week, an honor he shares with Nick Coe of Auburn.

Williams tied for the team lead in tackles with 6. He had 3.5 of the the Tide’s 11 TFLs, which was 2 more than Deionte Thompson, who was second on the team. He knocked down one pass and was credited with a QB hurry, though the stat sheet doesn’t accurately depict the constant chaos he created in the middle of the Louisville offensive line.

Williams looked very fast and agile. He was explosive off the ball with a good first step and a decent punch. He played high at times and was a bit inconsistent with his hands, but he did a good job getting off blocks throughout the night. His burst and lateral quickness was very impressive and used this as a way to combat the size advantage the interior of the Louisville offensive line had on him. He showed just enough lower body strength to play two-gaps but it’s clear that his greatest strength is his ability to penetrate and get upfield.

Every year when Alabama loses a big-time d-lineman, we’re all like, “how will they replace THAT guy?” Quinnen Williams did a masterful job of filling the hole in the middle left by Da’Ron Payne. Williams has added size to play in the middle and kept his quickness. Scary — Marq Burnett (@Marq_Burnett) September 2, 2018

Long term, 3-4 NT won’t be the position he plays at the NFL level. He’ll either play 3-tech in a 4-3 or 5-tech in a 3-4. With that said, he looked like a good fit spear heading the Tide’s 3-4 defense, because they haven’t had someone with his quickness or twitch on the inside before.

We also must remember, the Tide don’t run a 3-4 front exclusively, they’re really more of a hybrid scheme that uses various different fronts to keep opposing offenses off balance. Williams won’t strictly be lined up at the ‘0’, or head up on the center every play this year. You’ll see him there at times, but also at the 1, 2 and 3.

Alabama’s defensive line looked fantastic against Louisville, who’s offensive line made the asinine prediction of dominating the Tide to media leading up to the game. Davis, Buggs and Williams give defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi a lot of flexibility and versatility in the fronts he can use and the stunts and blitz packages he can call.

We knew Davis would be a good. We knew Buggs would be good. Now we know what kind of player Williams can be for the Tide, and he looks like he’ll be a major player in the middle of the line for Alabama.