Throughout Alabama's first four games, the Crimson Tide's offense has sizzled, blazing a path up and down the field toward the end zone. The deflating moments have been few and far between. But one did happen midway through the first quarter of a 57-7 victory over Arkansas State earlier this month.

Before a third-and-1 situation, the Crimson Tide loaded up its front, adding tight end Hale Hentges to a wall of five blockers and positioning Irv Smith Jr. at H-back. Josh Jacobs received a handoff, veered right and was immediately met by a pack of Arkansas State defenders.

Away from the mass of bodies was sophomore Alex Leatherwood, who had fallen down. By the time he turned back to see what happened, the whistle had blown and Jacobs had suffered a one-yard loss.

The failure in that moment wasn't significant in the larger context, but it was illustrative of Leatherwood's inconsistent performance at right guard -- the position to which he moved in August after beginning fall camp one spot over at tackle.

Through four games, Leatherwood has earned the lowest grade at run blocking among the Tide's starting offensive linemen, according to ProFootballFocus.com.

Alabama has particularly produced disappointing results running through the B and C gaps on the right side, with its ball carriers averaging three yards before contact -- almost a third of a yard less than it has netted through the same holes left of center.

This is not doomsday-level stuff, of course. But the state of the ground game has been called into question after Alabama managed to net 109 rushing yards on 28 carries in a 45-23 victory over Texas A&M last Saturday.

"We struggled to run the ball effectively with any consistency," Saban said afterwards. "That's something we need to work on."

Saban explained the Aggies often dedicated another defender to the box to clog the passageways for Alabama's stable of backs. But going back to the preseason, Saban has lamented a lack of push from an offensive line that remains a work in progress after position coach Brent Key mixed and matched personnel to get the five best players out there.

That includes Leatherwood -- a former five-star recruit in the 2017 class once ranked ahead of some of the Crimson Tide's top contributors, including linebacker Dylan Moses, receiver Jerry Jeudy quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and even right tackle Jedrick Wills Jr., the player with whom he traded places.

Moving Leatherwood inside from tackle to guard wasn't an obvious move for Key. With a 6-foot-6, 304-pound frame, Leatherwood seemed destined to spend his career with the Tide at a bookend position, especially after he acquitted himself well in place of Jonah Williams during the second half of the national championship victory over Georgia in January.

But Key has been open to experimenting with tackles at interior spots. This summer, Key even told Hewitt-Trussville's Pierce Quick, the top-rated recruit in Alabama's 2019 class, that he could envision the young right tackle playing center.

"Generally across the board, no offense to interior guys, but a lot of times tackles are more athletic players, a little bit quicker, and sometimes it's beneficial to have that on the inside as well," said Williams. "You don't see a lot of interior guys moving out. You kind of see it going in the other direction.

"I don't know if there's any philosophy about that. The way we look at it is we want the five best guys however it unfolds and we want guys to be comfortable at the positions they are at."

But for Leatherwood it's been a challenging transition. This past Saturday, he received a low grade from ProFootballFocus.com -- one that fell short of the pedestrian rating he attained against Arkansas State, when his struggles were magnified on the third-and-1 play that went nowhere.

Two days after that game, center Ross Pierschbacher explained that patience was needed with Leatherwood -- a lineman with tremendous talent who is trying to navigate a new role.

"I think with him, it's just like not getting frustrated," Pierschbacher said. "He wants to be perfect all the time, and when you move to a position like that, it's a big move from tackle to guard. And a guy like me, who I've played a lot of snaps at guard, just kind of telling him just things that helped me out, just little things, little tips, tricks and stuff like that that will hopefully help him progress.

"And I think that he's kind of been more understanding as we go along. And I just sat down, talked to him and say, 'Hey, don't get frustrated. This thing, it's going to click. So, just give it time.'"

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