We’ve reached that point in August when preseason camp is winding down and Week 1 preparations are beginning.

To celebrate the beginning of meaningful action, this feels like the right time to make a few predictions about the Alabama season to come. Given the way things ended last time, there’s another degree of anticipation to get 2019 underway next Saturday against Duke in Atlanta.

Since it’s understandable you’d skim over the lead-in paragraphs of a story like this, we’ll get right to business. And feel free to hold me accountable should any of these picks fall flat.

The strength of Alabama in 2019 ...

It has to be the passing game. This program hasn’t seen a high-powered attack like that matching an elite passer with perhaps the best group of receivers of the Nick Saban era. For at least another year, game-manager status for this offense and Tua Tagovailoa are on hold. The high-scoring offense helped mask some defensive shortcomings a year ago and that could be the case again after losing a few key players to the NFL on the other side of the ball. Jerry Jeudy could join the list of Alabama receivers that includes Julio Jones, Amari Cooper and Calvin Ridley as elite gamechangers.

The weakness of this team will be ...

This is more of something that can’t carry over into this fall. Alabama’s defense allowed 66 passes of 20-plus yards last fall to rank 92nd nationally. Those big plays were the backbreakers in the national title game loss to Clemson when the secondary looked to be in disarray at times. A few starters moved on but experience returns with cornerbacks Patrick Surtain II and Trevon Diggs along with safeties Xavier McKinney and Jared Mayden. Players like Surtain and Josh Jobe got important experience as true freshmen and return with more confidence. Diggs missed most of the season with a broken foot and has potential first-round talent.

The punting and kicking units still have to prove themselves after things went sideways last year. Kicking issues aren’t new around here but there are positive reviews coming from preseason camp for freshman kicker Will Reichard.

Most important player on offense?

It’s clear everything runs through Tagovailoa and few players in recent memory have such an impact on a team’s success. Derrick Henry was that irreplaceable factor in the 2015 national title run that included a Heisman Trophy for the running back. Without Jalen Hurts as a proven commodity backing up Tagovailoa this fall, the lefty passer’s health becomes even more of a priority after taking a few too many shots last year.

That’s why the offensive line as a whole takes this honor. A share of the responsibility goes to Tagovailoa himself to get rid of the ball faster at times but keeping a clean jersey often comes down to pocket integrity.

Most important player on defense?

It’s no secret depth has been an issue at middle linebacker and the preseason injury of presumptive starter Joshua McMillon only thinned that depth chart a little more. There was already a high burden on Dylan Moses but that cranked things up a little more. The former five-star who graced magazine covers as a middle schooler will need to be a presence and traffic cop in the middle of the defense. Behind him, there’s minimal game experience at a position that has been a calling card of this Alabama defense over the past decade.

Who will be a breakout star?

Running back Brian Robinson has a Josh Jacobs feel in some ways. Not the star of his recruiting class, the Tuscaloosa product has impressed behind the scenes for two seasons. And after Jacobs went pro, he figures to be in the rotation along with Najee Harris. The season-ending injury to five-star recruit Trey Sanders takes away from the depth at the position but both Harris and Robinson have plenty of tread on the tires after two seasons in Tuscaloosa.

Defensively, LaBryan Ray has all the potential to make noise up front after playing behind Isaiah Buggs the last two seasons. He has the size and athleticism to be a force in the backfield.

Don't sleep on ...

DJ Dale has been a standout from the moment he stepped on campus in the spring and he figures to be the man in the middle of the defensive line. Quinnen Williams was a dominant force over center last season, setting a bar higher than any true freshman could meet in Year 1. But the Clay-Chalkville product has drawn comparisons to Da’Ron Payne, another first-round pick from the Birmingham area.

A few other names:

Terrell Lewis saw little action two years ago with an arm injury and missed all of 2018 with a torn ACL. He has first-round talent and some built up aggression to prove that.

Evan Neal was the No. 1 tackle in the last recruiting class and is competing to be one of the starters at guard. With movement expected after the season, Neal is the tackle of the future for this offense.

Who Alabama will miss the most?

Stars like Quinnen Williams are obvious picks so we’ll go with Irv Smith Jr. It’s hard to explain how important his presence was in Alabama’s scheme. It went beyond the pure numbers that included 44 catches, 710 yards and seven touchdowns. Smith’s pure route-running changed how defenses accounted for him and the receiver rotation of Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III, DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle. The 2019 offense doesn’t have that same threat in the passing game with former walk-on Giles Amos, converted linebacker Cameron Latu, Miller Forristall and Major Tennison competing for the two tight end roles.

Toughest game?

There are a few interesting ones in the conference schedule. Expectations are high for LSU with a No. 6 preseason ranking. The Tigers overachieved last season but had no offense in a 29-0 loss to Alabama. The eight-game losing streak to Alabama adds another target in a rivalry Ed Orgeron doesn’t deny means something to the LSU program.

The Thanksgiving weekend trip to preseason No. 16 Auburn also stands out given the result of the last trip there. The Tigers are starting true freshman Bo Nix in the opener, so he should have a firm grasp on the offense by November if things go as planned. A lot of football separates these two from Iron Bowl time but games in Jordan-Hare Stadium have been the most consistently challenging for Alabama the past decade.

Sneaky interesting game?

That Oct. 12 road trip to College Station to play Texas A&M has a dangerous feel but the degree of difficulty will be better known after Aggie games at Clemson (Sept. 7) and against Auburn (Sept. 21). A&M will get an off week between the visits from Auburn and Alabama with the Tide getting that same Saturday off.

Final record

While there are a few roadblocks in the way, Alabama will be favored in all 12 regular season games. A 12-0 regular season would pair the Tide with Georgia again in the SEC Championship Game. Given their recent history, that third straight meeting in Atlanta would be a coin toss should both teams enter with a reasonably healthy roster. Alabama hasn’t lost an SEC championship game since 2008 but Georgia has twice the nasty taste after falling from ahead twice in a row on that same turf.

Reasonable arguments could be made for both sides and making a pick in August before 12 regular-season games would be a pure guess.

Michael Casagrande is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.