Thoughts on the center and offensive guard positions as Alabama makes its way through College Football Playoff practices.

The starters

Center: 70 Ryan Kelly (Sr.).

Guards: LG 71 Ross Pierschbacher (rFr.) and RG 50 Alphonse Taylor (Jr.).

Up next

Center: 63 JC Hassenauer (So.)

Guards: LG 59 Dallas Warmack (Fr.) and RG 75 Bradley Bozeman (So.).

The next wave

Center/Guards: 67 Joshua Casher (rFr.); 56 Brandon Kennedy (Fr.); 72 Richie Petitbon (Fr.) and 68 Isaac Luatua (Sr.).

What we've seen to date

Is it time to put Kelly on top as the best center of the Nick Saban era at Alabama? Based on a twitter poll I conducted earlier today, the answer is no. Of the first 100 people who voted, the breakdown went like this: Barrett Jones 69, Kelly 20, William Vlachos 11.

If you haven't cast your vote yet, you can do so here:

Best center of the Saban era at Alabama. — Travis Reier (@travisreier) December 23, 2015



Hard to argue with the selection of Jones, but, hey, it's not like Kelly didn't win a Rimington Trophy (nation's top center) of his own. And like Vlachos, Kelly is a three-year starter who has served as the glue for an offensive line that paved the way for a Heisman Trophy winner in 2015.

The one thing missing from Kelly's resume as a starter that shows up on those of Jones and Vlachos? A national championship.

As for the guard spots, Pierschbacher and Taylor staked claims to the left and right positions, respectively, in fall camp and never looked back. Both have started every game this season, with Pierschbacher earning SEC All-Freshman honors for his efforts. Frankly, I didn't expect Taylor to win the right guard job, but his work in Scott Cochran's strength and conditioning program seemingly put him over the top.

As for the reserves, Hassenauer saw important snaps in the Crimson Tide's win at Texas A&M. After Kelly went down in the game, Hassenauer was thrown into the fire in College Station and while it wasn't the prettiest of performances for the true sophomore, he did enough to get UA through a tough stretch.

What we're seeing for the future

Simply put, Alabama is loaded at the interior spots.

The two-year grooming of Hassenauer as Kelly's eventual replacement should lead to a rather seamless transition in 2016. Making the switch even easier will be the presence of a pair of guards with a full season of starts under their belts.

Don't take that to mean that there won't be competition at guard in the spring, however. Warmack has moved up the depth chart at left guard, supplanting Luatua as a second-teamer. His time as a starter is coming, with the only question being, when?

Bozeman also has starting experience, working at center in place of Kelly in 2014. He, too, will continue to make a case for snaps in 2016 and beyond.

Casher and Kennedy have both worked at center and guard. Casher looks to have made some nice strides physically, showing improved flexibility and overall athleticism in recent practices. Kennedy took advantage of Casher's injury-related absence back in fall camp, getting reps at center that would have likely gone to Casher otherwise. Both are swings guys to keep an eye on in the future.

As for Petitbon, the true freshman has the classic guard body type and is athletic enough to handle the pulling the job demands. In fact, if he were to swing to another position from guard it would probably be tackle instead of center. From that standpoint, he's somewhat reminiscent of former UA tackle James Carpenter.

Check out LG Warmack, C Hassenauer and RG Casher getting the job done on a fourth-and-13 play against Charleston Southern;



How Michigan State will challenge Alabama's interior linemen

While three-time, All-Big 10 choice Shilique Calhoun is the Spartans' top playmaker up front, starting tackles Malik McDowell and Joel Heath have been productive as well.

Look for McDowell to work mostly against Pierschbacher and Kelly in the game. At 6-foot-6, 275 pounds, McDowell may look more like a 3-4 end, but the true sophomore has used his athleticism to rack up 12 tackles for loss while working inside this season.

As for Heath, he's a 6-foot-6, 293-pound fifth-year senior who is in his second season as a starter. Of his 29 total tackles this season, 5.5 have gone for loss.

Michigan State will also roll in another fifth-year senior at tackle in Damon Knox, who has seen action in 34 games as a Spartan. The 6-foot-5, 276-pounder has 13 tackles to his credit this season.