TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Competition remains at Alabama’s left guard position.

Redshirt sophomore Deonte Brown started in between Jonah Williams and Ross Pierschbacher at Tennessee this past weekend in place of senior Lester Cotton, who has been dealing with an ankle issue and inconsistent performance. And it might not be his last start this year.

SEC Network analyst and former offensive lineman Cole Cubelic gave his thoughts on Twitter.

“Deonte Brown looked good in his first start,” Cubelic tweeted. “Got nice movement at the point of attack. Gave up a pressure or two in pass pro but still thought he was pretty good there. Very effective as a puller. I was impressed.”

Brown has worked with the twos this season but steadily saw more and more repetitions with the first-team offense. Against Missouri, the Decatur, Ala., native played 25 snaps with the ones with Cotton slowed by injury. He graded out at 88 percent with two knockdown blocks.

The 6-foot-4, 344-pounder played well enough to practice with the first offensive line a week ago and started the first game of his career in Knoxville, Tenn., where helped pave the way for 218 yards and four touchdowns on 42 carries for Alabama’s ground game against the Vols.



“He did a nice job in the game,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said of the player nicknamed Cornbread. “We all have things that we can improve on, but he played well. He’s gotten an opportunity to play some this year, and I think he’s grown with that. Really proud of the fact that he’s overcome a lot to put himself in a position to be able to play and play effectively. We were pleased with the way he played.”

Alabama offensive guard Deonte Brown

Williams, a three-year starter, added: “I thought he played really well. I think everyone on the O-line, everyone on the team, has things to clean up after the game. But I think overall, he played really well. I thought our communication was good. It was a loud environment, especially in the beginning of the game. So I was proud of the way he performed.”

Brown has slimmed down quite a bit over the course of his career after weighing well over 350 pounds when he arrived at Alabama. Now, he’s shown his prowess as a run blocker, as well as improvement in pass blocking, which is especially key with two injured quarterbacks.

Whether Brown starts for the second week in a row next weekend in Baton Rouge, La., when the top-ranked Crimson Tide takes on No. 4 LSU in Tiger Stadium remains to be seen. The media viewing periods of practice during the open week have been brief and without a good view of the offensive linemen. That will continue in today’s 3:40 p.m. CT practice in Tuscaloosa.

But Brown did nothing to hurt his chances of making it consecutive starts in Weeks 8 and 10.

“He went out and executed,” Pierschbacher said after this last game at Neyland Stadium. “We had confidence in him going in. He had a good week of practice. Just communication, I think, is the biggest thing, just making sure he knows what to do. I think sticking him in between me and Jonah helped him out, for sure. So, he performed well tonight.”

Contact Charlie Potter by 247Sports' personal messaging or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).

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