What Alabama OL Coach Wants to See from RT Elijah Pritchett

The redshirt sophomore tackle has allowed more pressures than any other Crimson Tide offensive lineman this season.

Alabama offense gets set against Mizzou at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL on Saturday, Oct 26, 2024. / Alabama Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Right tackle was one of the most highly-contested position battles for Alabama football coming into the 2024 season between Wilkin Formby and Elijah Pritchett. Ultimately, Pritchett won the job over Formby a few games into the season.

The Alabama offensive line has played well at times and was named to the Joe Moore Midseason Honor Roll, but has struggled with consistency in both pass protection and run blocking, especially from Pritchett at right tackle.

"Consistency is really the big thing," Alabama offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic said Wednesday. "You’ll watch him, and he’ll have some really good plays— good sets, good with his hands. I was looking, there’s four guys he’s had to block so far this season that are projected to be first-rounders. And he’s done some really good things. But then the minute his set isn’t quite right, or he leans a little bit or doesn’t use his hands, you’re gonna get exposed. That’s the thing, when you’re out on that island 40 times a game or whatever it is, consistency is really important. But you’ve also got to change things up to not give them the same look every time. It’s definitely a challenge. He’s shown he can do it, just need more consistency from him."

According to Pro Football Focus, Pritchett has allowed 18 pressures this season–– 10 more than the next closest guy on the Crimson Tide offensive line (right guard Jaeden Roberts with eight.) In Alabama's 34-0 win over Missouri on Saturday, the Crimson Tide only allowed two sacks , one by Pritchett in the second quarter and one by left tackle Kadyn Proctor in the first quarter.

Kapilovic was pleased with the way the offensive line improved throughout the game and tightened up the pass protection in the second half. Alabama had its best performance of the season in the running game on Saturday, rushing for 271 yards with large credit due to the offensive line. However, Kapilovic isn't quite sure if Pritchett has had his light bulb momet yet.

"Like I said, he has shown the ability to do it," Kapilovic said. "It’s just a matter of him really locking in mentally and being consistent in his play to be able to get to that. It’s the same thing like you talked about with Proctor. We watched his film from last year. Me and him even watched the sets together and some of the things he was doing wrong. Sometimes when you start losing some reps, it’s really hard mentally to bounce back, and you start panicking. You start getting out of your technique and form. So that’s the biggest thing is why did you get beat? And let’s figure out how to help you. And I think that’s where we need to go with Pritch.”

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