In Hollywood, sequels rarely top the original.

That is, of course, unless we're talking about The Godfather: Part II.

Alabama fans better hope that college football's version of the Godfather—head coach Nick Saban—follows the same path, because the 2015 Alabama football season depends on it.

Graduate transfer Jake Coker was the talk of the offseason, but Blake Sims' efficient play in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game against West Virginia relegated Coker to mop-up duty in the first game of the season—which is a role he settled into for the duration of the 2014 season.

"I was shocked that Coker did not at least attempt a pass during the game," said Ryan Fowler, host of The Game on Tide 99.1 in Tuscaloosa. "I had heard rumblings that Sims was going to get a majority of the playing time, but I did expect to see Coker play more. I remember watching him during pregame warm-ups and saying his arm strength is as good as advertised, especially on the deep throws."

With Sims gone, Coker watch will continue—just maybe without the hype of last summer.

The rising senior will battle with junior Alec Morris, sophomore Cooper Bateman, redshirt freshman David Cornwell and true freshman early enrollee Blake Barnett for the starting gig in Tuscaloosa.

Who will get the nod? Bleacher Report Alabama lead writer Marc Torrence gives the nod to either Coker or Morris in his early depth chart projection.

Finding a starting quarterback early is a much more pressing issue for Saban and offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin than it was last season, because not only is the quarterback position back to square one, the offense has to hit a reset button of sorts thanks to graduation and potential early departures.

ESPN.com's Alex Scarborough reported on Thursday that wide receiver Amari Cooper, running back T.J. Yeldon and safety Landon Collins will jump early to the NFL draft.

Cooper's departure isn't exactly the most surprising news in the world, but it's very important considering the makeup of the 2015 Crimson Tide roster.

The Alabama coaching staff knew that Cooper would be outside for the quarterback to rely on, and it was clear from the moment toe met leather in the Georgia Dome against the Mountaineers that Cooper provided the safety net for Sims and Kiffin to fall back on as Sims and Kiffin both eased into their new roles as quarterback and play-caller, respectively.

According to Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer (h/t Marquavius Burnett of the Anniston Star), who saw plenty of film of Cooper in the month leading up to the Allstate Sugar Bowl, Cooper's future in pro football is bright:

Unless Cooper passes up on big money at the next level, Alabama will be without its three leading receivers from this season, as DeAndrew White and Christion Jones have also exhausted their eligibility.

"Cooper is going to be the most difficult to replace," Fowler said. "He will go down as one of the all-time greats in the program's history. It will not be possible to replace his production with only one player. Kiffin will have to combine the strengths of multiple players to get the yardage he got from Cooper in 2014."

It's not an impossible task because Alabama is loaded with talented players like Robert Foster, ArDarius Stewart, Chris Black and a medium-sized village of highly touted prospects.

It does, however, make the quarterback battle much more important this year than last.

The participants in last year's quarterback battle had Cooper to work with whenever they got first-team reps and knew that he was going to be a primary piece of the Alabama puzzle.

If Cooper jumps, each quarterback will have the chance to develop their own chemistry with a new crop of talented, yet largely inexperienced wide receivers.

Despite some heated moments and rather uncomfortable screenshots on the sideline, the first year of the Saban/Kiffin marriage worked well on offense. This offseason is much more intriguing, though, due to the offensive skill position turnover and Coker's inability to win the job last season.

Will Coker's potential be realized?

Will Stewart, Black, Foster or one of the countless other potential superstars at wide receiver develop that chemistry with Coker or one of the other quarterback contenders?

Will Alabama hit what could be one of the best quarterback graduate transfer free-agent markets in the sport's history?

All of those will contribute to one of the most important offseason quarterback battles in recent conference history.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.