Wade Payne/Associated Press

Tennessee's Jeremy Pruitt: Alabama Has Best Offense I've Ever Seen in My Life

Mike Chiari

Ahead of Saturday's game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide, Tennessee head football coach Jeremy Pruitt paid a massive compliment to the Tide.

According to AL.com's Mike Rodak, Pruitt said Wednesday that Alabama's offensive line is the best he has ever seen in his life.

The Vols, who are coming off two consecutive losses, will have a huge challenge on their hands Saturday, as they are hosting a Bama team that is a perfect 4-0, including a 41-24 win over the No. 4 Georgia Bulldogs last week.

The Tide have plenty of talent at every level on both sides of the ball, but there is no question that their offensive line is in the conversation for the best in the nation.

It starts with left tackle Alex Leatherwood, who has a chance to be the first offensive lineman off the board in the 2021 NFL draft. In his latest 2021 NFL mock draft, Bleacher Report draft expert Matt Miller had Leatherwood going 14th overall to the Los Angeles Chargers.

Miller also has Alabama left guard Deonte Brown getting drafted, as he mocked Brown to the Arizona Cardinals with the No. 76 overall pick in the third round.

Both Leatherwood and Brown are seniors, as is center Landon Dickerson. Right tackle Evan Neal and right guard Emil Ekiyor are sophomores, but they have plenty of size and are quickly gaining experience.

Alabama has two legitimate Heisman Trophy candidates on offense in running back Najee Harris and quarterback Mac Jones, and much of their success can be attributed to the play of the offensive line.

Harris has rushed for 499 yards and 11 touchdowns already this season, while Jones is completing 78.3 percent of his passes for 1,518 yards, 12 touchdowns and two interceptions.

Pruitt has been around the University of Alabama and college football in general for a long time. Pruitt was a defensive back at Alabama from 1995-96 and had three separate stints as an assistant coach at Bama as well.

The Nick Saban disciple has seen plenty of great offensive linemen come and go at Alabama, so his assertion that Bama's current line is the best he has ever seen speaks volumes.

There was some hope that Tennessee would put up a fight against Alabama, but with blowout losses to Georgia and Kentucky in each of the past two weeks, the Volunteers will be hard-pressed to contend with the Tide and their top-flight offensive line Saturday.

   

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