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Why this Alabama football offensive lineman isn't buying into own hype - Tuscaloosa News
Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb was definitive: Jackson Lloyd is Alabama football's left tackle.
Yes, the 6-foot-7, 317-pound Lloyd, the former three-sport star out of Carmel, California, the offensive lineman who saw work in five games and played sparingly as a true freshman. But Grubb saw enough. And the battle wasn't even close.
But Grubb didn't make it a ceremony or anything. Lloyd said he wasn't sat down and told he was Alabama's next left tackle, replacing Kadyn Proctor, who could be a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft.
To Lloyd, it's just noise, even if it's noise Grubb started.
"If you start paying attention to all of that, it gets in your head," Lloyd said. "I just been blocking all that out, coming in and working every single day."
Lloyd has had a "great" spring, he said. It's one of competition, one where he's drilling and working "with all my best friends," each of whom has the same mindset.
"We need to get better," Lloyd said. "And we haven't got complacent, so we just need to keep putting the pedal to the metal and keep working."
For Lloyd, that looks like using his hands better in run and pass protection, both of which he feels he's taken strides in.
Lloyd's strides have gotten the attention of those around him too.
"He's grown tremendously," Alabama sophomore offensive lineman Michael Carroll said. "He's gotten stronger, faster, more confident."
That is all Lloyd is focused on. Not about his status or the title Grubb gave him.
Nothing has changed, he said.
"Since the day I got here, I've been trying to be the best player I can be," Lloyd said. "I didn't really pay attention to any of that. Kind of kept the same mindset. Nothing changes for me."
Alabama will finish its spring football schedule with A-Day Saturday, April 11. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
