It seems like it's been years since the 2015 college football season ended, but the Tide are back in action to start their 2016 campaign this Friday when they open up their spring practices. As is seemingly the case with each new season in Tuscaloosa, there's yet again quite a bit of turnover, and that means certain position battles during the spring could be integral to Alabama's success next season.

For the third consecutive year, Alabama will enter the season with a new starting quarterback. Along with that, they also lost Heisman Trophy winning running back Derrick Henry, his back up/change of pace back in Kenyan Drake, and All-American center Ryan Kelly all on offense. Add onto that the graduation of another offensive lineman in Dominick Jackson, and you start to see that Alabama's offense could potentially look much different from last season.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Tide will be without guys like Reggie Ragland, Geno Matias-Smith, D.J. Pettway, Jarran Reed, and Cyrus Jones, as they all begin their transition into the NFL, and Alabama's defense will be relying on the potential of their great defensive backs and defensive line to assert their dominance in the SEC yet again.

With some important pieces missing from the 2015 team, which position battle will be the most important one of the spring?

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