In less than 10 weeks, the Alabama Crimson Tide will begin their trek toward a possible 17th national championship with a season opening tilt against USC.

Former SEC assistant coach Max Howell provided his insights into the USC Trojans and the race for the starting quarterback spot at Alabama on Inside the Locker Room.

Despite going 8-6 last season, Howell highlighted USC’s returning talent and pointed out what he believes is the strength of the team.

“The strength of this year’s (USC) football team, according to folks I talked to over the weekend, is their offensive front. They got three legitimate first or second round offensive line prospects. They got a guard and two tackles that can play in the NFL as rookies.” Howell said.

The former SEC assistant also pointed to their defense being a work in progress and the uncertainty at quarterback as weak spots on the team.

During a previous Inside the Locker Room appearance, Howell made the case for the possibility of freshman Jalen Hurts taking over Alabama's starting quarterback role at some point during the season.

On Monday’s Inside the Locker Room, Howell highlighted a number of factors including versatility, dual threat capability and the lack of running backs with good blocking skills as factors that could help Hurts land the starting quarterback role.

Later in the interview, the Inside the Locker Room contributor provided his observations on how the proliferation of read option quarterbacks at the high school level has influenced the recruitment of quarterbacks at the collegiate level.

Catch Inside the Locker Room every weekday from 7-9 AM on Tide 99.1 and the radioPup app.

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