Alabama’s offensive line carousel kept spinning last Saturday in College Station.

The Tide had already allowed more sacks through five weeks than it did in all of 2022. Then, before facing one of the tougher defensive lines in the conference, right guard Darrian Dalcourt was ruled out with a shoulder injury. That created a moment for Jaeden Roberts, a redshirt sophomore who’d never started before.

Though Texas A&M would generate six sacks, the most yet for Alabama in a single game, the offense posted a few career-highs in the 26-20 win. And Roberts, well, Saban thought the 6-foot-5, 316-pounder did a “pretty good job,” before elaborating further on Monday.

“I love to see guys like him who have worked hard for two whole years and in his third year gets an opportunity, especially in his home state, to go out and play. A guy has a good physical presence. He played hard in the game. It’s really tough when you have (Dalcourt) that practiced all week and he’s not able to play in the game and the next guy’s gotta go in. (Roberts) didn’t have the same opportunities to prepare. I thought Jaeden did a pretty good job of managing it and handling it. Played with a lot of grit, determination and toughness and executed fairly well.”

Roberts’ path to the first-team is a bit of an outlier among No. 11 Alabama’s (5-1, 3-0) offensive line — Tyler Booker and JC Latham entered the year as stalwarts, Darrian Dalcourt and Seth McLaughlin brought a veteran presence, both underclassmen left tackles are developing — but overall, Roberts is a welcome piece as the Tide continue to seek a solution to the sack problem.

According to PFF, Roberts was Alabama’s second-highest-graded lineman behind Latham. One of the Aggies’ sacks was attributed to him along with two of UA’s 14 penalties. Overall, Roberts wasn’t a detriment despite only playing 12 snaps this season. Roberts’ contribution, in part, led to Jalen Milroe, another Texas native, setting a career-high with 321 passing yards and three touchdowns.

“He balled out, and it just came from trust and just knowing and believing in him,” Milroe said. “He’s just a great competitor, great heart, and, if you know him you just know how hard he works. So just to see him have the opportunity to play his weekend was awesome. And yeah, Jaeden did his thing.”

Roberts was a three-star from North Shore High in Houston. He was a state champion as a junior and committed to Auburn and Gus Malzahn in May of 2020. Seven months later, the Tide flipped him on Christmas Day. At the time, Roberts told 247Sports that in addition to the recruitment efforts of coaches Kyle Flood (now at Texas) and Karl Scott (Seattle Seahawks), he believed “(Alabama) could develop me really well.”

That development went through a few different offensive line coaches, but Roberts saw action in three games last fall after redshirting as a freshman. He entered camp as a backup, a result of Dalcourt’s switch from center to guard. With his playing time uncertain, Roberts could’ve been a possible transfer.

Saban has referenced Alabama’s depth in some positions being zapped away with the portal boom. Damien George, a high school teammate of Roberts, did so after playing in two games as a sophomore. Saban continually reinforces the idea of long-term development and making the most of an opportunity.

Roberts had his moment last Saturday and did just that.

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Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].