This is the final installment before the season, thank God, and after Saturday's games we get back to the fun part.
LAST YEAR RECAP
2007 was a growing pain season for the secondary and 2008 was the application of the lessons from those pains. 2008 witnessed the growth of Woodall and Jackson as starters, and the use of Arenas as the "Star". It also was the reminder of what a good smart player can do for an entire team in RJ.
THIS OFFSEASON
Who is back?
Chris Rogers- Was highly thought of out of high school, but has yet to really show any of the things he did then. Rogers showed a flash or two playing with the backups, but is not fast enough to play top end WR in the SEC. He seems to like playing up on the line against WR than trying to read QBs and formations. He will play a reserve/special teams role again this year.
Justin Woodall- He was a ballhawk who tied Steve McNair’s INT record of 16 in 2004. That kinda is the high point until now. I thought he played better than RJ for a good part of the early season. He is a very good tackler and has a good nose for the ball. He has practiced in rotation with RJ over the last couple of years so he will be ok at the playcalling aspect, but he hasn't had to do a lot of it in live game situations. Woodall is an adequate cover guy but excels in run defense. Look for the defense to try and use him as the hidden linebacker in their pass defense packages.
Marquis Johnson- I’ll be honest, I missed the evaluation on him. I thought this guy would be the real deal, but he, like most of the prior staff’s signees, lacks speed to cover corners at this league’s level. He seems to always do just enough to keep the youth movement off him. Johnson isn't a bad corner, he reads the plays well, but when he gets turned around he isn't fast enough to adjust and compensate for his mistake. He is more comfortable in the zone where he can roam and react than he is one on one. I would say he probably stays the starting nickle corner and it infuriates the "when will BJ Scott have a breakout game?" crowd.
Javier Arenas- Has been the excitement part of Bama football for 3 years now, but this year has to be the cover corner. He is considered a late 1st round pick, but I don't know how much of that is for his corner play and how much is because he is a returnman and a solid corner. I think he is in the right position when they go to the Star because that gets him off the taller WR with the post up situations that he has to face. Arenas is quick, but not "fast". He has good acceleration, and can readjust if he makes a read error, and can stay in step with about any WR in the SEC. He is very physical and loves to bump off the snap and isn't afraid to blitz or tackle. I think the biggest area that he needs to address is can he be a true corner or is he a 3rd corner?
Kareem Jackson- he was a quiet signee of Saban’s original class. He enrolled early, applied himself, and started in the nickel and eventually base formations in 2007. He did a lot of learning that year and got good tutelage from Saban and others. Last year he hit the dreaded sophomore slump and some fans have the bullseye on him a bit with all the top name recruits on board. Jackson is a strong corner who is physical and smart, but isn't really that fast. He like Arenas is quick and makes good cuts and angles to close in on faster players. He needs to get more confidence in his instincts and look for the ball at some point. Saban teaches them to face guard the receiver, but he also wants them to find the ball in the process. If he can trust his instincts and break off the face guard and find the ball, he will probably be All SEC this year.
Ali Sharrief- Sharrief is haunted by the Sugar Bowl when it came down to it. The staff saw that he's just not able to play in coverage at the big level. He is a good reserve and a good special teams guy, but he just isn't a great starter type of player.
Tyrone King- Another walkon getting the best of the poor situation around him on dime situations. Two things may cut into his PT this year- Robbie Green and Mark Barron.
Mark Barron- Probably the top signee for the secondary in 2007-8. He is a pure football player that can play coverage, tackle, and rush off corner. He is a natural strong safety who loves to move towards the action with his first step. He struggles with coverage schemes at times, but that is more about learning than skill. You can tell he has not been taught the ins and outs of being a DB in high school and that is probably more about him playing 4 positions or whatever the final count was. Because he did all those things, he is a hard nosed guy. Likes the contact and likes giving it. He just needs time and coaching to understand his role a little more because he hasn't been a safety very long.
Robby Green- Was kinda lost in the recruiting shuffle a bit, but has been a standout since enrolling with the staff. Green is a good cover guy, who can play on the island some and play in the zone. He is extremely smart and knows how to play to his strengths. He doesn't have a lot of wasted motion when he plays, he makes it look natural when he cuts, turns, adjusts to the play. He really isn't a bad tackler for his size and given he was a corner this time last year. He is smart and comes from a coach family so he has a lot of upside. I think he co-starts still with Barron and when they go nickle or dime he comes in to let Barron move more.
Robert Lester- Lester played with Julio Jones, and some will say that is why he was signed. I think he has a future at FS, but he has to bulk up substantially to play there. He has the raw talent to play D1, but he needs some bulking up and coaching to help him adjust to this level of play. He can see the play and has good closing speed to help in coverage, a must for a cover 2 type team, but he has troubles with the mechanics of playing the run and/or pass at times. His hips get stiff and he locks in instead of a more natural movement at times. As is, he's in danger of getting in that good but not as good as situation with both Barron and Green in his class.
Wes Neighbors- We all know his family, but they were all linemen. This is the first Neighbors that played a skill position. He has a good head for the game, and he seems like a real motor guy, but when you look at the roster, do you see him playing ahead of these guys? I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t bulk him up and try to move him to Sam like they did with Reamer.
Who is gone?
Rashad Johnson- He started out as a walkon running back and finished the starting FS for the defense and really was the leader. They will miss that part of his game, the physical parts they can cobble together in a group, but the leadership and heart isn't as easy.
Alonzo Lawrence- I think this is one of those where the staff would like a reset button and go elsewhere. Zo was extremely raw and not very football smart. He was fast and got by on that. He was too talkative when he should have been listening and learning. The staff's patience was worn out by spring and if you watch the A-Day again, count how many times someone had to yell at him and get him in position.
Who is new?
Dre Kirkpatrick- Dre is the highest rated player Bama signed in some services and others he was up there with Fluker and Richardson. He is the last of a dying breed of shut down corners. He is fast, physical, instinctive, and gets into the head of WR's at will. When you watch him on video, he looks effortless in his back pedal to stride. There are no flaws in his game mentally or physically. He gets beat because the pass is perfect, not because he bites or gets faked out. He actually can play zone coverage which is rare coming out of HS. He isn't afraid to tackle and for a corner tackles well. He could play FS down the road due to his tackle skills. I am dead serious, I cannot see any major work that needs to be done, I've hunted it and watched all star games trying to find something, he isn't perfect, but coming out of high school, he's well ahead of the curve. The only thing remote is if he moved to FS, he'd need to develop his body more, but I don't think they will move him there unless 2 or 3 corners are just plain better than him.
Rod Woodson- Woodson is a fan favorite because he loves to lay wood in the flat. Out of all the guys that Bama signed this year, he has the best motor of the group. His intensity is unmatched, but that also causes problems at times. He tends to over pursue when he gets worked up. Very strong, benches 315 squats 400, that's weight room warrior there. Will be a favorite on special teams for years to come because he has no fear flying into bigger players. Like all big hitting linebackers/safeties, he sometimes forgets to wrap up, and nothing pisses Saban off more than that. Has a good understanding of his position and uses the field to his advantage, takes great angles to the ball, and never gets offline to a play. When he pursues, he sometimes over pursues or doesn't wrap up, will have to get consistent with that in college. I think he probably plays special teams and the staff continue to work with him on rounding off the edges. I think if he can step in, Barron may move to Sam and give them more options with the speed and cover capacities of both on the field.
THE DEFENSIVE BACKS
The Good…
Experience
They replace RJ, and that is a big replacement to make, but they are very skilled and deep with tested players in Woodall, Johnson, Jackson and Arenas. Green and Barron have some PT as well.
Depth improvements
Adding Kirkpatrick along with last year's redshirts/special teamers gives this secondary probably its deepest rotation in several years. Saban is a big secondary man and wants a lot of playmakers and athletes there, so this trend probably continues for a while.
Shutdown capacities
When this crew is on its game, they can be very stingy and tight with yards and scores. The schedule is kind to them again with very few quality passing attacks on the roster outside of Ole Miss. Arkansas and LSU have the chance of being there too, but we won't know until Saturday or the next few, how good they are at QB.
The BadThe lost leader
The fact that the staff didn't get set with its RJ replacement is a sign of how things are. As good as Barron and Green can be, they aren't going to fill the gap and nobody else has yet either.
Lingering memories
The last image we had of the secondary was the surgical beatdown from Utah. They have a lot to prove as far as how they handle adversity and being one on one without a lot of help. They get a soft pass happy schedule, but that doesn't reward them in December and January unless they are playing teams like UGA and PSU.
The Ugly…
Not much to find.
What the experts think….
Athlon’s
Athlon’s ranks the DB unit 3rd in the conference listing just better players as their logic on that. They think Arenas is flashy and Jackson is cerebral. They mention that both had one INT, but nobody wanted to throw at Arenas.
Lindy's
They also rank them 3rd and cite the experience as well. They talk more about the competition to replace RJ more than the talent they have around them.
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