Time to do a little pre-season thinking with A-Day a week or so away and with that,the NCAA finals, the draft, baseball, and more to cover, it is a nice time to be a sports fan....
Spring is sprung and if talent were flowers, Bama has a friggin 3 mile garden....
The stats of scrimmages don't mean much when it is the Saban way. In the past, probably did a little more, but with Saban being more about situations and using the spring to test and tweak things before summer and serious drill time comes, it won't mean a lot to me if someone rushes for this or passes for that.
So what does catch my eye or ear? I like hearing the staff talk about the depth. I like hearing that there is serious competition at a lot of positions and some of them are with existing starters. That I like because a bland spring with no competition is really almost wasted practices. I like seeing the depth chart with players that are versatile and could start elsewhere. Guys like McCullough and Boswell who can play a lot of positions and could start about anywhere else, but they push the starters and if the starters fail, they will pick up the slack. I know Steen gets a lot of hype, and I hope to see a much better player than what I saw last year, and with a new voice and style, maybe that is gonna happen. Players like Aaron Douglas can bring experience and an edge....as long as that edge leaves rapping to Jay Z.....
I like seeing and hearing that Hightower looks like 2009 Donta again. I like knowing that CJ and Nico are starting to get their roles down better. CJ especially. This is a big year for him, and for Upshaw. Courtney has the ability to control a game, we have witnessed that, but this is a bigger season because he needs to show the NFL that he can put together a full season. I hope to see him take that challenge on and Bama will benefit from that. This is a big year for Richardson. Trent has the chance to be THE guy. He now has 13 or 14 games to show off and get the 20 carries a game he hasn't always gotten before. Last season, with Ingram out, he looked good with more touches and he played better later in the game than he did at the start. This is a big year for DJ Fluker because he now has a year under his belt, and he should be a lot more comfortable in his role and how to play at this level.
The spring is always a good time to get your rough edges smoothed and enter the summer ready to make that next level jump.
Ten things that I want to look at/see this A-Day
Like I said, I don't care about the stats or scores of the scrimmages or A-Day. There are a few things that I want to see or know:
1. When it comes to the QB battle, who looks more comfortable leading the 1s?
They aren't going to name a leader or a starter after A-Day. I would be surprised if they even name one before game week to be honest. I don't see a great gap between the two candidates and haven't read or heard anything that tells me there is a real leader in the race. So, all the message board politicking and hype for either is just fodder and fun, but there will be something to listen for when Saban talks and there will be something for each of us to look for. I want to see the guy who handles things best. I don't care who throws the TD pass because it is true, for a good Offensive play, a bad Defensive play happens. I do care about the whole game and how both look when leading the 1s. I wanna see what happens if one gets stuck on the 2s and how they handle that job. AJ sulked a bit as a freshman about those moments, and I hope to see that he's matured and taken a huddle leader role. I wanna see if Sims can take the opportunity and show the skills and poise he did as a HS Senior. It will at least be worth watching.
2. How tough is the Offensive Line now?
I know some of you out there will balk and complain saying that they are tough....blah blah blah.... Being tough has merit, and playing line is a tough thing, I get that. However, playing tough is a different thing and often times in 2010, I didn't see the Tide's OL play tough. Will this OL be able to put some of the past bad habits in the past and start to establish itself so that it is as important a weapon as the 2009 line was when called on.
One of the big disappointments from last year was the drop from the ground and pound, take teams out of the game line in 09 and the flop and plop, can't get 2 yards when it needed it version that came around 3 times last year. I hope that Vlachos is healthy because when I re-watched last year's games, he wasn't near the player he was the year before- both physically and condition wise. Carpenter has graduated, and I wish the guy at the Senior Bowl showed up for a game in 2010, but in his place will be a host of contenders. At this moment, looks like Alfred has taken the lead on Aaron Douglas with Cyrus hoping to get in and make a case in the summer. I like McCullough, you can read past years to know that, but I think Douglas once he gets the speed and style down, is still the go to guy. One thing that is very interesting is that Chance Warmack is being pushed hard and rightfully so. With Arie K, Steen, Boswell, among others, pushing him, that's good for Chance and good for the line. Chance is great when he gets his hands on someone, it is just a matter of that happening. If someone is gonna beat him out, they just need to play centered and be able to pull on a counter a few times, and if they can do that, they can beat him.
3. Can the Defensive line find the streak?
Let's be honest. Bo Davis lost his voice and the line lost that mean streak. It is easy to look good when you have great players, but it means more if you do it when you are working with good players but not great players. This year, Bama has more depth, and a few new faces to try out. The latest word is that the down 3 are Square, Chapman, and Williams. That isn't a surprise really, but Williams at DE is a bit of one. I thought they would move Chapman over, but he's taken that same challenge that Warmack has and stepped his game up. This is good news because for the depth and talent at LB, they need 3 guys to take those tough gap assignments and let them do their thing. I think with Square back to his pre injury form, and Hightower there too, there is a lot of good things to expect from the front 7.
The offensive line was bad at times, but the front 3 or 4 was bad a lot more down the stretch. There are some who will quip a stat line. Let me stop you now, because stat lines are shit. I know two things, there are 3 losses, especially Auburn, where the front didn't make the push or the play when they needed to. There were even games where the team won, but they faded down the stretch or in the case of Arkansas, took a half to show up. I wanna see them step it up and from scrimmage one to A-Day, I wanna read how the D line is ahead of the O line, because that is usually the way it is and needs to be.
4. Can a punter kick the damn ball?
Mary Katherine Mother of Kate, I absolutely hate poor special teams. It is 3 leg of winning football. You run the ball, you play defense, and you play solid special teams. That's all. And when you have a kink in one of those 3, that sucks. Last year, there were great punts, and there were iffy punts, and there were some that I am surprised that Coach Saban didn't shove his foot up a punter or coach's ass. The lack of a solid kicking/punting bothers me because there are some games that they could be the difference.
5. Can the secondary grow up and be a lockdown group?
You can talk about the whole 5 stars, 4 stars and the hype and potential, but for all the issues the front had/have, the secondary contributed its share of mistakes during games too. Kirkpatrick doesn't look like he is going to be challenged, but Millner will be. Fulton and Menzie aren't slouches by any means. Fulton is probably the best compliment to DK as far as lock down guys. Menzie is experienced and played better than I expected with a rehabbed Achilles. He just didn't have the stamina to keep the starter role. Millner reminds me a lot of Green at the same stage. Good player, but a bit of a tweener. Millner was a guy that some projected to play safety. I can see why after watching him last year. He is better at tackling and playing straight than playing in space or having to cut and chase a faster player. That is kinda the Robbie Green story after his freshman year. They move him to safety to compliment Woodall and Barron, and it is magic. With Green probably done, he could be that same player who is the Star, the Money, or FS that they missed last year. Also, at some point, Williams and Perry have to practice or their spots may fall down the roster. They've missed a great opportunity due to injuries, but both were injured most of last year too if memory serves right.
They need to find a 6 man group that can be the closers for the front 5 (4 down and 1 LB). They have a variety of options but none that looked solid together. I hope to see a 6 man set of DK and Menzie or Fulton at corner, Millner or Menzie at Star, and Barron, Lester and Millner/Menzie/Dix in the back. When Bama has a great dime unit, they are hard to play. When they don't, they are too slow for some of the top end offenses in the SEC.
6. Will the post-Julio era hurt as bad as it feels like it will?
Don't bother with stats. After the first scrimmage, last year, there was about 500 yards passing. Why? Cause they called about 55 pass plays. Not that impressive, especially when Jones had 150 of them. What Jones did is provide a two headed weapon. He could take the game on his shoulders when he wanted to and he could be the greatest decoy for Maze and Hanks when he was asked to. They don't have that today. They have names and hype, but no substance. That's a problem.
Maze and Hanks will lead the charge, but they need compliments because they neither one are top tier WRs, they are role players who do a hell of a job in those roles. Bell is fast, but I wanna see him go over the middle and take a hit for once. Gibson is the Georgia Bulldog of the group. Next year is his year every year. Well this is it, step up. White and Malone are young and will get some chances, but I am not thrilled that they aren't taking that step and beating those mentioned already. That is what they were signed to do. Norwood is Darius Hanks, he blocks, he catches, and he can make a mistake turn into 6 when it happens, but he isn't flashy. He also doesn't compliment the starting 2, and that is a common issue with all of the ones on the campus is that they are all small speedsters at 6' or under and don't give a sideline or corner of the endzone the same threat a 6-5 player can. Michael Bowman is still the same player he was when he started, just thicker. He will make a great catch, but will miss a route as well. It isn't a make or break year for MB, but it would be great to see the light come on here. Carter comes in the fall with a lot of promise that is probably a little over stated. He is a good player, but he isn't Julio Jones. The great thing about a JC WR is that they know the basic play book already, and know how to practice (should). He will get a chance to show his stuff and earn a starting job. There intails the ah ha moment for the WR core too. They take another WR from JuCo with 9 on campus and 3 or 4 more in the fall, doesn't sound like they have the fit they thought they should have doesn't it???
7. The joy of seeing DePriest and others for the first time.
I liked what I saw of him in High School, so seeing him against his peers will be a nice thing too to see where he is at, and how much growth he needs to do. Same for Carswell and Dee Hart. Both, like Trey, are competing in deeper roster spots and have little to no chance of serious PT outside of special teams, but the spring is a chance to see what 2013 can be. Getting to see if Jesse Williams is the beast that so many proclaimed his is or is he just a really good big player? Seeing him as well as Dial and Douglas come in this spring and compete will be fun and should tell us a lot about the existing players and the new JUCOs as well and what level of excitement we should have for this year and beyond.
Remember- we all thought that this past team was the shiznit and couldn't be beaten.
8. Can the staff get over their own issues and become the finishers again?
The talk is great, and I am glad to hear them talk about how they let up on Auburn and such, but I wanna see some walk on that talk. I wanna see them scrimmage and play to finish, not observe and protect. With so many new coaches on board and Saban screaming it all day, it has to sink in and become culture again. If there is one thing from the Auburn loss that was kinda good, it is that it woke Saban up about how they managed the game on their side. The tight play calling, the lack of adjustments, and the predictability on both sides at times (see wildcat tamed, and oh look Bama sits in a zone, let's cherry pick) all culminated in a shocking loss to the rival. Two things shouldn't happen in the Process- first you never lose a 20 point lead after the half, and second you don't coach like you are playing Georgia State when you are playing Auburn. It will be interesting to see in the scrimmages and A Day if they are catching themselves when they let up on the throttle of the games.
9. Can Michael Williams and Co. bring the best of 09 with the best of 10?
Let's face it, Williams is like a 6th lineman out there most of the time and has never been able to showcase his catching ability. He is plenty athletic and can catch. He's not fast, but TEs who actually block usually aren't. He isn't going to be flashy, but he can be more than the tackles cha cha partner. Smelley's absence has been a good chance for Vogler and Jones to push for more consideration along with newest H Back convert Jalston Fowler. Neither Vogler or Jones make the ideal H Back, but they can be used as traditional TEs more and allow Bama to showcase the 2 TE power sets again. Fowler is probably better suited at H Back than tailback as there are plenty of bruisers back there that run faster. However, with Dial gone, and Smelley MIA, he's got a great chance to steal that from him. If he can catch at all and block at all, he's probably got Brad beaten. If those things happen, then maybe, just maybe, Williams can be allowed to be an offensive threat and not a hidden helper.
10. Will the real Jerrell Harris ever stand up?
He ain't got a choice now does he? He's the starting Sam in the spring, but like each of the last few years, he seems to wither in the summer drills and is lost in the shuffle and playing ST again by October. Physically, he's got the gifts. Mentally, he can't seem to ever cut the corner and progress beyond "I like hitting things". There isn't a twist of fate or luck in the fact that a true freshman, a half injured sophomore, a former bust, and a slower but smarter linebacker beat him out over the years (that's CJ Mosely, Nico Johnson and his hernia, Chavis Williams, and Cory Reamer for those keeping score). All these things can be a positive if he actually tries to make those experiences pan out now. Sam is the least used position and that kinda says something in itself, but if he can make the most out of it and produce from it, he will at least finish better than he started. That is something 24 months ago, I didn't think he could do and he may not still, but this is that time for him and this is that season for him to get things turned around and be a real football player and not the fly around, build lore, and not do shit player he seems to wind up being each fall. The potential in him is there, we all see it, but he has gotta put that potential into reality or he will be a bust and need to rely on his education instead. This, again, is that season for Jerrell Harris, no more chances, no more next years, no more well you see what happened was or buts about it, this is it and he's gotta show he can play the game without the mistakes for once.
UConn wins it all.....and so ends my worst bracket ever!
Since I have been at the age of accountability, I don't think that I have ever missed all 4 final four teams. Parity has taken basketball over thanks to the NBA. I think Dick Vitale said it best, and I am paraphrasing, the reason these mid majors look so good against the traditional powers is that they have a roster full of 3 and 4 year players while most of the traditionals have 1st and 2nd year guys. He went on to say that the talent gap is not there when you put a 22 year old on a 18 year old that often. He's right. The reason the Dukes, UConns, Butlers, and VCU/George Masons seem to do better than Kentucky and others now is that they get more guys that go 4 years or 3 minimum. They get the bond and the chemistry that the talent rich teams don't typically have. In basketball, that will beat talent gaps 9 times out of 10.....as long as we are talking bout gaps not trenches.
I will say I wanted Butler to win and give the mid majors a forum to push for more recognition because the team that pistol whipped Bama in the Garden (pronounced Gahhden by Knick fans) was a mid major who deserved to get a bid just as much as Bama and Colorado did. I think it is better basketball to be honest when I see Butler play, wasn't tonight/yesterday but up until it was. I thought VCU looked well coached and played well beyond where they should have especially when 25 million people were crying foul that they made it at all. What I hope to see more of is real basketball and not this junk I see too much of in college and the pros. Defense, passing, pick and rolls, give and gos, etc are boring and all, but they win championships. Not 3s and dunks, sure they help, but when you can't buy a bucket outside, pound that SOB inside some more. I see that so many times when I watch the NCAA tournament now, teams go in thinking they live and die by 3 pointers and when they die it is like watching John Starks all over again in game 7 vs. the Rockets years ago. The game is getting sloppy because the coaching is getting sloppy up and down the org chart. I hope the VCU and Butler upsets will make folks take a look at how fundamentals and building a real team can pay off.
Tall Draft ahead
Alabama will have a good showing at this year's draft for sure. They will have 3 1st round picks this year and should have 5 overall taken. My gut instincts think:
Marcel Dareus- Top 5. Not anything earth shattering since all have had him there since the Rose Bowl, but I would say that using the 1st overall is good for Bama, but probably not best for Dareus right now either. I have always said that it isn't what pick you are, it is what team picks you that makes you in the NFL. Carolina and Buffalo aren't that great of a teams any more and it would serve Dareus well to slip down to Denver or Arizona or Cleveland or Tennessee. Given Marcel is a guy who likes the lights and the stage, I would think Denver would be a nice home for him with the 2nd pick.
Julio Jones- Top 10. The combine basically sealed the fact that he's a freak. He would work well in San Fran in the west coast. He would do well in Shanahan's offense at Washington. I don't think he will go ahead of AJ Green but for either, it is about the QB and the offense that will determine the final "Who is best" debate. It wouldn't hurt Julio's greater good to slide down to 14 with the Rams or 17 with the Patriots or 19 with the Giants. All have good QBs and a passing oriented offense that likes to vertical. I think the main thing for Jones and the final draft spot is what is important to the draft team- is it the potential that he has, or the resume he has that features the great with the good and the bad.
Mark Ingram- Late 1st Round. Ok, here's the thing, there is a lot of rumblings about Ingram's injuries and some teams who aren't that enamoured any more with taking a RB early are starting to cool on him. It isn't any thing to do with his physical measurements or his stats, but just the fear that taking him too early will cost them more than he is worth if he cannot handle the pounding for 5 or 6 years. I won't be shocked if he falls down in the 20s or out of the 1st round all together because teams just don't like taking RBs unless they are just that damn good. Ingram at 100% with no injuries was that good, but the dings and rumors of arthritis in the knee makes him not that sure bet. If the Dolphins pass on him, the Giants might take a look at him, the Eagles will be in a position to take him late and get defensive quality down the board, the Saints might, and the Patriots will have a hard time passing him at 28 if still there. The Dolphins will be the best home for him with the Wildcat and the 2 back system in place now, but the Dolphins have the Ronnie Brown injury bug taste in their mouth, and don't want it again.
James Carpenter- Had the Senior Bowl of his life. His draft depends on where teams see him. If they see him as a tackle, he may be out there for a while. If they see him as a guard, he probably is gone in the 4th round, maybe 3rd if a team is hungry for linemen. I think Carpenter needs to go to a team that can finish grooming him and working on his basic skills a little more and help him transition to guard if that is what they want him for. Asking him to start or compete for a starting job is probably not best for him today, but he has the size and want to, and that has gotten him this far. Rounding off the edges and teaching him a few things will improve him down the road.
Greg McElroy- Late 5 or 6th round. I think 2 things get him drafted. First, he's like a 2nd coach for the quarterbacks. He can read it, talk about it, and articulate a solid theory about plays and teams. Second, he is a leader and a winner and has enough skill sets to warrant a late pick. Letting him go to FA will not pan well for the 6 to 8 teams that would probably like him. He picks who he wants to play for, Dallas or Houston, as opposed to other alternatives. I wouldn't be surprised to see Jax take him and reunite him and Shula. Nor would it surprise me to see him at the Raiders, Packers, Patriots, or Chiefs. The mission for Greg isn't starting, but it is being the 3rd QB this fall. Then working to number 2 and taking that opportunity when the starter goes down. He's tough, and he has seen about every speed rusher and blitz package known to man. He's worth a pickup late for teams needing a little depth at QB.
Damn you dirty Braves!!!!
I admit it. I am that homer Braves fan that holds hope even now that they can find magic again and make a miracle run. Every year I believe, because deep down that boy holding a wooden bat and dreaming of being Dale Murphy still exists. The Braves are going to break my heart like they did each year for the last 20 minus one year. They have Uggla who has some pop and post season resume to him, but they have nothing around him. There is no power on this lineup and I can see another post season where they can't manufacture enough runs because the playoff pitching is too good. They don't have those big bats they need in that 2nd season. Chipper Jones of 8 years ago could, but this one can't. Heyward is a good hitter but he won't deliver 30 homers I don't think. Prado, nope. Gonzalez, probably not. Freeman hasn't hit the ball hardly yet. McClouth can't decide if he wants to slug it or bunt it. McCann's body won't be great at the end due to all the abuse he takes at the plate. I really hope they can pull a trade or something to find one good veteran bat to help push them in the playoffs because the Phils and Giants still have too much pitching for the Braves.
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