Alabama junior QB Greg McElroy - AP photo - Dave Martin - File
Here’s a preview of Alabama football in the 2009 college football season with what to look for and some key questions for the Crimson Tide.
Alabama Offense
-Greg McElroy will do a good job overall. I like him. He's smart, he's a leader, his teammates like him and he has confidence and swagger. I would be surprised if he makes a lot of big mistakes.
-McElroy will be more accurate throwing the deep ball than John Parker Wilson a year ago.
-Julio Jones should be a first team All-American at years end.
-Colin Peek, if he stays healthy, will be the second leading receiver in catches on the team.
-Peek will lead the SEC TEs in receptions and Top 10 in the nation.
-Mark Ingram will finish in the Top 3 in rushing in the SEC.
-Trent Richardson’s role will depend on how well he does. If he’s a game changer, he will get a lot of carries as a one-two punch with Ingram. Overall, I see an Ingram-in-’08-type of role for Trent.
-Barring injuries, the offensive line will be solid but not nearly as dominant as last year’s line
-Analysts either are forgetting or don’t know that both times Andre Smith didn’t play for Alabama, another starter went down with an injury, which compounded the problem. On top of that, there was shuffling of positions so they were weaker in three positions.
-If someone gets hurt this year I think it’s more likely that they leave everyone else in their spots and just fill the one position.
-Running Back is the deepest position on offense (Ingram, Roy Upchurch, Terry Grant & Richardson with possible but less likely contributions from Demetrius Goode, Eddie Lacy & Mike Marrow.)
-I think they would like to redshirt QB AJ McCarron but if McElroy goes down early and Star Jackson and/or Thomas Darrah are ineffective, I don’t think the staff would hesitate to put AJ in. He has advanced ability for his age.
-Marquis Maze and Kevin Norwood are the best candidates to make those explosive plays at WR opposite of Julio Jones that they really need.
-Alabama will throw to the running backs by design more this year, which will help the less experienced offensive line.
-They will attack the middle of the field more this season to offset the rolled coverages and double teams that Julio will see.
-The best help for the passing game is a dominant and effective running game. If Bama runs the ball as well as they did a year ago, look out.
Alabama Defense
-Defensive Line is the deepest position on defense (10 guys are capable of contributing and that doesn’t even include 4 more guys that can and should play with their hands down at JACK LB in passing situations and possibly more.)
-They may not even play their base 3-4 50% of the time. Nickle and Dime coverages with lots of variables and as Nick Saban says “multiples” to give teams many different looks. Spread teams will dictate that they are in those secondary heavy defenses more often.
-I think this defense will be even better than last year.
-This just might be the nation’s best defense.
-Terrence Cody won’t be on the “rabbit team” of smaller quicker players on 3rd down.
-Cody is still the key to making the base defense work. He has to clog up the middle and have better endurance to be as effective in the second half as he is in the fourth. That will make Bama better and keep offensive linemen off of Rolando McClain and Dont'a Hightower, so they can run free to the football.
-Dont’a Hightower will move around and will definitely play the JACK LB some and be great there also.
-The linebacker duo of Rolando McClain and Dont'a Hightower will be regarded, before the year is over, as the best linebacking duo in the nation. McClain will be great again. Hightower will be a star and get noticed more this season. These two will be punishing people and will be so much fun to watch. -Eryk Anders will be a terror rushing off the edge from the JACK LB spot.
-I've said this for months, I believe you will see two JACKs in the game together at times and maybe a lot as the two rush ends. Then sometimes you will see two big DTs in the middle and other times you may see two DEs playing the tackle spots.
-With the players developing and the improved depth of this unit, they have so much more versatility this season than a year ago.
-Mark Barron will be a force at either safety spot and in the MONEY position near the line of scrimmage.
-Javier Arenas will once again be the best cover CB on the team.
-Dre Kirkpatrick will play some in dime and maybe nickel situations. They have experienced and solid corners so they don’t need to rush him in. Barron was really highly recruited as well as a freshman last year but they didn’t throw too much on him. In fact, Saban felt like they may have even given him too much.
-Rashad Johnson’s communication and disguising of coverages on defense from last year's team will be missed. However, I think the improved versatility and “multiples” that the defense will give offenses. Numerous defenders will need to contribute with the communication. Justin Woodall, Robby Green, Barron, Arenas and Kareem Jackson will all need to know what everyone is supposed to do to recognize errors. As Nick Saban said recently, if we’re supposed to be in a “cover two” but we’re in a “cover three” instead, the coaches can be getting mad and throwing headsets but as long as everyone is playing the same defense, then it’s the right defense. Makes sense.
Alabama Special Teams
-You’re likely to see multiple kick returners deep alongside Javier Arenas including some freshmen, running backs and DBs.
-The most likely scenario is a blend of last year’s primary special teams players and some of the freshmen.
-The specialists, placekicker, holder, long snapper (Brian Selman) and punter are all experienced seniors. Can they be more consistent?
-PJ Fitzgerald has to get more distance in his punting and flip the field more.
-Leigh Tiffin has to get more consistent distance in his kickoffs even when directionally kicking.
-Will Tiffin convert in a game winning situation this year? He only opportunity at the end of a game came at LSU in 2008 where his short game-winning FG attempt was blocked. We all remember the Arkansas nightmare but he was not the full-time kicker and he was much younger. If the Tide needs a FG to escape with a win against a lesser opponent (Ken, SC, Tenn, MSU, Aub, Ark, etc.) will Tiffin come through in the clutch? It’s the SEC, that situation is bound to happen. Florida’s loss to Ole Miss last year qualifies in that category and was helped made possible by a missed extra point. The toughest conference in the land will bring dogfights from motivated teams regardless of record.
Alabama Coaches
-Will Nick Saban be able to keep the players focused with high outside expectations for the team from the start of the season and throughout the year if things go well? He said recently that he liked the team's focus and wasn't necessarily worried about that.
-I don’t think the defense will miss a beat with new coaches Sunseri/Willis replacing Steele/Thompson -How much will Offensive Coordinator Jim McElwain trust new QB Greg McElroy in the passing game?
-What will McElwain do to help a less experienced offensive line if they have trouble early?
Alabama Team
-Looks like many freshmen will have a tough time seeing significant playing time outside of special teams.
-It would expect at least half of the freshman class to redshirt, about 11 which would mean 11 would play. Barring injuries, I don’t think that many would play unless they wanted to get some offensive lineman work on extra points.
-I think it will be a three team regular season race during the season between Alabama, Florida and LSU with the Tigers the odd team out for the title game. I think Ole Miss and Georgia are below the top three. I think everyone loses at least once in the regular season.
-I give the Gators the edge in the SEC title game but it’s certainly not by much.
-I think Alabama finishes third in the polls (12-2) and should beat whoever they face more than likely in the Sugar Bowl. Bama should be a national title contender.
-All of this can be thrown out the window if the Alabama suffers injuries to its stars or starters at positions where there is not as much depth (McElroy, Mike Johnson, Drew Davis, Julio, Cody, Arenas, McClain, Hightower, Tiffin, Fitzgerald, etc.)
Thanks for reading my work. Please share these stories. I always appreciate a link on message boards, so the Bama fans can have quick access to this info. A digg on Digg.com or thumbs up on StumbleUpon is always appreciated. Be sure to sign-up for the e-mail alerts on my main page. Let me read your comments below or via email at vincef8@gmail.com.
Comments