I haven't seen it posted yet, but according to BOL, JUCO OL James Carpenter received an Alabama offer and now has the Tide as his leader. A decision could come in a couple of weeks.
Yeah, I really don't know what to make of that one, honestly.
Most have Carpenter pegged as a guard, but why do we need a JUCO guard? Perhaps you can say that it's because Boswell, Love, and Jones have all ended up at tackle, but if all of those guys are staying there, then what is the insistence on signing so many tackles in this class? It just seems like that would create a very big logjam at tackle while neglecting the guard position.
Moreover, I'm not sure that I see any major issues right now at guard. We do lose Marlon Davis after this season, but Mike Johnson and David Ross -- the top back-up at guard -- return for the 2009 season. Perhaps the staff really just doesn't think that Ross and the back-up guards can get the job done right now? You have to imagine that we would be going after this kid to start... it's hard to see CNS offering a scholarship to a JUCO guard considering how little of a rotation you have on the offensive line. Perhaps CNS and company are really concerned about having to depend on Ross or someone else to start at guard next year... in all fairness we really have no proven commodity there to replace Davis.
On the other hand, perhaps Saban and company just feel that Carpenter is
that good of a prospect? That may or may not be the case, but I do feel it is something that should at least be mentioned as a possibility.
Anyway, one way or the other, I just really don't know what to make of this situation with Carpenter. We'll just have to see how it shakes out in the coming weeks, but right now it gives me more questions than it does answers.