JessN: 2014 Previews: Rating the Units

JessN

Administrator & Editor-in-Chief
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Oct 13, 1999
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2014 Previews: Rating the Units
by Jess Nicholas
TideFans Editor-In-Chief
July 26th, 2014 07:17 PM

While college football might be a numbers game to some, putting objective numbers down to predict a team’s chances in the upcoming season can be a challenge – some say impossible. . The system we present to you tries to do the impossible. What follows is a ranking […]

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Gr8hope

All-American
Nov 10, 2010
3,408
1
60
Nice. Thanks Jess.
I would add the rankings for coaching in the overall category. Then I like our chances even more.
 

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
20,932
15,935
282
Boone, NC
Thing that sticks out the most is that we not only rate last in special teams in the west, but last in the whole league.

If that proves true, there's no way we win the SECW much less the first playoff.
 

JessN

Administrator & Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Oct 13, 1999
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Thing that sticks out the most is that we not only rate last in special teams in the west, but last in the whole league.

If that proves true, there's no way we win the SECW much less the first playoff.
UA wasn't that far off in 2011. Foster was the long kicker (LSU game, anyone?), Shelley sort of put it together as the season went along and Mandell was decent but not a weapon yet. Alabama had good return and coverage personnel due to the athleticism. Here's hoping Griffith follows Shelley's path and Scott or Morris can come through at punter.
 

JDCrimson

Hall of Fame
Feb 12, 2006
5,346
4,417
187
51
I think this is a pretty good ranking of the position groups. The only quibble I have is I think that Mizzou's QB is better than UT's. I'm sure you are looking at overall depth. But UT's QB play was a disaster last year. I think that Maul kid will be pretty good.
 

Matt0424

All-American
Jan 16, 2010
3,909
0
55
Hoover, Al
Does UGA really have the best secondary? They weren't good last year, imo, and lost guys in the off season if I'm thinking correctly.
 

tide96

All-SEC
Oct 4, 2005
1,616
32
72
46
Bama dead last in special teams seems crazy with Christion Jones returning kicks.
 

dvldog

Hall of Fame
Sep 20, 2005
6,569
346
107
72
Virginia
Thing that sticks out the most is that we not only rate last in special teams in the west, but last in the whole league.

If that proves true, there's no way we win the SECW much less the first playoff.
Probably due to our history of poor field goal attempt coverage. :)
 

gohogs14

Suspended
Jan 27, 2012
19
0
10
If the same holds true this year, Arkansas will be facing either Missouri or Tennessee in Atlanta at season’s end.
:cool2:

Lol the rankings look good though. I would have expected our defensive line to be higher than our DBs with Trey Flowers and Philon anchoring it but that just speaks to the depth that the SEC has at DL
 

James Eagle

1st Team
Aug 9, 2011
369
1
42
North Georgia
Very interesting Jess!

Bama's kicking game concerns me greatly and I'm talking about punting not place kicking. I guess if we score every time we get the ball neither will be a problem.
 

DrollTide

All-SEC
Oct 18, 2008
1,608
846
137
Hunts Patch
It looks like Jess ranks experience and proven performance above fresh raw talent. This is reasonable. It somewhat explains the unimpressive OL ranking, which only adds to the QB question mark. I understand the DB ranking although I might have guessed LBs would place higher.

Special teams got severely punished, because the kickers are unknown quantities. However, the coverage and return teams seem pretty good. I expect UA to beat that in-the-cellar ranking.
 

JessN

Administrator & Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
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I think this is a pretty good ranking of the position groups. The only quibble I have is I think that Mizzou's QB is better than UT's. I'm sure you are looking at overall depth. But UT's QB play was a disaster last year. I think that Maul kid will be pretty good.
It is a depth thing. Mauk almost was my SEC 3rd-team pick. UT has superior depth, which is why I went that way. It's pretty close.
 

TRU

All-SEC
Oct 3, 2000
1,466
192
187
Tampa, FL
I understand that our up and coming kicker got a severe case of PTSD from what happened at the end of the Iron Bowl and apparently is completely psyched out at this point. But how did the Tide end up without any punter whatsoever? Who is responsible for coaching special teams now? There is no special teams coach listed on the staff directory.
 

Al A Bama

Hall of Fame
Jun 24, 2011
6,658
934
132
I hope our punter, field goal kicker, and kick off kicker come through big time! I want to see 90% of the kick offs end up beyond the end zone!

Added to that, I hope our QB and OL do the same.
 

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