Where is a crazy early depth chart?

Airborne Tider

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Not a depth chart, but here's a glance at each position over the last two recruiting classes. Bolded players are Rivals100 prospects, and the underlined players are other four-stars. I maintain that QBs and OL (particularly OG) are the two positions where HS rating are less predictive of future success. Perhaps not coincidentally, these are the only two positions where we do not have a Rivals100 prospect.
QB: Alec Morris, Cooper Bateman, Parker McLeod
RB: TJ Yeldon, Kenyan Drake, Derrick Henry, Tyren Jones, Altee Tenpenny, Alvin Kamara
TE: Kurt Freitag, OJ Howard
OT: Brandon Hill, Grant Hill, Brandon Greene, Alphonse Taylor
OG: Cole Mazza, Caleb Gulledge
WR: Chris Black, Cyrus Jones, ArDarius Stewart, Amari Cooper, Raheem Falkins, Robert Foster, and Eddie Jackson

DE: Jonathan Allen, Dee Liner, Tim Williams
NT/DT: Dakota Ball, Korren Kirven, Darren Lake, Dalvin Tomlinson, Darius Paige, and A'Shawn Robinson
OLB: Ryan Anderson, Denzell Devall, Tyler Hayes, Walker Jones
ILB: Dillon Lee, Reggie Ragland, and Reuben Foster
CB: Anthony Averett, Travell Dixon, Geno Smith, Jonathan Cook, and Maurice Smith
S: Eddie Williams and Landon Collins
Good breakdown. One minor adjustment though, Eddie Jackson will be a corner.
 

B1GTide

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Apr 13, 2012
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I think you will see Howard on the field as he offers such a huge size mismatch. If he doesn't prove out as a blocking TE, you convert him to receiver. Think Eifert, but with real speed.
 

KrAzY3

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It's going to be really, REALLY hard to keep OJ Howard off the field. TE's with his skill set come around about once a decade.

Howard is the first 5-star TE since Kyle Rudolph in 2008, and the highest rated TE since Martellus Bennett in 2005. He's a special player.
I'm probably most excited about OJ Howard. I think that if AJ is healthy and the line protects him, he could throw for 3500+ yards/ 35+ TDs. Last year Alabama lost several WRs, their third down back, and he still put up exceptional numbers. I think Howard opens up things and if AJ shows some progression it could be a remarkable season.

I think some guys you just know will have an impact, Trent and Cody are two that come to mind for me, and I think Howard is in that class. If you go with the comparisons to Rundolph and Bennett, you see two solid NFL players.

As a freshman, Bennett caught 18 passes for 162 yards and 3 TDs. Before leaving after his third year, he has 587 yards and 4 TDs his final season, quite hefty production from the position. Rudolf had 29 catches for 340 yards and 2 TDs his first year. He also left after three years, and had steady production (28/328/3 his final year).

By contrast, Smelley (who just isn't as big as the rest of these guys) had a fantastic senior season (34/356/4) but up until then hadn't broken the 100 yard mark, or scored a touchdown. Michael Williams had his top year his senior year, and broke the 100 yard mark three years in a row, but his 24/183/4 could be improved on.

I think there's a lot of reason to believe that Howard can pick up where Michael Williams left off, at as true freshman, and it's not at all unrealistic to think that we'll see production more along the lines of Rudolf his first season, or Smelley his final season. His upside, even if he leaves after three seasons is still someone that could catch 40+ passes and have 500+ yards. He's a special player and could give remarkable production out of his position.
 

GreatDanish

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Good breakdown. One minor adjustment though, Eddie Jackson will be a corner.
Thanks. I've missed a lot of the discussion on the individual recruits, so I am sure some of the players will end up at different positions than I have listed. For example, I hear Derrick Henry is going to be .... nevermind. I won't even make the joke.
 

colbysullivan

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I'm probably most excited about OJ Howard. I think that if AJ is healthy and the line protects him, he could throw for 3500+ yards/ 35+ TDs. Last year Alabama lost several WRs, their third down back, and he still put up exceptional numbers. I think Howard opens up things and if AJ shows some progression it could be a remarkable season.

I think some guys you just know will have an impact, Trent and Cody are two that come to mind for me, and I think Howard is in that class. If you go with the comparisons to Rundolph and Bennett, you see two solid NFL players.

As a freshman, Bennett caught 18 passes for 162 yards and 3 TDs. Before leaving after his third year, he has 587 yards and 4 TDs his final season, quite hefty production from the position. Rudolf had 29 catches for 340 yards and 2 TDs his first year. He also left after three years, and had steady production (28/328/3 his final year).

By contrast, Smelley (who just isn't as big as the rest of these guys) had a fantastic senior season (34/356/4) but up until then hadn't broken the 100 yard mark, or scored a touchdown. Michael Williams had his top year his senior year, and broke the 100 yard mark three years in a row, but his 24/183/4 could be improved on.

I think there's a lot of reason to believe that Howard can pick up where Michael Williams left off, at as true freshman, and it's not at all unrealistic to think that we'll see production more along the lines of Rudolf his first season, or Smelley his final season. His upside, even if he leaves after three seasons is still someone that could catch 40+ passes and have 500+ yards. He's a special player and could give remarkable production out of his position.
Great post. I was really upset when Smelley's eligibility was gone. He was one of those guys that didn't always show up on the stat sheet, but usually had a big impact. I remember in 2011 against the Barn, he had 6 catches in the first half....all were for 1st downs including one TD. I think Howard has the chance to have that kind of impact but also light up the stat sheet. He's gonna be special.
 

rgw

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The big thing with Howard is that we've had a very conducive offense to TE success but, for whatever reason, missed out on the elite talents at TE. It is a hard position to recruit though because the numbers are usually thin at the position out of high school. So many TE body-types play WR these days with spread offenses. Sometimes we've just not had a strong recruiting presence in a region with a strong TE prospect.

We finally caught an elite TE prospect in our backyard and that is a very good thing. The way we run and often pass off the play fake, the TE is a deadly weapon in the offense. We have a guy like Gresham, Hernandez, Gronkowski, or Rudolph now. I'd love for him to be ready to go this year because we have the tailback-quarterback combination to make his opportunities come easy.
 

RTR91

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OJ's biggest threat will be his ability to play WR. Bama flanked Williams and Smelley out as WRs at different times. Neither one has the WR ability OJ has.
 

bamafaninOhiO

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It's going to be really, REALLY hard to keep OJ Howard off the field. TE's with his skill set come around about once a decade.

Howard is the first 5-star TE since Kyle Rudolph in 2008, and the highest rated TE since Martellus Bennett in 2005. He's a special player.

Yeah, he's the one player in this years class that has skills another player on campus may not already have....at that position, at least.

Gonna be hard to see him not get some PT, especially with arriving early. He's my early pick to be this classes TJ or Amari.
 

bamafaninOhiO

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I'll just concern myself with the incoming players:

QB: nobody will be playing barring injury. Considering the bad luck of returning senior star QBs lately, lets keep our fingers crossed.

Tailback: Henry and T. Jones have the best shot for legitimate snaps. I think Henry is the next great stud freshman we seem to get every year. Kamara has a shot to forgo the redshirt because he could be a returner.

H-B/TE: Howard has a path to playing time but he must learn how to block at this level. Blocking has kept many a good receiving H-back types off the field here. Smelley was probably underutilized during his eligibility given his receiving ability but he was well behind Dial as a blocker and rarely saw the field until his Senior year. I think Fowler will see a lot of time as a FB/H-B if he's healthy...but the staff would love to have Howard develop into starting material by mid-season.

WR: Robert Foster has the best chance to play in our small WR class. He's an electric returner, so he could see the field there and be a rotational guy with a chance to pass veterans with exceptional practice and play.

OL: Leon Brown and Brandon Hill arrived early. Each will be in a battle to win the RT position. I think the plan is clearly to start the JUCO Leon Brown.

DL: Jonathan Allen, Dee Liner, and A'Shawn Robinson all have chances to play. I think they signal a growing desire to build a true even front DL to compliment our bigger weak-side DEs and nose tackles in odd front alignments. Allen is big enough to play a traditional 4-3 WDE type position but he'll probably play Jack LB in regular defense. Robinson probably has the best chance to make an impact but Allen and Liner could be rotational guys with some situational roles in their freshman year. Don't underestimate Robinson, that was a big flip late in the process.

LB: Reuben Foster will likely be much like Ragland this year. There is a minor logjam at ILB between DePriest, Mosley, and Ragland. Reuben Foster will be an impact special teamer in coverage, so much like Robert Foster...he has the opportunity to be a freely available freshman with no concerns about "wasting the redshirt" to the staff. He can earn meaningful defensive PT with good performance. Another thing to consider is that he might be considered an OLB by the staff. Devall was recruited as an ILB but nearly immediately found a home at OLB. Reuben is an absolute missile with a good deal of quickness for a guy considered to be an ILB. That is something to consider. Of course between Dickson, Hubbard, and Devall the OLB depth is just as mucuh of a logjam. I guess the point is that he provides some positional flexibility because of his skills.

DB: We're exceptionally deep at CB and S on paper. We need a veteran to step up as a 3rd corner but we're pretty adverse to playing true freshman at corner in normal game situations. Special teams gunner duties is the path to playing time for most of these signees.



Also, Cole Mazza the long snapper recruit is a favorite to start next year since Carson Tinker declined to use his last year of eligibility.

Good analysis overall, but I'd ahve to add that the plan for Leon Brown is to give him every opportunity to EARN the starting job...we have had JUCOs that just didnt cut it, at least in the first season.
 

rgw

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You certainly right, everything is earned here which is why we win championships. Nobody is elected to a position. We've really only had one JUCO that flopped: Travell Dixon. Everybody else was at least serviceable in year one (Belue and Menzie), most were impact players (Cody, Carpenter, J. Williams).
 

Tiderollin32

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Mar 12, 2012
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2013 Depth Chart

Now that NSD is in the books I thought I would take a crack at the starting lineup as well as the 3 deep roster at each position. Players highlighted in bold in my opinion will or should redshirt. Some players were added at multiple positions because of not knowing where they will start and finish their careers. I would like to know your thoughts as well as your input on where players will play and if they will play their 1st year as a freshman. This is just my opinion not right or wrong. P.S. Don't tell Coach Saban I did this. :wink:
Total Redshirts = 15
Total players from 2013 class that will play year one = 11
Offense
QB:
Starter- R.S. Senior A.J. McCarron
Backups- R.S. Freshman Alec Morris/R.S. Junior Blake Sims
3rd string- R.S. Sophomore Phillip Ely/Freshman EE Cooper Bateman
4th string- Freshman EE Luke Del Rio/ Freshman EE Parker McCleod
RB:
Starter- Sophomore T.J. Yeldon
Backups- Sophomore Kenyon Drake/Freshman EE Derrick Henry/Freshman Altee Tenpenny
3rd string- Freshman Tyren Jones/R.S. Sophomore Dee Hart/Freshman Alvin Kamara
WR:
Starter-R.S. Senior Kevin Norwood
Backups- R.S. Junior Deandrew White/ R.S. Sophomore Marvin Shinn
3rd string- Freshman EE Raheem Falkins/R.S. Sophomore Danny Woodson Jr.
WR: Slot
Starter- Junior Christion Jones
Backups- Sophomore Cyrus Jones/R.S. Freshman Chris Black
3rd string- Freshman Alvin Kamara/Freshman Ardarius Stewart
WR:
Starter- Sophomore Amari Cooper
Backups- R.S. Senior Kenny Bell/Freshman Robert Foster
TE:
Starter: R.S. Junior Brian Vogler
Backups: Freshman EE OJ Howard/R.S. Sophomore Malcolm Faciane
3rd string- R.S. Freshman Kurt Freitag
H-Back:
Starter: Senior Jalston Fowler
Backups: R.S. Sophomore Brent Calloway/R.S. Junior Harrison Jones
3rd string: R.S. Freshman Cory McCarron
LT:
Starter- Junior Cyrus Kouandjio
Backups- R.S. Senior Kellen Williams/ R.S. Freshman Brandan Greene
LG:
Starter: R.S. Junior Arie Kouandjio
Backups- R.S. Freshman Alphonse Taylor
3rd string- R.S. Sophomore Issac Luatua
Center:
Starter: R.S. Sophomore Ryan Kelly
Backups- R.S. Junior Chad Lindsey
3rd string- R.S. Sophomore Issac Luatua
RG:
Starter- R.S. Senior Anthony Steen
Backup- Freshman Grant Hill
3rd string- R.S. Freshman Caleb Gulledge
RT:
Starter- Junior EE Leon Brown
Backup- R.S. Junior Austin Shepard
3rd string- Sophomore EE Brandon Hill
Defense
WDE:
Starter- Junior Jeoffrey Pagan
Backup- R.S. Sophomore D.J. Pettway
3rd string- R.S. Freshman Davlin Tomlinson
4th string- R.S. Senior William Ming
SDE:
Starter- R.S. Senior Ed Stinson
Backup- R.S. Sophomore LaMichael Fanning/R.S. Freshman Kirren Korven
3rd string- Freshman Dee Liner
4th string- R.S. Senior Chris Bonds
NT:
Starter- R.S. Junior Brandon Ivory
Backup- Sophomore Darren Lake/Freshman A-Shawn Robinson
3rd sting- R.S. Freshman Dakota Ball/R.S. Freshman Kirren Korven
4th String- Freshman Darius Paige/ R.S. Sophomore Wilson Love
Jack LB:
Starter- Junior Xzavier Dickson
Backup- Sophomore Denzall Devall
3rd string- R.S. Freshman Ryan Anderson/ Freshman Johnathan Allen
4th string- R.S. Junior Anthony Orr/ Freshman Tim Williams
Mike LB:
Starter- Junior Trey Depriest
Backup- Sophomore Reggie Ragland
3rd string- Freshman Rueben Foster
4th string- Freshman Tim Williams
Will LB:
Starter- Senior C.J. Mosley
Backup- R.S. Senior Tana Patrick
3rd string- Sophomore Tyler Hayes
4th string-- Freshman Walker Jones
Sam LB:
Starter- R.S. Junior Adrian Hubbard
Backup- R.S. Senior Johnathan Atchison
3rd string- Sophomore Dillon Lee
 
CB:
Starter- Senior Deion Belue/Senior John Fulton/Sophomore Geno Smith
Backup- R.S. Sophomore Bradley Sylve/Freshman Maurice Smith
3rd string- R.S. Junior Caleb Castille
4th string- Freshman Anthony Averett
CB:
Starter- Senior Deion Belue/Senior John Fulton/Sophomore Geno Smith
Backup- R.S. Sophomore Jabriel Washington
3rd string- R.S. Senior Ranzel Watkins/Freshman Eddie Jackson
4th string- Freshman Johnathan Cook
FS:
Starter- Sophomore Landon Collins
Backup- Senior Nick Perry
3rd string- R.S. Freshman Eddie Williams
4th string- Freshman Anthony Averett
SS:
Starter- Junior Haha Clinton Dix
Backup- Junior Vinnie Sunseri
3rd string- Senior Jarrick Williams
4th string- Walkon Jai Miller
Kickoff K:
Starter- Senior Cade Foster
Backup- R.S. Freshman Adam Griffith
PK:
Starter- R.S. Freshman Adam Griffith
Backup- Senior Cade Foster
Punter:
Starter- Senior Cody Mandell
Backup- R.S. Junior Wilson Whorton
LS:
Starter- Freshman Cole Mazza
Backup- R.S. Senior M.K. Taylor
Kick Returner:
Starters- Junior Christion Jones/Sophomore Cyrus Jones
Backups- R.S. Freshman Chris Black/ Freshman Robert Foster
Punt Returner:
Starter- Junior Christion Jones
Backup- Sophomore Cyrus Jones
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Bama Bird

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Re: 2013 Depth Chart

I think at least one, if not more, of the freshman RBs (out of Tenpenny, Henry, and Kamara) will redshirt. Jalston Fowler will be the backup to Yeldon followed by a freshman, Hart, and Drake.

It'll be interesting on the D Line. For some reason, I could see Dee Liner end up starting, and Robinson will be in the competition to start
 

WMack4Bama

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Nov 7, 2008
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Barring injury or some other off the field nonsense, Jonathan Allen will MOST DEFINITELY be on the field next year. I've watched a LOT of highlight footage, and it's always hard to gauge how a young man will play at the next level if he's so much better than his competition. But to say I'm impressed with Allen is saying water is wet. Kid is INCREDIBLY impressive and since the quick twitch player is what Coach Saban wants....yeah....Allen will terrorize the SEC. I know it's blasphemy to compare to some of our legends, but take a gander and judge for yourself.

 

CrimsonSEC

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He's lucky he didn't get arrested for a couple of those QB mauling s. Definitely cut out of the same cloth as Clowney.
 

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