JessN: Tide wraps up another top-rated class

Thanks, Jess.
If Scarbrough lacks "elite speed" like Derrick Henry, that will still be good enough for me...

I think there is a realistic chance that at least four of these guys could be starting next season.

1. Cameron Robinson OL 6-6 325 5.3 10.0 West Monroe, La./West Monroe

Robinson was the top offensive lineman available in this class, and Alabama pulled him from under LSU’s nose. Robinson has enrolled in school already and will compete for the starting left tackle job in the spring. He’s a massively powerful lineman, more like Andre Smith than Cyrus Kouandjio for those looking for a comparison. His footwork and quickness are top-notch and if necessary, he has the skills to move inside. He is already in school, and will be with the team in the fall.

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Luginbill said yesterday he doesn't like making these type comparisons but said Cameron comes into Tuscaloosa similar to Smitty. He said Cameron has CyKo's size but has more refined fundamentals than CyKo (probably due to Cyrus and Arie starting their football careers late).

21. Ty Flournoy-Smith TE 6-3 245 4.7 9.7 Moultrie, Ga./Georgia Military

A tight end likely wasn’t on Alabama’s radar screen until Lane Kiffin joined the Bama staff. Alabama made a late move for Flournoy-Smith and secured his signature, which likely means an increased focus on using the tight end as a receiving option. Flournoy-Smith, a former Georgia Bulldog prior to running into off-field trouble, is considered a receiver first and a blocker second, although he is not a blocking liability. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining and will report to campus in the fall. He is expected to qualify.

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Seems like Kiffin wants to use F-S and OJ at the same time. If that is true, Bama's offense will have a nice versatility in 2014 and 2015. Neither are amazing blockers, but both seem to be good enough for Bama to have both on the field for passing purposes and run the ball the following play in the possible hurry-up offense.

25. Shaun Dion Hamilton LB 5-11 230 4.7 9.5 Montgomery/Carver

Hamilton is the only pure inside linebacker signed in this class, and as a result his chances at early playing time are quite good. He is big enough to plug the middle and plays with an aggressive streak. He fills the hole eagerly and should be an asset in run defense. He is enrolled in school already and will go through spring practice with the team.

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Jess, how is SDH the #25 player in this class? He was a top 10 ILB by 247, Rivals, and ESPN.

Seems like Kiffin wants to use F-S and OJ at the same time. If that is true, Bama's offense will have a nice versatility in 2014 and 2015. Neither are amazing blockers, but both seem to be good enough for Bama to have both on the field for passing purposes and run the ball the following play in the possible hurry-up offense.

I think we'd all like to see the TEs more involved in the passing game. They create mismatches. But we need to get consistant protection from the OL and the coaches have to trust that they can handle the pass rush without the TE's help.

tl;dr we are doing okay

I could be wrong but I get the feeling this is more of a developmental class because of the slant of commitments position-wise. Lots of DL, LBs, and OLs.

The JUCOs probably have the clearest path to major roles but Cam Robinson, Da'shawn Hand, Tony Brown, and Marlon Humphrey are great candidates among true freshmen.

rgw said:

I could be wrong but I get the feeling this is more of a developmental class because of the slant of commitments position-wise. Lots of DL, LBs, and OLs.

The JUCOs probably have the clearest path to major roles but Cam Robinson, Da'shawn Hand, Tony Brown, and Marlon Humphrey are great candidates among true freshmen.

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Wow! If this is a development class, then my goodness. What a good foundation!


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Glad to see that CNS picked up a punter/kicker. The kicker is usually the top scorer on the team and can make or break a game (see Van Tiffin and Philip Doyle, or conversely Leigh Tiffin and Cade Foster). Often, this position seems to be relegated to a walk on. It is nice to see some attention paid to what is IMHO, one of the more important positions on the team.

Great read, thanks for all the background info on them.


So if one of the new guys doesn't start at safety....then which current player will back up Collins next season?

Seems this class is showing a commitment to faster defensive linemen and faster rushers off the edge.

Hopefully this speed translates against the spread and HUNH teams!

the article says Hand runs a 4.6. that's as fast as Miller and Evans and he's got 55 pounds on them. Something tells me this guy will be on the field, if only as a package rusher like Allen was this year.

Also, despite all the talk about getting the smaller, faster DL we still got 3 300+ (one at 345) guys as interior lineman, so we're going to have plenty of heavy options available to us.

The defense is going to be nasty for years.

Some of the names just in our front 7: Robinson, Hand, Miller, Foster, Evans, Ragland, Lee...

TRU said:

Glad to see that CNS picked up a punter/kicker. The kicker is usually the top scorer on the team and can make or break a game (see Van Tiffin and Philip Doyle, or conversely Leigh Tiffin and Cade Foster). Often, this position seems to be relegated to a walk on. It is nice to see some attention paid to what is IMHO, one of the more important positions on the team.

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Duuuuude. leigh tiffin turned into a Groza finalist, and foster won 2 rings with us. can we Please give these guys a break?

cmmiller711 said:

Duuuuude. leigh tiffin turned into a Groza finalist, and foster won 2 rings with us. can we Please give these guys a break?

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The thing is we have paid plenty of attention to the position we just seemed to have swung and missed on prospects or they have failed to develop. It's not for a lack of recruiting kickers.

RollTide1224 said:

The thing is we have paid plenty of attention to the position we just seemed to have swung and missed on prospects or they have failed to develop. It's not for a lack of recruiting kickers.

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yeah but thats not Fosters fault. He was the best guy we had. No sense in killing him for our staff misevaluating kickers.

Linked wrong quote.

RollTide1224 said:

The thing is we have paid plenty of attention to the position we just seemed to have swung and missed on prospects or they have failed to develop. It's not for a lack of recruiting kickers.

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I think Foster missed only 2 other fg's the entire season. He wasnt/ isn't some scrub. He simply had one really bad game at the wrong time.

The development of kickers is tough for all schools based on limitations of staff size per NCAA rule. But, both Shelley and foster still got better each year for us; same with Mandell.

jps1983 said:

I think Foster missed only 2 other fg's the entire season. He wasnt/ isn't some scrub. He simply had one really bad game at the wrong time.

The development of kickers is tough for all schools based on limitations of staff size per NCAA rule. But, both Shelley and foster still got better each year for us; same with Mandell.

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only one missed FG before the IB, and it was over 40 yards. I still think there had to have been something wrong - a minor injury or something that he thought he could power through but obviously couldn't. Can't think of any other way he went from being pretty dang solid to what happened...