Link: Who will emerge from this spring as Coker's top competition?

Cornwell has the most pure athletic talent, but we've seen that is not enough alone. I think a year or two under LK will be needed before he starts. That would mean we wouldn't see him on the field until he is already lethal. It could be a big reveal to those in the media that will be saying "now that Coker is gone who will the Tide use"

Our starting QB next year will be Blake Simms unless one of the others steps in and beats him out.
None of the others, to date, have ever accomplished anything at all on a collegiate football field while enrolled at Alabama.
So, that being said, I'm going to predict that Coker's biggest competition will be "all of the others" and himself and how good he turns out to be.
At this point, nobody really knows.
sip

glasscutter256 said:

http://alabama.247sports.com/Articl...-to-impress-before-Coker-comes-to-town-183276

I know we have discussed this topic to death, but I'm bored!

I know Blake Sims is leading the repetitions right now, but Cornwell seems like just a natural dropping back and throws a nice soft ball. You know the TE's are loving it. I wouldn't be surprised if Cornwell jumps ahead of Mcleod, Bateman, and Morris. By midseason, Cornwell might be the #2 guy like AJ was. I'm sure they will try to redshirt Cornwell. It will be interesting to see if Cornwell does rise up, who or how many QB's transfer for the fall.

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Cornwell has an incredibly bright future with us barring injury or something unforeseen. However, I just don't see him becoming the #2 qb in his true freshman year. The AJ situation in '09 was different because we really didn't have anyone else who could have been a competent back up had something happen to GMac. Our next best option behind AJ was Star Jackson, and he proved how good he really was when he couldn't even hold the starting job at Ga St.

With this years crowd of qb's, most of them should be at least competent even if you couldn't build a team around them. Sims has experience and should be able to manage the offense, plus he'll add the dual threat option when he's in to add another dimension to the offense. Morris was probably meant to be a starter for a smaller, mid-major type team, but he's been around long enough to know not to try to do to much and put the team in danger. I also still think Bateman is a very talented individual as well, he just seems like one of those who just hasn't put it together yet.

To put it bluntly, I hope Coker comes in and blows everyone away so much that he doesn't have any competition. If he is talented enough for that, we will be in excellent shape. I also hope that Cornwell can r/s this year and get that knee fully healed, add some muscle under coach Cochran, and learn Kiffin's playbook. If he does, I'd almost put money on him being a guaranteed starter by his sophomore year.

As a group, I think this is the most physically gifted we have been at the position since the 80's, maybe longer.

I just think it's cool that we've progressed enough as a program that we're even concerned who's going to play QB. We could enjoy moderate success just handing the ball to Henry, Drake, Yeldon, and Fowler if we had to. Shoot, if we had no one who knew the passing offense well enough, plus the talent to run it, we could put Blake Sims in with Drake, Henry, Yeldon, Fowler, etc and run that Mickey Mouse Malzhan style offense with much more talent and success than they did. Could you imagine a defense looking at Jalston Fowler leading Derrick Henry on a power sweep?

at just win, I was sorta worried that our offense might look like that this year until we got Jacob Coker, assuming he is going to do what everyone expects.

I do not see how anyone besides Blake is going to be the guy for right now. Remember, the next person on the depth chart transferred out, so Blake stands alone not only as the only one with real experience, but he's seem the field so much more than anyone else.

What are the options? Alec Morris got jumped on the depth chart by a true freshman, he'd have to make a huge leap forward to pass up Blake, who has been clearly ahead of him for a while now. McLeod really doesn't seem to be in the picture either. Bateman has the talent, but he's a redshirt freshman, that got off to a slow start. It would take a massive improvement for him as well. Cornwell? Yes, he's loaded with talent, but he was hurt last season and he's barely recovered. He has a lot of rust to shake off, he'd have to be crazy good to see the field as a true freshman, and there were indications prior to his injury that he still needed some development.

My take is that likely Blake will get meaningful snaps this season, with Coker as the starter. I expect Bateman, Morris, and McLeod to fight things out for the third string position, and at least one of those will transfer out. Cornwell should be redshirted.

The following year, if Coker lives up to expectations he might be gone. So, then a redshirt sophomore vs. a redshirt freshman battle could take place between Bateman and Cornwell, not unlike the battle we saw between AJ and Phillip Sims.

how about this..Kiffin is known for working with QBs...so anything can happen this spring?

I just don't think Sims has the throwing ability to win the starting job at Bama..It will either be Coker or one of the young QB's that will be win the starting job..I have a feeling our offense will rely heavily on our running game, cause we have as many talented RB's as any team in the country & will live or die by our running game early on, at least until the starting QB gets a few games under his belt & then we begin to open up the playbook..I just can't see Sims winning the starting job..He may share some reps & come in to run a few play out of the Wildcat..He won't win the starting job though..That's no disrespect to him..He just doesn't have the throwing abilities to become the starter at QB..Coker or one of the other young QB's will win the job, and we will rely heavily on the running game as he gets his proverbial feet wet as our starting QB..Flame away..That's my honest opinion..

JustNeedMe81 said:

how about this..Kiffin is known for working with QBs...so anything can happen this spring?

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This is how I feel also. Coach Kiffin may be more effective at developing these guys. He has a blank canvass to work with.

TideMan09 said:

I just don't think Sims has the throwing ability to win the starting job at Bama..It will either be Coker or one of the young QB's that will be win the starting job..I have a feeling our offense will rely heavily on our running game, cause we have as many talented RB's as any team in the country & will live or die by our running game early on, at least until the starting QB gets a few games under his belt & then we begin to open up the playbook..I just can't see Sims winning the starting job..He may share some reps & come in to run a few play out of the Wildcat..He won't win the starting job though..That's no disrespect to him..He just doesn't have the throwing abilities to become the starter at QB..Coker or one of the other young QB's will win the job, and we will rely heavily on the running game as he gets his proverbial feet wet as our starting QB..Flame away..That's my honest opinion..

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In the college game, if you can connect on the short and intermediate routes most of the time, you can be a very effective college QB. Sims CAN do that. The trick for Blake is making the smart/good decisions (e.g. trying to force the pass when it's just not there because the DBs have the receiver well covered) and either throwing it away or trying to get what he can by running the ball. I'd read where Coach Saban has said that exact thing about Blake, that's he has got to learn when to NOT force the play.

Of course, easy for me to say, I've never been in his shoes where 300 lb guys are chasing me and want to hurt me.

JustNeedMe81 said:

how about this..Kiffin is known for working with QBs...so anything can happen this spring?

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Exactly! Krazy made some good points but Kiffin has a way of getting more out of his quarterbacks. Sometimes a change is all that's needed to jump start a players career.

CNS doesn't bring in transfers or JUCO players who only have 2 years of eligibility if he doesn't think they can contribute and play right away. Does this automatically make JC the starting QB for us next year? No. He still has to get on campus, practice, and prove himself to the coaches and players. I believe if he does everything that is asked of him by CNS and CLK that he will be the starter. I don't believe any of the current QB's on roster will play over JC if he is what the coaches expect him to be. BS is a good athlete but I do not believe he has the total skill package to run the entire offense-mainly consistently throwing the ball anywhere, particularly down field. Most of the other QB's are freshman and that usually isn't a good thing to start a freshman. JMO

I agree 100% with ya..Sims can hit the short passes most of the time, but, we've seen him miss a couple of those short passes in the few times we've seen him play..To make our offense click, our QB has to consistently hit medium range, and long play action bombs, that will keep D's from crowding the LOS stuffing our running game..That's the passes I fear he's not capable of consistently throwing, that will make our Pro Style Offense click..And Sims throwing motion is downright funky looking..I don't know or think his throwing mechanics will allow him to throw the long ball consistently..His throwing mechanics is worse than Tebow's & we know how bad Tebow's was..

Braveheart said:

In the college game, if you can connect on the short and intermediate routes most of the time, you can be a very effective college QB. Sims CAN do that. The trick for Blake is making the smart/good decisions (e.g. trying to force the pass when it's just not there because the DBs have the receiver well covered) and either throwing it away or trying to get what he can by running the ball. I'd read where Coach Saban has said that exact thing about Blake, that's he has got to learn when to NOT force the play.

Of course, easy for me to say, I've never been in his shoes where 300 lb guys are chasing me and want to hurt me.

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I don't understand the prevailing thought that the job is JC's to lose. I hope he turns out to all that we're expecting, but he'll have to earn the job first.

True..When Coach Saban brings in a JC Player or allows a player to transfer to Bama..It's cause most folks expect that player to contribute right away..Like they all have in past history at Bama under Coach Saban..That's why I think folks are expecting Coker to win the job and play right away & of course he will earn it by beating out some really good talent that's already here at Bama..JMHO

TommyMac said:

I don't understand the prevailing thought that the job is JC's to lose. I hope he turns out to all that we're expecting, but he'll have to earn the job first.

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I actually don't think there is a leader right now. They have the same lineup as last year just because they always do that, but in my opinion the scrimmages are going to sort this out and we are still two weeks from the first scrimmage. I don't think the actual A-Day performance will mean a whole lot because they don't do the same sort of plays and situations as they do in the closed scrimmages. Having said that I have seen guys perform differently both good and bad with a crowd looking on.

The one dynamic that to me is interesting is that Saban has stated the consistency is the key to winning that job but Kiffin to me historically has leaned toward the player who can make the big plays. It remains to be seen how that will balance out.

Before you start criticizing, this is just for fun. I want our QB to be the best we have, no matter which one it is.

Our next QB Needs to be a Freshman.
08 we had JPW - Takes us to the SEC Champ and loses
09 - 10 GM - Wins 1 Championship doesn't make it the next year
11-13 AJ - Wins 2 championships and doesn't make it the next year.
14 - Need a freshman to win 3 Championships and not make it the next year lol

It looks like Bateman has put on some weight and gotten taller from the videos I've seen. He could give the job a push as much as any guy. He's also got a year of experience on both Cornwell and Coker.