*** QB Blake Barnett Commits to Alabama ***

AlexanderFan

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It means Sims won't be here next year, a man with 4 months in the system beat out the other quarterbacks for the back up spot. He must feel pretty confident about his ability to come in and battle for playing time given the lackluster performance of the remaining quarterbacks on the roster.

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RTR91

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It means Sims won't be here next year, a man with 4 months in the system beat out the other quarterbacks for the back up spot. He must feel pretty confident about his ability to come in and battle for playing time given the lackluster performance of the remaining quarterbacks on the roster.

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Coker was a redshirt junior. Morris is a redshirt sophomore, and Bateman is a redshirt freshman. Cornwell is in his redshirt season. Not like Coker beat out 3 guys that had two years worth of game experience.

The idea Bateman - who Nick Saban continually praised during camp - and Cornwell have had a "lackluster performance" is beyond absurd.


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DocCrimson

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What does this even mean?


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With the performance of our quarterbacks this year he has to be thinking his worst case scenario is backup Coker and play if he's inured, or redshirt and start for 4 years.

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in·ure

verb \i-ˈnu̇r, -ˈnyu̇r\

: to cause (someone) to be less affected by something unpleasant : to cause (someone) to be less sensitive to something unpleasant




Perhaps if Coker becomes apathetic about getting sacked, Blake has a good chance to start?
 

KrAzY3

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Coker was a redshirt junior. Morris is a redshirt sophomore, and Bateman is a redshirt freshman. Cornwell is in his redshirt season. Not like Coker beat out 3 guys that had two years worth of game experience.

The idea Bateman - who Nick Saban continually praised during camp - and Cornwell have had a "lackluster performance" is beyond absurd.
I don't see anything negative being said about Bateman or Cornwell, but I don't see a lot of gushing praise either. Both are the type of guys that could see their way to starting eventually, but I do think it looks like they could get caught between Coker and Barnett.

It's really, really hard to imagine Coker not starting next year. A big part of that is the fact that Morris appears to be third string right now. It's a big task to jump from fourth string to starter. I don't think we've seen that yet under Saban at QB and I don't think it's going to happen next year. On the other hand, Morris has never moved past third string and has apparent limitations, so the job is basically Coker's to lose for next season.

Bateman is obviously talented, but he got off to a slow start when he first got to Alabama, and while he didn't look bad, didn't seem to be able to seize the chance he got to stand out. Cornwell on the other hand is much more of an unknown, but he was proven to be behind while still in high school, prior to his serious injury and thus far seems far removed from playing.

So, Blake seems to be the guy this season, barring a major change, Coker seems like the guy next season and then things get interesting. I do think a redshirt Barnett would be in an excellent position to seize the starting job. There probably won't be anyone with meaningful experience in front of him, and to draw a contrast it could be a little like Winston last year. He'll have to beat out the more experienced competition, but that's a realistic possibility. I don't see pulling the redshirt off of him, not unless he's just spectacular...

Having said that, Blake's completion percentage isn't that great, nor is his touchdown/interception rate. He's big, he's a good runner, they say he has a good arm, but it seems he's physically more ahead than he is mentally. So, he's going to have to prove he's capable of handling the situations, but he has all the tools.
 
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TideMan09

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It's good that all our young QB's will have a couple of years to get ready & prepared to take over our offense since it's a near certainty that Coker will be the man leading our offense next year..It's better than throwing in either of our young "Blue Chip" QB's in when they're not ready to lead our offense..It's the perfect scenario for our QB situation the next couple of years..JMHO..
 

DocCrimson

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It's good that all our young QB's will have a couple of years to get ready & prepared to take over our offense since it's a near certainty that Coker will be the man leading our offense next year..It's better than throwing in either of our young "Blue Chip" QB's in when they're not ready to lead our offense..It's the perfect scenario for our QB situation the next couple of years..JMHO..

I wouldn't put Coker's status a mere rung below Death and Taxes, but I do believe we are in a very good situation for the next 3-5 years at the QB position. If only we could recruit a blue chip RB... ;-)
 

dirtroadlizard

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I don't see anything negative being said about Bateman or Cornwell, but I don't see a lot of gushing praise either. Both are the type of guys that could see their way to starting eventually, but I do think it looks like they could get caught between Coker and Barnett.

It's really, really hard to imagine Coker not starting next year. A big part of that is the fact that Morris appears to be third string right now. It's a big task to jump from fourth string to starter. I don't think we've seen that yet under Saban at QB and I don't think it's going to happen next year. On the other hand, Morris has never moved past third string and has apparent limitations, so the job is basically Coker's to lose for next season.

Bateman is obviously talented, but he got off to a slow start when he first got to Alabama, and while he didn't look bad, didn't seem to be able to seize the chance he got to stand out. Cornwell on the other hand is much more of an unknown, but he was proven to be behind while still in high school, prior to his serious injury and thus far seems far removed from playing.

So, Blake seems to be the guy this season, barring a major change, Coker seems like the guy next season and then things get interesting. I do think a redshirt Barnett would be in an excellent position to seize the starting job. There probably won't be anyone with meaningful experience in front of him, and to draw a contrast it could be a little like Winston last year. He'll have to beat out the more experienced competition, but that's a realistic possibility. I don't see pulling the redshirt off of him, not unless he's just spectacular...

Having said that, Blake's completion percentage isn't that great, nor is his touchdown/interception rate. He's big, he's a good runner, they say he has a good arm, but it seems he's physically more ahead than he is mentally. So, he's going to have to prove he's capable of handling the situations, but he has all the tools.
I would say Blake has a fair mental grasp of the position as he won the Elite 11 !
 

Bamabuzzard

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Maybe I've been out of the loop but how did David Cornwell go from being so highly touted as the next great QB at Alabama to now basically being a project? I remember when he was first signed we all ooh'd and aaaah'd over his skills. Will he not fight for the starting position next season? Granted, Coker has the jump on him with regard to playing but Coker is still A LOOOOOONG ways from being ready to hand the keys to and allowed to drive.
 

CrimsonForce

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Maybe I've been out of the loop but how did David Cornwell go from being so highly touted as the next great QB at Alabama to now basically being a project? I remember when he was first signed we all ooh'd and aaaah'd over his skills. Will he not fight for the starting position next season? Granted, Coker has the jump on him with regard to playing but Coker is still A LOOOOOONG ways from being ready to hand the keys to and allowed to drive.
I just don't think Saban would chose a redshirt freshman with no game experience over a 5th year senior (isn't Coker?) who has taken a lot of the #1 snaps in practice this year and had game experience. If Cornwell was clearly better than maybe, but if it's close I think he would go with Coker..
 

RTR91

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Maybe I've been out of the loop but how did David Cornwell go from being so highly touted as the next great QB at Alabama to now basically being a project? I remember when he was first signed we all ooh'd and aaaah'd over his skills. Will he not fight for the starting position next season? Granted, Coker has the jump on him with regard to playing but Coker is still A LOOOOOONG ways from being ready to hand the keys to and allowed to drive.
He'll be a redshirt freshman.
He's recovering from a torn ACL.
He won't have any game reps.
 

CrimsonForce

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He'll be a redshirt freshman.
He's recovering from a torn ACL.
He won't have any game reps.
Yea and normally most guys (not named Adrian Peterson) need 2 full years to be back 100%. Most guys I've seen that try to come back after just 1 year off are a shell of themselves that first year back (Hightower comes to mind).
 

RTR91

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I get that. But I'm assuming by the offseason his ACL injury will not be that much of a concern. I hoping he'll at least push for some playing time. I remember him signing and watching his film. The kid looked very, very good.
I have to ask - what makes you say Cornwell has become "a project?"

The youngest QB to take a snap under Saban at Alabama would be Greg McElroy as a redshirt Freshman in 2007. Greg was the only non Freshman behind John Parker Wilson.

No one should expect us to start a true freshman or redshirt freshman at QB under Saban. If we do, the QB situation is much worse than we could ever imagine, or the player is a phenomenal athlete.
 

Bamabuzzard

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I just don't think Saban would chose a redshirt freshman with no game experience over a 5th year senior (isn't Coker?) who has taken a lot of the #1 snaps in practice this year and had game experience. If Cornwell was clearly better than maybe, but if it's close I think he would go with Coker..
But we're talking about next season. Not this season. That's a lot of time for injuries to heal, learn the playbook (assuming Kiffin stays) and make a push. From what I gather Cornwell is highly competitive. So I do agree that Coker has the inside track, but I would hope that Cornwell will make it hard for him to just be handed the job. That's what having good talent is supposed to do.
 

RTR91

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But we're talking about next season. Not this season. That's a lot of time for injuries to heal, learn the playbook (assuming Kiffin stays) and make a push. From what I gather Cornwell is highly competitive. So I do agree that Coker has the inside track, but I would hope that Cornwell will make it hard for him to just be handed the job. That's what having good talent is supposed to do.
Most likely, David will push Cooper Bateman for the backup job next season. If he jumps Bateman with ease, we can expect Cooper to transfer.
 

Bamabuzzard

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I have to ask - what makes you say Cornwell has become "a project?"

The youngest QB to take a snap under Saban at Alabama would be Greg McElroy as a redshirt Freshman in 2007. Greg was the only non Freshman behind John Parker Wilson.

No one should expect us to start a true freshman or redshirt freshman at QB under Saban. If we do, the QB situation is much worse than we could ever imagine, or the player is a phenomenal athlete.

Krazy typed: Bateman is obviously talented, but he got off to a slow start when he first got to Alabama, and while he didn't look bad, didn't seem to be able to seize the chance he got to stand out. Cornwell on the other hand is much more of an unknown, but he was proven to be behind while still in high school, prior to his serious injury and thus far seems far removed from playing.
Granted he didn't say "project" but when reading that it's what came to mind.
 

KrAzY3

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I would say Blake has a fair mental grasp of the position as he won the Elite 11 !
He might, but it's still a big leap. Phillip Sims really tore things up before he got to Alabama (including at the Elite 11), but AJ was still ahead of him (although I still think he would have been starting this year had he stayed).

Granted he didn't say "project" but when reading that it's what came to mind.
It's just my interpretation, and I didn't say project... but when he committed to Alabama, Cornwell was considered by some to be at the top of the QB class. There were people who saw him as someone who could immediately compete for the starting job. Then, when he was at camps or what not, word started getting out that there were some issues. I think they were issues that could have been addressed, but it didn't seem like he was one of the most refined in the class. There's some valid reasons for that, he missed time at school from what I understand and things like that can be disruptive to his development.

Then, he got hurt, and that obviously was a significant setback. No one was talking anymore about his playing right away, Alabama went out and got Coker, and from then on he wasn't part of the picture. This carried over into spring. I saw more from Blake Sims at QB as a true freshman than I saw from Cornwell. Granted, his playing as a true freshman was always a long shot, but AJ was the backup to GMac by the time they got to the championship game, so it's not out of the question for a true freshman to be in the picture. Cornwell however, was never really a factor. We can blame most of that on his injury, but a setback is a setback.

This isn't to say he doesn't make a run at the starting job in the near future, but clearly his potential trajectory got adjusted a bit.
 
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