JessN: 2014 Previews: Which freshmen will play?

JessN

Administrator & Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Oct 13, 1999
6,269
3,822
432
2014 Previews: Which freshmen will play?
by Jess Nicholas
TideFans Editor-In-Chief
July 20th, 2014 07:42 PM

By Jess Nicholas, TideFans.com Editor-In-Chief   One of the side effects to consistently signing classes that are stocked top-to-bottom with talent is that it gets difficult to project who will end up playing and who will finish the season with “RS” posted next to his name. While nothing is certain until fall camp is over, […]

Read More Here
 

bama579

Hall of Fame
Jan 15, 2005
5,413
885
137
The Chukker or Archibalds
Good stuff, as we have become accustomed.

A small nit to pick: More than one or two are not freshmen. Maybe change title to "First-year . . " or "New arrivals. . "
 
Last edited:

B1GTide

TideFans Legend
Apr 13, 2012
45,481
46,794
187
Took reading this to remind me just how sick this signing class was/is. Just about every one of these guys starts immediately in most programs.
 

DrollTide

All-SEC
Oct 18, 2008
1,606
839
137
Hunts Patch
Reading this article leaves behind the feeling of overwhelming talent, everywhere. As good as the Tide will be this year, it will probably be better next year.
 

gtgilbert

All-American
Aug 12, 2011
3,131
3,908
187
Great stuff. I'd probably move both Clark and Frazier up to the definitely will play category though, if for nothing else to get them experience for next year.

For Clark, we're going to need him in the rotation for 2015, so he needs to get reps now. We play a lot of packages with 3 or 4 safeties at a time, and after this season we'll lose Williams, Perry and probably Collins, leaving only Smith, Hootie and Clark on the roster. Net is even though we look deep at S in our base alignment, we're not really that deep based on how often we line up in the other packages. I think he'll play on special teams a good bit, and then the coaches will also look for every opportunity to get him reps in clean up time along with Hootie.

Essentially the same with Frazier; although I don't think either Ivory or Lake have really been all that impressive in the 3 man fronts and based on Fraziers numbers in the weight room already I could see him making a big push for reps in this alignment. Ivory will be gone after this season and Lake hasn't been that solid, so I think we'll see the coaches try to get Frazier in the game whenever possible to build up experience for 2015.
 

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
20,810
15,647
182
Boone, NC
I'd like to see David Cornwell get some snaps this year, assuming he's physically fit to do so.

If Coker is our starter, I imagine Blake Sims would get mop up duty (and he's richly deserving for his loyalty and team first attitude) but with our quarterback talent starting to line up with Cornwell and the recent addition of BB, I'd like to see Cornwell get some meaningful playing time in case Coker is a one a done.

If Coker is one and done (not predicting that, but it could happen) but Sims get's mop up duty, that means we'd enter 2015 with a qb that has not taken a college snap in a real game.

I say this assuming that David Cornwell is a greater talent than Cooper Bateman and that 2015 would likely come down to a battle of Cornwell vs. Blake Barnett.

I also say this becasue I'm extremely high on David Cornwell. I think he could be a fantastic quarterback and team leader for the future!
 

BigEasyTider

FB | REC Moderator
Nov 27, 2007
10,029
0
0
Great stuff. I'd probably move both Clark and Frazier up to the definitely will play category though, if for nothing else to get them experience for next year.
I might bump Clark up a bit in terms of likelihood just because you need so many DBs and just because we are a tad bit thin in the defensive backfield. He can also help out on special teams, too, which could bump his value.

I do think Jess is generally right, though, when it comes to Frazier, just because we have a couple of true nose guards on campus, and those guys aren't used very much against a lot of opponents. As long as Ivory and Lake stay healthy, I don't see Frazier getting on the field this season.
 

PDL

All-SEC
Oct 16, 2005
1,269
0
55
41
Birmingham, AL
Always love reading this article every year. It's fun to project who will play and it's a great primer for the start of the season to look for the new faces on the field. Crazy to think we could be one of the leaders in the nation for playing the most freshmen again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

CullmanTide

Hall of Fame
Jan 7, 2008
6,614
885
137
Cullman, Al
I'd like to see David Cornwell get some snaps this year, assuming he's physically fit to do so.

If Coker is our starter, I imagine Blake Sims would get mop up duty (and he's richly deserving for his loyalty and team first attitude) but with our quarterback talent starting to line up with Cornwell and the recent addition of BB, I'd like to see Cornwell get some meaningful playing time in case Coker is a one a done.

If Coker is one and done (not predicting that, but it could happen) but Sims get's mop up duty, that means we'd enter 2015 with a qb that has not taken a college snap in a real game.

I say this assuming that David Cornwell is a greater talent than Cooper Bateman and that 2015 would likely come down to a battle of Cornwell vs. Blake Barnett.

I also say this becasue I'm extremely high on David Cornwell. I think he could be a fantastic quarterback and team leader for the future!
Cooper Bateman improved tremendously during spring drills and will only get better with Kiffin. From what I saw he was one of our most improved players on the team.
 

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
20,810
15,647
182
Boone, NC
Cooper Bateman improved tremendously during spring drills and will only get better with Kiffin. From what I saw he was one of our most improved players on the team.
I heard (and saw) the same thing. He was arguably the best qb on the field which says alot about his improvement.

However, I really expect David Cornwell to catch and surpass him when he gets healthy. It's JMO.

Who knows, CB may surprise us all, but with Cornwell and Barnett lined up at qb, it will be a very stiff test.
 

Latest threads

TideFans.shop : 2024 Madness!

TideFans.shop - Get YOUR Bama Gear HERE!”></a>
<br />

<!--/ END TideFans.shop & item link \-->
<p style= Purchases made through our TideFans.shop and Amazon.com links may result in a commission being paid to TideFans.